Maple- Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries and Pecans

Looking for that perfect Sweet Potato side dish for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? Look no further – this recipe for Maple- Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries and Pecans provides that perfect combination of starchy sweet potatoes,  cranberry tartness and maple flavored yumminess.

Sweet potatoes (or yams) were cultivated in Central America at least 5,000 year ago and are grown all over the world in tropical or temperate climates. One town in the USA has gone ‘absolutely bananas’ over sweet potatoes: for the past 65 years, the town of Opelousas, Louisiana has held a Yambilee Festival, combining music, rides and yam pie-baking contests and crowns a yam queen and king (last year’s Yam King was named ‘Willyam‘).

You can tell that Opelousas citizens take their sweet potatoes (AKA Yams) seriously, when they promise that “You’ll have a Yam-Good time” when you attend their annual festival. Why, even Popeye has given up his beloved spinach in favor of yams, as seen in this Yambilee poster:

The Method

Enough of yam jokes- let’s get back to this easy recipe. First, peel the yams and cook in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes until the outer flesh softens. Let cool and slice the yams cross-wise into slices about 1/4 inch thick. Arrange in a dish with the slices overlapping each other.

Next, heat the maple syrup, butter and cranberries together until the cranberries soften. Pour the mixture over the yams and add the chopped pecans. Bake for about 10 minutes and there you have it!

 (P.S. I’d love it if you would ‘like’ my G’day Souffle’ Facebook page!)

Maple-Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries and Pecans

2014-11-14 16:00:16

Serves 6

A perfect sweet potato side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas or anytime

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Ingredients

1. 2 - 3 yellow sweet potatoes or yams
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 1 cup Maple Syrup
4. 2 tablespoons real butter
5. 1 cup fresh cranberries
6. 2 tbsp. chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven at 350 F.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes, slice in half cross-wise and place in boiling salted water. Reduce heat and simmer until the outer flesh can be easily pierced by a fork (about 15 minutes). Remove from water and let cool.
3. Slice the sweet potatoes cross-wise into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange in overlapping slices in a casserole dish.
4. Heat the maple syrup and butter on medium heat until the butter melts. Add the fresh cranberries and heat until the cranberries 'pop' and become soft (about 5 - 6 minutes).
5. Pour the mixture over the sweet potato slices. Add the chopped pecans on top and bake uncovered for 10 minutes at 350 F. Serve warm.

Notes

1. Be careful not to over-sweeten the sweet potatoes with the maple syrup mixture. Adjust the maple syrup mixture accordingly.

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