A Holiday Recipe - Mama Darlin's Sweet Potato Casserole

Something changes this time of year, and it's not the leaves in Phoenix.

Matthew thanked me last week for making a wonderful dinner of ham, parker house rolls and sweet potato casserole with salad and green beans. It was a rare feast.

I said with conviction, "I love cooking holiday dinners. Holiday dinners I get!"

"Every day's a holiday; every day's a holiday," he replied.

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. I hate cooking daily meals....maybe if I could just bake everything....yet the dinners prepared at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Easter I absolutely adore. They're hard work, too - hours upon one's feet and miles of dishes before you sleep.

It's really about patriotic pride on Thanksgiving, standing apron to apron with countless other Americans who hope and pray for a moist bird. But I also love these dinners because I am a creature of nostalgia, always seeking an elixir to take me back to childhood, and the dishes I prepare are largely what my mother prepared - especially the rolls, pies and sweet potatoes. Add the fact that I appreciate the comfort of the tradition; I know exactly what to do. After all, I've been doing it for years, and it always turns out well (well, mostly...).

My mother's sweet potato casserole is one of those dishes that is always on my holiday table. It wouldn't be a feast without it. Because of this simple, rudely prepared but shockingly delicious dish, I have been lavished with praise and accosted with multiple recipe requests. Even the husband of a dear friend who witnessed its messy creation with a potato masher was astounded and appreciative when he finally tasted it. My son, Berto, has honored it by choosing it for his 5th grade's multi-cultural/pre-Thanksgiving school luncheon.

Now I am finally sharing it with you. Because of my son's severe nut allergies, I've changed it some. I present the original recipe, containing nuts and also more sugar and butter, and then my altered version. You can choose for yourselves which you prefer to try. Warning: I've heard marshmallows are out of culinary favor. Do not omit them! It's plain wrong.

Mama Darlin's Sweet Potato Soufflé

Filling:
1 40 ounce can yams                                                
3/4 cup sugar                                                  
1/2 cup melted butter                                     
2 eggs                                                                
1/3 cup evaporated milk                                 
1 teaspoon vanilla                                       


For the Topping:                                            
1/2 cup melted butter                                      
3/4 cup sugar                                                
1 cup cornflakes                                               
1 cup pecans        

miniature marshmallows                                            

Nut-Free Version

Filling:
3 cups cooked sweet potatoes/yams (2-3 large, cooked on high in microwave for about 12-15 minutes, innards scraped into casserole dish)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 melted butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup Cascadian Farms Oats and Honey Granola
1 cup cornflakes (optional)

miniature marshmallows

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash all 6 ingredients (yes, even eggs!) for filling in a 2 quart casserole dish, mixing thoroughly around before baking for 20 minutes in the oven. Meanwhile, prepare topping by melting butter in a small bowl, adding brown sugar, and then stirring in nuts or granola (large pieces broken apart with fingers) and cornflakes, if desired (topping will be chewier). Remove casserole from oven and spread topping evenly over it. Bake 10-15 minutes more. Remove and spread marshmallows over center of casserole, leaving a 1 inch gap around the edge. Cook just until marshmallows are golden, about five minutes. Serve with parker house rolls, if at all possible, and enjoy!

Some dishes bring comfort and nostalgia with each bite. For me this is one of them. Thanks, Mom. Love, Hoodoo

Easy, Whole-Wheat Coffee Cake

This recipe came from my mother-in-law. My husband brought it into our marriage from a collection of recipes his mother gave to him when he left for college. (I brought only my chocolate-cinnamon chip cookies for our sustenance.) Those recipes, along with cherished heirlooms that I later begged from my mother, have helped us survive on more than potatoes, cereal and pizza. Strangely, my mother-in-law didn't remember the recipe when I thanked her profusely for it, so...divine providence, then? Obviously, I love it, if one looks at the evidence of exhibit A:

I did, however, modify this recipe to my liking, as I do all of them. Though I love sweets, in general I believe that many recipes call for too much sugar and salt and not enough whole grain. Any time you add spice or cocoa to a recipe, you can get away with quite a bit of whole grain, because chocolate and exotic flavoring tend to override everything with their strong personalities. Anyhow, here is the original recipe and my slightly altered rendition:

Original Coffee Cake                                            Hillary's Whole-Wheat Version

1/4 cup vegetable oil                                            1/4 cup vegetable oil     

1 beaten egg                                                         1 beaten egg

1/2 cup milk                                                         1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup sifted flour                                           1 cup whole wheat + 1/2 cup white flour

3/4 cup sugar                                                       1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder                                 2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt                                                  1/2 teaspoon salt or slightly less  

spicy topping                                                      Hillary's spicy topping

1/4 cup brown sugar                                            1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon flour                                                1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon                               It's not spicy topping without it! (trust me)

I tablespoon melted butter                                   2 tablespoons melted butter

pecan pieces, if desired                                       not in this house!

Melt butter in a small bowl in microwave, measure in everything else and mix together with fork.

Now for cake batter...combine oil, egg and milk in mixing bowl:

or measuring cup

Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl:

Break up pieces of brown sugar and sift ingredients with (clean, obviously) hands:



I like to play with my food

Pour wet mixture into dry:

And gently mix together with a spatula:

The dough will be very sticky and hard to spread, but do your best as you pour it into a nine-inch square pan (the hardest part). Then sprinkle on your spicy topping as evenly as you like. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes (ovens vary, so check at 20-22 minutes to see how it's getting along). This coffee cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with crumbs, not batter.

I serve this on weekend mornings and have served it at most of our celebratory brunches for baptisms and confirmations with family and friends. It's easy, has a nice texture and is good without being too sweet. Thank you to my mother-in-law for passing it on to me, so I could pass it on to you. Try it and enjoy!