We're heading into the season of holiday dining, a stretch of the calendar when menu planning is elevated to a strategic activity for many cooks. For those who take responsibility for putting food on the table during the holidays, this is no small burden.
Most people who cook large during the holidays at least write out lists by hand, perhaps a set of grocery lists and a rough schedule for when various parts of the menu need to be started. I suspect there's menu-planning software out there to help the disorganized cook plot a series of multicourse meals for the extended family. This kind of high-tech aide might even generate a flowchart for shopping and cooking.
But I'm equally certain that some among us will be planning their holiday meals on a Palm Pilot. We'll see them in the supermarket, talking into their cell phone headset -- "Honey, can you check the spice rack and see whether we have any bay leaf left?" -- while they poke items off the list on their PDAs.
Me, I'll be one of those disheveled-looking shoppers whose list is scrawled on a piece of crumpled notebook paper in the bottom of my cart.
But I digress. During the next few weeks I'll be offering recipes -- alternatives and variations on traditional themes -- for the coming holidays. In this small way, maybe I'll make some reader's planning a little less complicated.
One of my own goals at Thanksgiving time is to figure out how to incorporate sweet potatoes into the menu in ways that appeal to family members who aren't crazy about them. Sweet potatoes have a lot more potential than many people recognize. They offer a substantial foundation for a side dish and a flavor that complements warm spices.
I have decided that most people who are hostile to sweet potatoes were probably confronted one too many times with a gooey casserole topped with overly browned marshmallows. Let's face it: Many of the sweet potato concoctions that have made the rounds have more in common with bubblegum than actual food.
Sweet potatoes shouldn't require a lot of additional sugar. They're called sweet potatoes for a reason. One of my own favorite things in life is a well-baked sweet potato with ample butter and a light dusting of salt.
So, in the interests of improving the image of the sweet potato, helping people to see it as a serious vegetable that doesn't promote tooth decay, I offer the following casserole recipe from Mollie Katzen's classic "Still Life with Menu Cookbook."
Sweet Potato Surprise
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4 pounds sweet potatoes or yams
4 bananas, peeled and chopped
2 large green apples or pears (any kind but Bosc)
2 tablespoons butter or canola oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup fresh lemon or lime juice
1/2 cup chopped fried apricots
2 cups chopped nuts (optional)
Peel the sweet potatoes or yams, and boil until soft. Drain.
Meanwhile, saute apples and bananas in butter or oil with ginger, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Cook slowly, uncovered, but stirring intermittently from 10 to 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish or deep casserole.
Puree the potatoes or yams with the fruit juices in a food processor.
Stir the sauteed fruit into the puree. Add the apricots. Heap into the prepared baking pan and, if desired, top with chopped nuts.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
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