10/3/17

Sweet Potato Fries



It's sweet potato time, and I'll be digging some from my own garden soon. I still have some of last year's harvest stored in the basement (my sweet potato storage tips are below), so I've been cooking them a lot lately. Here's the best method I've found to make sweet potato fries which are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, just the way I like them… without any frying.


Sweet Potato Fries

Recipe type: Vegetable dish
Cuisine: Vegetarian, dairy free, gluten free
Makes: 2-3 servings
Note: Ingredients in red type are detailed on the "Ingredients" page of this blog



INGREDIENTS
2 large sweet potatoes (about 1-1/2 lb)
1 T coconut oil
1 t salt
1 medium garlic clove, finely minced (about 1 t)
1 T of mixed herbs and spices of your choice (for example: Italian herbs, cajun spice mix)




DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450°F. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into sticks like fries. I cut mine about 3/8" to 1/2" thick. Boil water in a 3 qt saucepan. Add the cut potatoes to the water and cook at a rolling boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and drain off the cooking water.

Put the potatoes and all other ingredients into a bowl or bag and mix until the potatoes are coated thoroughly. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the cut potatoes in a single layer. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the sticks over and bake for about 20 minutes more, until the outsides are browning and crispy. Remove and serve immediately.

One of these days I'll try this recipe with my sweet potatoes cut with my spiralizer cutter… yum, sweet potato curly fries!

NOTE:  For long-term storage of sweet potatoes, here are my tips:
The longer the potatoes are in the ground, the sweeter they will be. If a heavy frost kills the above-ground vines, dig the roots within days or the potatoes will begin to rot. I dig my own sweet potato roots a few days after a rain, so the soil has been softened by the rain (our Tennessee clay soil is very hard when dry) and when the roots are not too moist from the rain. I dig them up carefully, loosening the soil about 2 feet from the main plant, then mostly digging by hand so I won't pierce the potatoes with my pitch fork. Don't wash the potatoes, just carefully brush off the dirt. If necessary, set them in the sunshine until the dirt is very dry and it will come off more easily. Use any bruised ones right away.
     I "cure" my harvest by laying them on layers of newspaper on my covered porch. Our daytime temperatures are usually still in the 80's at this time of year. I allow the potatoes to dry this way for at least 1 week, since this helps heal the places where they were separated from the roots. I've also read that you can do this curing in the oven, so check that option online. If you buy your sweet potatoes from a farmer, ask if they have been cured similarly. Once the curing is done, I put the potatoes in a large corrugated cardboard box, separating each single layer with plain brown kraft paper, and I store this in my basement which remains about 60 degrees year-round. Below 55° can make the potatoes darken and change texture, so don't refrigerate them. Check your storage occasionally and remove any which are rotting and use any which begin to sprout new growth right away.
     With these steps for curing and storing my home-grown sweet potatoes, I can easily enjoy them until the next year's harvest is ready.