When Is A Potato Not A Potato?

When it's an Ipomoea Batatas!! AKA The Sweet Potato. 

Often confused with Yams, which are grown in the tropics, this super versatile vegetable is under utilised in the UK. Most well known in it's orange fleshed guise, it comes in several different varieties, with different qualities just like the potato us Brit's have known and loved for so many years.

So who is this (not so) new pretender to the potato crown? Well, our favourite of the varieties is Beauregard. Mainly, this is commercially grown in the Southern US states, in particular, Louisiana, and North Carolina.

They are planted after the last frost has gone and take approx 100 days to reach their harvesting potential. Beauregard has a rich orange flesh with a copper brown skin (No Essex girl jokes, please.) Rich in essential nutrients, particularly high in Vitamin A and suitable for a low GI diet, these are best steamed, as some of it's benefits can be lost through the boiling / baking process.

OK, so I've got my sweet potato, now what do I do with it? Well, you treat it pretty much like your regular potato, except that you'll find it cooks MUCH quicker. You can bake it, mash it, steam it, boil it and pan fry it. You can even use it in desserts, but you'll find it's given a huge lift when you marry it with your favourites from cinnamon, chilli, rosemary, thyme, coriander, ginger, and even curry.

It's an amazing accompaniment to Lamb, and works especially well alongside a lamb burger in the form of wedges or fries.

Our favourite recipe ideas include: 

Made into Wedges / Fries, and baked in a hot oven

Photo - Dean Sebourn

Directions

Preheat oven to 225 degrees C

Peel and slice your sweet potatoes into approx 10mm 'chips', toss in just enough olive oil to coat, and season with salt, black pepper and paprika to taste. Or, leave the skins on, and cut onto 6-8 wedges depending on the size of the potato.

Spread in a single layer on a non stick tray with some space to allow the heat to circulate.

Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes.

Or, you could just save yourself a load of time, and get These. 

Shepherds Pie with Sweet Potato Mash - Give this a Caribbean twist by adding orange zest, cinnamon, and chilli to the base. 

Directions
Take your favourite shepherds pie recipe, and add the following to approx 750g minced lamb. 

3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Enough fresh or dried chilli to suit your palatte
Splash of orange juice and zest of an orange.

For the Sweet potato mash topping, bake approx 1kg of Sweet potato, bake in the oven until soft (30-40 mins), scoop out the flesh, and mash with butter, salt and pepper. Here's our favourite top tip. If you work round the outside of your dish first, and work your way into the middle with your mash, you will get a better finish with less filling oozing out of the sides!

Sweet Potato, Spinach and Lentil Dhal 

100g red lentils
450ml vegetable stock
1 small onion , grated or finely chopped
2 tomatoes , chopped
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 red chilli , finely chopped
1 large sweet potato , cut into small pieces
2 handfuls young leaf spinach , shredded 

Directions

Put all the ingredients except the sweet potato, and spinach in a pan, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the sweet potato and cook until tender, another 10-12 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook for a minute until wilted. Serve with a fresh naan bread and enjoy.

Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Are you sure? It can be made into ICE CREAM? - Oh Yes, just make your standard custard base, omitting the vanilla, and mix in approx 250g sweet Potato puree to each litre of custard. Flavour with cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste, and churn away!!

www.aviko.co.uk