Readers of “The Love Thing” can probably guess that one of my passions is food. I had originally planned to make all the recipes Greg attempts in the book, but as Greg’s ambition began to grow, he left me behind. So for the food I’ll occasionally be writing about on this blog, I’ll be sticking to what I know.
Anyway, I’ve recently been making my all-time favorite sweet potato recipe—a dish called “fiery sweet potatoes” from the New York Times Dining section from a couple of years ago. You can view the recipe here:
The substitutions are small but critical: instead of cream you use coconut milk, and instead of black pepper you use red curry paste. The taste is like a good plot twist—completely unexpected, yet absolutely right.
The last two times I made it, I used less brown sugar than recommended and still found it too sweet. (I’d have been better off tasting the potatoes without sugar and then adding it little by little.) I also ignore the last step where you finish off the dish in the oven. Who’s got time for that? I just mash the potatoes with the other ingredients and I’m done.
I’ve never made these potatoes for Thanksgiving—too many family members don’t like curry—but whenever I make it for friends, I get nothing but raves.
Does anybody out there have a favorite sweet potato recipe? If you do, drop me a line.
