Scarlett WCandied Sweet Potatoes
August 7th 2007 10:28
Candied Sweet Potatoes
About Sweet Potatoes
The sweet potatoes, often called a yam in the United States, is a crop plant whose large, starchy, sweet tasting tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. The sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato. They are even more distantly related to the true yam.
The plant is a herbaceous perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers. The edible tuberous root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose colour ranges between red, purple, brown and white. Its flesh ranges between white, yellow, orange, and purple.
About Nutmeg
The nutmegs Muristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical Southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace.
Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree, roughly egg-shape and about 20 – 30 mm long and 15 – 18 mm wide, and weighing between 5 and 10 grams dried, while mace is the dried “lacy” reddish covering or arillus of the seed.
Several other commercial products are also produced from the trees, including essential oils, extracted oleoresins, and nutmeg butter.
The pericarp (fruit/pod) is used in Grenada to make a jam called Morne Delice. In Indonesia, the fruit is sliced finely, cooked and crystallised to make a fragrant candy called manisan pala (“nutmeg sweets”).
The most important species commercially is the common or Fragrant Nutmeg Myristica fragrans, native to the Banda Islands of Indonesia; it is also grown in the Caribbean, especially in Grenada. Other specis include Papuan Nutmeg M. argentea from New Guinea, and Bombay Nutmeg M. malabarica from India; both are used as adulterants of M. fragrans products.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 6 - 8 servings
6 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
½ cup butter
¼cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated oranges zest
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1. Place sweet potatoes in a large pot of boiling water, cover, and boil over a medium heat for 20 – 30 minutes, or until fork-tender.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan.
3. Stir in orange juice, brown and granulated sugar, orange zest, and nutmeg and simmer over medium-low heat until sugars are dissolved, stirring frequently to prevent sauce from sticking.
4. Spoon 2 tablespoons of cooking water from sweet potatoes into sauce, stir, bring sauce to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes, until thickened.
5. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
6. Drain sweet potatoes.
7. Peel and cut in half.
8. Place in an 8-by-12-inch rectangular baking dish and pour sauce over the top.
9. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until slightly browned.
**From “Outdoor Entertaining” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**
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