A large quantity of sweet potatoes...

[Zhoen]

...or maybe they're yams. I'm not enough of a foodie to really "get" the difference.

Ok, so my sister received about a bushel of ugly, spotted/spoiled in places sweet potatoes from someone. This nice lady runs a restaurant delivery business and my sister is one of the folks she shares the "rejects" with after the delivery is done. This week it's lots and lots of ugly yams.

I have a big deep freezer and all the canning equipment, so I took them from her to process and preserve them, with the intention of returning them to her as her freezer space permits.

None of them are "pretty" enough to bake whole, but I'm not picky and will probably save out a few to bake for myself, just cutting off the ugly bits...

I was thinking of cutting the rest into cubes and fries and sticking them in the freezer. Then, in addition to sweet potato fries, they will have cubes that can be candied for Thanksgiving, served mashed, and made into pies.

Any other brilliant ideas out there? I was leaning toward freezing over canning simply because I want to save my canning jars for all the apples that are coming ripe in her tree, though from the look of things, I may be experimenting with freezing applesauce, too... her tree is looking ridiculous!

 

[limace]

I would mash and freeze them in measured quantities to use in later recipes-2 cups for muffins, 8 cups for casserole, whatever.

Obviously be careful about canning. Sweet potatoes are low acid so have to be pressure canned-you probably know that, but I want to be safe . http://pickyourown.org/canning_sweetpotato.htm

 

[Zhoen]

Yeah, I am lazy when it comes to canning, if it's something that can be frozen, I'd rather do it that way. Plus, when I first started canning, I entered a can of sweet potatoes in the county fair and one of the judges said "product looks old and unappetizing." I'd just canned them the week before using beautiful yams... so yeah, kind of a downer.

I'm finding some AMAZING recipes on allrecipes, and your idea about pre-measuring is a great one, I think we're going to be working through these for a loonnnnng time...

 

[MineMail]

Easiest recipe, so delish:

Peel and cube the sweet potatoes
Toss with a bit of olive oil
Spread out in open roasting pan
Add 1 medium julienned onion
Season with salt, pepper and paprika

Roast at 350F for 25 minutes; turn and continue cooking 20 minutes.


I don't like the traditional marshmallow and candied recipes; these are always a hit at buffets and the holiday dinners. I sometimes mix sweet and red potatoes in the same roasting pan, so everyone can choose their favorite.