Sonoma Valley Mashed Yams

Chef #740736's Note:

My boyfriend hates sweet potatoes. It's been rainy here forever, so I decided to get creative one night, serving these as a side dish for us and our three kids, with a lovely salmon with shiitake ragout and pesto capellini with pomegranate spritzers on the side. It's a little sweet, a lot rich, simple to prepare, and totally delicious. There were no left overs and he has a new view on yams or sweet potatos or whatever the heck people call them in the rest of the country!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 large garnet yams , about 1 1/2 lbs. (you could try substituting another kind of sweet potato, let me know how that goes)
• ½ ounce dark spiced rum (or more to taste)
• ½ ounce kahlua liquor (or more to taste)
• 5 5⁄8; ounces full fat coconut milk (not "lite")
• 2 ½ tablespoons salted butter or 2 ½ tablespoons vegan margarine
• ½-2⁄3; teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1⁄8; teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (optional) or 1⁄8; teaspoon white pepper (optional)
• ¼ cup evaporated cane juice (substitute any type of granulated sugar, preferably brown)
• ½-1 inch fresh ginger , peeled

Directions:

1. Peel and coarsely chop yams to rough 1/2" dices.
2. Steam yams about 10 minutes or more until soft.
3. Place in a bowl, adding butter first so that it melts. Then, add the rest, reserving half the coconut milk (which hopefully has a thick creamy layer on top of it), which you'll add at the end.
4. With a potato masher, gently mash and mix, so that some pieces of yam aren't still slightly chunky, but ingredients are all mixed.
5. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding the rest of the coconut milk. If it seems to start getting runny, stop adding the coconut milk at once and continue.
6. With a fine grater, grate the fresh ginger, directly into the bowl, and gently fold.
7. Transfer into a serving bowl, garnish with a twist of an orange peel or an edible flower, such as a few nasturtiums.