Sweet Potato Puree
This recipe was submitted by First Lady Laura Bush to the New York Times for an article called "America Reaches For Tradition; Giving Thanks at the President's Table", by Marian Burros, Nov. 14, 2001. I believe she said that it wasn't her creation but that it originally came from a neighbor. It has no sweetener of any kind, but you'd never guess. I've made this for Thanksgving a few times and everyone loves it. Last year, I used a sugared pecan for the topping, which went over well at dinner. If you're allergic to nuts, leave them out. It's still good. Whatever you do, don't try this with boiled or canned sweet potatoes. It really needs the baking process to bring out the sweetness and keep the puree from being soupy. I learned that lesson the hard way. Prep time doesn't include baking and cooling time for sweet potatoes.
DIRECTIONS
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Peel and mash sweet potatoes. (I use a food mill for this.).
- In a large bowl, combine potatoes with butter, cream, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and 1/2 cup pecans, mixing until well blended.
- Pour mixture into a buttered 2 1/2 quart casserole; top with remaining pecans.
- Bake 30 minutes.
- Note: Puree may be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Be sure to bring to room temperature before baking.
- Additional note: To bake the sweet potatoes, pierce each potato 2-3 times with a paring knife, place directly on oven rack and bake at 350 degrees until done, about 50-60 minutes for large potatoes. Place a baking sheet on lower rack to catch drips. Allow to cool before handling. While the oven is on, toast the pecans. Spread out on a shallow pan and bake for about 10 minutes.