The weather this week has been horrible. Cold, Grey and gloomy. I feel like we missed fall and it went straight to winter. Is this a Polar Vortex or are they calling it something else, I can’t remember…all I know is the weather is being way too screwy for my tastes. I talked to my friend in New Orleans and she said it was 20 degrees out! 20!!! In New Orleans…
Oh well, at least this weather is putting me into full on winter/holiday foods. For me that means I want things that are warm, hearty and creamy. Soups, stews, baked goods, chili, you get the picture. One of my favorite fall/winter food is the humble sweet potato.
While Robocop and I were doing Whole 30 we ate a lot of sweet potatoes. Maybe too many sweet potatoes. It is a safe assumption that we probably ate them in one form or another four to five times per week. They were our go-to, or surefire meal fix. Needless to say we became sweet potato connoisseurs.
These mashed sweet potatoes are the culmination of our mashed sweet potato experiments. Personally, I have never understood why people feel the need to drown sweet potatoes in butter, sugar and marshmallows. Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, and delicious, and I have always preferred them in savory preparations as opposed to sweet. This is true in both my everyday life as well as even on Thanksgiving (gasp no sweet potato casserole??? How could I say such a thing!).
These mashed sweet potatoes would be the perfect addition to your thanksgiving meal. They are packed full of sweet potato flavor without being too heavy or sweet.
Local Ingredient: Pastured bacon.
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
2 tbsp butter
3/4-1 cup chicken broth
1/2 lb cooked bacon, crumbled
sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Wash the sweet potatoes and wrap in aluminum foil. Place the wrapped sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- While the sweet potatoes are baking, cook the bacon. You can either cook them in a skillet or in the oven. To cook in the oven place the slices of bacon on a baking sheet. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes flip and bacon and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and place on a paper towel lined plate to cool. Once the bacon is cool crumble or use a knife to cut the bacon into small pieces.
- Remove the sweet potatoes from the tin foil. Remove the insides of the sweet potatoes from the skin and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the butter and chicken broth to the sweet potatoes. Use an electric mixer to beat the sweet potatoes until the desired level of creaminess. Fold in the bacon pieces and season with sea salt to taste.
[…] Bacon Mashed Sweet Potatoes […]