How-To Friday: One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four

We got a ton of sweet potatoes in our farm share the past few weeks, so I decided to make pie. Even after throwing one out (he was a squishy bugger) I still had about seven pounds of sweet potatoes. After checking with my go-to chef, Alton Brown, I found that I had enough for four pies. Since it was just going to be me, Hubs, #2 and #3 for Thanksgiving I wanted to share our largesse. I almost felt like Oprah. You get a pie! And you get a pie! And you too! One went to my uncle, along with #1. Another went with AB to his mom's, and the third went to my neighbor who has never had sweet potato pie before. Shocking, I know.

As of this writing, I have yet to hear anything abut how the pie was received.

Recipe
1 lb 3 oz sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cumin
5 egg yolks
1 9-inch pie shell
Disclaimer: Alton's recipe doesn't have cumin, but it does have salt, pecans, and maple syrup.

Wash, peel, cut, and weigh your sweet potatoes.

 Steam your taters. Please don't boil them, as that will take out a ton of flavor. I got my steamer basket at Shop Rite super-cheap. It folds up small like that robot from "Batteries Not Included," fits in every pot I own, and it's dishwasher-safe. I used a skillet cuz the more room you can give your veggies, the quicker they will cook. Alton says to steam for 20 minutes, mine were soft at 10.

If you bought frozen pie shells, take them out now while the potatoes are steaming. Unless you just finished making a crust from scratch, you still need to give the dough time to get to room temp before baking. Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine steamed potatoes, yogurt, sugar, spices, and egg whites. Beat until potatoes are mashed and everything is blended. You're looking for the consistency of mashed potatoes or guacamole. You don't want sweet potato soup.

Before

After

Pour pie filling into pie shell, wiggle a bit to level out the top, and shove into your oven for 50 minutes or until the pie reaches 165 to 180 degrees. It still needs some jiggle when you take it out, as it will continue to cook after you take it out.



I only took pics of the first batch. #1 was leaving on Wednesday, I had no idea what time on Thursday AB was leaving, and we only had 9 eggs until Wednesday night. So you will just have to imagine all four pies side-by-side.