Sweet And Sour Yams Food

HONEY BROWN SUGAR SWEET POTATOES OR YAMS EASY

Steps:

• If using fresh yams/sweet potatoes: Cook whole sweet potatoes in water until the potatoes are soft ( 25-35 minutes).
• Drain water from potatoes and cool until they can be handled.
• Peel potatoes ( its very very easy after cooking).
• If using canned yams- just drain and reserve 1/2 cup liquid. If you dont have any oj then use this reserved liquid instead of oj. If you have the juice then discard all liquid.
• Cut potatoes into thick chunks and place in glass 9 x 9 inch baking dish.
• In a deep, non-stick, saucepan place butter, honey, brown sugar, OJ ( or canned liquid) and cinnamon.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until everything is well mixed and gooey ( caramel like)-this should only take a minute or two-be careful not to burn.
• Pour mixture over potatoes.
• Cover with foil.
• Bake in 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until dish is bubbling.
• Take cover off for 15 minutes and bake more -- basting often.

SWEET AND SOUR YAMS

Steps:

• In a frying pan, heat all but 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. In batches, fry yam slices on each side until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Add onions to the pan; add sugar and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar, water and pepper. Scrape pan well to combine the browned bits; continue to simmer for 5 minutes until mixture is reduced by half. Remove from heat.
• Use remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to grease a shallow baking dish. Carefully fan yam slices in rows. Drizzle vinegar and onion mixture evenly over yams. The dish can be covered and refrigerated for one day.
• Before serving, warm the yams in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with mint and serve.

MAMA VI'S VERSION OF SWEET AND SOUR HAWAIIAN-STYLE HAM

Steps:

• Note: If you are going to use the slivered almond topping instead of the cashews (one of two optional toppings for this dish) then do this step first. Roast slivered almonds in a little butter in a hot skillet until browned. Remove from skillet and set aside.
• Note: If you use pineapple that is in light syrup, then reduce the amount of white sugar by 1/2 cup. The recipe is for unsweetened pineapple in its natural juice. But some pineapple comes in light syrup. Just reduce the sugar amount in the recipe to compensate for the syrup.
• Premeasure all the parts of the sweet sour sauce (the pineapple juice, the white sugar, the vinegar, brown sugar, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce, and mix together in a large measuring cup or suitable bowl or dish Do not cook yet. Set aside mixture.
• (At this point you can make the rice and set it to cooking over a back burner, as rice takes about 30 minutes or more to get done).
• To assemble recipe: In a large skillet with margarine, sauté the ham, the onion and green pepper for about 3 to 5 minutes, until veggies are only part way cooked and still a little crunchy.
• Add the pineapple chunks to the sautéeing ham, onion and bell pepper mixture and reheat, stirring pineapple in until mixed uniformly.
• When the ham/veggie/pineapple mixture gets up to heated stage again, let it all sauté for about a minute or two.
• Now add these previously combined sauce ingredients (both kinds of sugar, the vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and pineapple juice) to the sautéeing ham and veggie mixture.
• Bring the resulting ham/veggie/pineapple mixture and sauce back up to the boiling point, covering the skillet and letting it all heat back up until it begins a gentle boil on medium high heat. Keep checking and stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
• In the meantime, while ham/pineapple mixture is heating up, mix the cornstarch into approx 1/2 cup very COLD water. Stir cornstarch until it thoroughly dissolves.
• Now, when the sweet and sour ham and liquid sauce just reach boiling point, stir in the dissolved corn starch, all around, right into boiling sauce, stirring to spread the corn starch throughout the sauce using the flat side of a spatula in circular motions along the bottom of the pan in order to evenly it into every corner of the sauce.
• Once the sauce thickens, lower heat to simmer while continuing to stir until the sauce is uniformly thickened.
• After you reduce heat to simmer, cover the finished sweet/sour ham and leave on low simmer or warm setting until ready to serve. Check occasionally and stir to prevent sticking while waiting to serve.
• In the meantime fluff finished rice.
• Serve hot Hawaiian-style sweet/sour ham over the hot rice. Garnish each serving individually at table with as desired with either the toasted buttered almond slivers or with roasted cashews from a can of cashews.