Sweet Potato With Toasted Coconut Food

SWEET POTATO WITH TOASTED COCONUT

Steps:

• Bring sweet potatoes and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil with turmeric, cayenne, and 1 teaspoon salt in a 3-quart saucepan, then simmer, covered, until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, toast coconut in a small heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until very toasted (pale reddish-brown all over; be careful not to burn). Transfer to a plate.
• Break sweet potatoes up with the back of a spoon so that some chunks remain. Add toasted coconut, beans, garlic, cumin, chile, and remaining 1/2 cup water and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. If mixture becomes too thick and begins to stick to bottom of saucepan, add more water.
• Heat oil in cleaned small heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add mustard seeds, and cook until seeds begin to pop and/or turn gray. Add red pepper flakes and curry leaves (if using), covering skillet immediately and cooking just long enough for leaves to crackle. Stir spice mixture into sweet potato mixture (it will be very thick and chunky). Season with salt.

SWEET POTATO PIE WITH CANDIED PECANS AND COCONUT

Steps:

• For the crust: Pulse the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor until combined. Add half of the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal. Add the remaining butter and continue pulsing until no pieces are larger than peas. Add 2 tablespoons of the ice water and pulse until combined. Add just enough of the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water, a little at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together and holds its shape when squeezed. Turn the dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap, gather into a disc and wrap well. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to an 11-inch circle and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Crimp the edges and refrigerate the dough until chilled, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust several times with the tines of a fork. Fit a piece of aluminum foil over the crust and fill the foil with pie weights or dry beans. Bake until the edges of the crust are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, return the crust to the oven and continue to bake until the bottom of the crust is lightly golden and no longer shiny, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Cool completely.
• For the filling: While the crust cools, use a fork to prick the yams all over. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet and roast with the oven still at 350 degrees F until very soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Peel and mash until very smooth; you should have about 2 cups. Transfer the mash to a medium bowl and add the cream, brown sugar, vanilla, allspice, ginger, salt and eggs. Whisk just until smooth. Gently tap the bottom of the bowl a few times to release any air bubbles.
• Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake until the center of the pie is set and no longer shiny, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes; if the edges of the crust brown too quickly, cover them loosely with foil. Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool.
• For the topping: Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat until melted. Stir in the brown sugar, vanilla and salt, stirring until the mixture starts to bubble. Stir in the pecans and cook until the nuts are toasted and have absorbed most of the buttery sugar mixture, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the coconut. Spoon over the pie and press gently to adhere to the filling. Let stand at least 20 minutes to cool. Serve the pie with whipped cream if desired.

SWEET POTATO TOAST WITH ALMOND BUTTER, BANANA AND TOASTED COCONUT CHIPS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Slice off the 4 long sides of each of the sweet potatoes so the potatoes are squared off and sit flat on a cutting board. Slice the potatoes lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick planks, about 5-inches-by-2-inches (you should get 3 planks per sweet potato). Combine the sweet potatoes, coconut oil and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl and toss gently to coat. Spread them out on a baking sheet and roast, flipping halfway through, until lightly browned and tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes. Remove the sweet potato toasts to 2 plates.
• Divide the almond butter among the toasts, then top each with sliced banana and sprinkle with toasted coconut. Serve immediately.

SWEET POTATO SALAD WITH TOASTED COCONUT AND GRAPES

Steps:

• Soak the raisins in the rum overnight.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a saucepan, cook the sweet potatoes in boiling water 10 to 15 minutes, until a paring knife goes through a piece without resistance.
• Drain and cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, toast the coconut by spreading on a baking sheet and cooking in the oven 2 to 3 minutes until just beginning to brown.
• Cool.
• In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk until the salt dissolves.
• While whisking, add the syrup and olive oil slowly.
• Reserve 2 tablespoons coconut and 1/4 cup grapes.
• Toss remaining coconut and grapes, the raisins with any reserved juices and sweet potatoes with the dressing.
• Spread in a shallow platter and top with the reserved coconut and grapes.

CARIBBEAN SWEET POTATO COCONUT SOUP

Steps:

• In a soup pot, saute the onions and celery in the oil until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Cover the pot and stir often to prevent sticking.
• Add the ginger, curry, nutmeg, bay leaves, and salt. Saute for another minute, stirring constantly. Add the water or stock, sweet potatoes, citrus peel, and rum. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 15 - 20 minutes.
• Remove bay leaves. Add the juice and coconut milk. Puree the soup in batches until smooth. Reheat gently if needed. Stir in the lemon or lime juice.
• Serve with garnishes of your choice.

PANNELET COOKIES WITH SWEET POTATO AND COCONUT

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk the yam, toasted coconut, sugar, egg whites, salt, and lemon zest together.
• In a food processor, pulse the almonds to an uneven meal ranging in texture from very fine (mostly) to finely chopped. Stir the almonds into the batter. The dough will be very soft and sticky. Chill for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days to allow the coconut to absorb moisture from the yams.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Scoop level tablespoons of the soft dough and roll into balls about 1 1/4 inches. Roll the balls in sugar (or, if using turbinado sugar roll only the top half of each ball in sugar to avoid oversweetening). Place 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined or greased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 18 to 24 minutes, until the cookies are slightly crusty on the surface (though still very tender and moist inside) and deep golden brown on the bottom. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. For lined pans, set the pans or just the liners on racks to cool; for unlined pans, use a metal spatula to transfer the cookies to racks. Cool the cookies completely before storing. May be kept in an airtight container for up to 4 or 5 days.
• Variations
• Cardamom Pannelets: Omit the lemon zest. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom, 2 teaspoons grated orange zest, and 2 teaspoons orange flower water to the yam mixture.
• Masala Pannelets: A little Spanish/Asian fusion cookie and very good. Omit the lemon zest. Add 2 teaspoons garam masala to the yam mixture. Roll in plain sugar or cinnamon sugar.

COCONUT SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Place sweet potatoes in greased 13x9-inch baking dish; top with apples.
• Mix syrup, butter and salt; pour over apples. Sprinkle with coconut; cover.
• Bake 30 minutes. Uncover. Bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until apples are tender and coconut is lightly browned.