Ah, here’s that sweet potato again. And again, the question is simple: how to transform this beast into something delectable. In The Thanksgiving Table, Diane Morgan has fun with both sweet potatoes and words. She calls this dish a gratin, but do not worry about the cheese calories: no cheese here. Instead, this is dish is an autumn culinary poem: maple syrup + apples + sweet potatoes.
This side dish can be easily made and, even better, made hours in advance. You can prepare this early on Thanksgiving morning, then wait for the final cooking so that the gratin, fragrant and steaming, comes to your holiday table just in time.
Diane is conservative in this recipe. There is maple syrup and brown sugar but no other flavorings. With the apples there, you might consider adding notes of cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger. You can add both color and flavor with dried cherries or cranberries, too. This is a fun recipe, ready for you to taste as is or amplify to your own preference.
Maple-Glazed Apple and Sweet Potato Gratin
Yield: serves 8-10
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3 large dark-orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, about 3 pounds total, peeled, and cut into
- ¼-inch-thick rounds
- 3 Granny Smith apples, about 1 ½ pounds total, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour to the pan, whisking constantly, until the flour is blended and cooked through, about 1 minute. Add the maple syrup, salt, and brown sugar. Simmer, whisking frequently, until the sugar dissolves and the sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.
To assemble the gratin, arrange a row of alternating sweet potato and apple slices along one side of the pan, overlapping the slices neatly. Arrange additional rows to fill the pan. Pour the reserved sauce evenly on top. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
Uncover, raise the oven temperature to 450°F, and baste the sweet potatoes and apples with the juices that collect in the bottom of the pan. Bake the gratin, basting every 10 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender and nicely browned at the edges, about 30 minutes longer. Serve immediately, or keep warm in a low oven for up to 30 minutes. Baste just before serving. The gratin can be made up to 8 hours ahead. Cover, and set aside at room temperature until ready to bake.
Source: The Thanksgiving Table by Diane Morgan