The FastDay Forum

Are you telling me that if I go to France I won't find sweet potato fries? Yams and sweet potatoes are technically not the same thing at all (Yams are big and from Africa), but a lot of folks in the US call sweet potatoes "yams". Sweet potatoes are on numerous "super foods list for their high nutritional value. We usually just cut them into wedges or chunks and roast them in the oven (takes 45 min. or so), but here's a soup recipe that my family loves that uses sweet potatoes: http://www.food.com/recipe/west-african ... oup-134219

love sweet potato fries, more than white potatoes, yummy

Are you telling me that if I go to France I won't find sweet potato fries? Yams and sweet potatoes are technically not the same thing at all (Yams are big and from Africa), but a lot of folks in the US call sweet potatoes "yams". Sweet potatoes are on numerous "super foods list for their high nutritional value. We usually just cut them into wedges or chunks and roast them in the oven (takes 45 min. or so), but here's a soup recipe that my family loves that uses sweet potatoes: http://www.food.com/recipe/west-african ... oup-134219

I live in a small town so I can't talk for big cities but no, you can't find sweet potatoes fries and it's difficult to find sweet potatoes even. They are with the "exotic" fuits and vegetables (lychees, old vegetables I forgot the name of, etc) and I had the idea to bake sweet potatoes fries only because I saw some on a american gil blog...

However, I will stay with my "normal" fries and keep the sweet potatoes for soup of pies, it's too sweet for fries for me

http://www.garden-nz.co.nz/grow-your-ow ... atoes.html
Have posted a link to a site about kumara. Although it is a sweet potato, the purple skinned one is most commonly eaten here in NZ it is the nicest, IMO not too sweet, lovely as a roast vege mix, curried, in a salad. Mash can be tricky, it tends to turn a greeny khaki colour that although tasting great is not attractive to look at. I love it roasted and its not a proper roast lamb if theres no kumara.

And yes, very nice fries as well!!. They are often available as an alternative to potato fries in more up market burger and fish and chip shops here. Anything you do with potatoes you can do with kumara, we tend not to go down the sweet route as they do in the states

My favorite is to just bake them whole, in the skin, for an hour or so, and then eat them plain, with just salt and pepper. Is an excellent side dish for pork or turkey.

[carieoates]

Love sweet potatoes, I eat them wedged, chunked and in soups, never had them mashed. But my daughter loves them and doesn't like white pots so this way is a good compromise. I love the soft squishyness inside and caramelised outside. Glad you tried them though. And when we were in New Zealand last Christmas we had kumera, I didn't realise it was sweet potato. Der. We live and learn.

Thanks Manderlay for your post and to all the replies they have given me a few ideas to try out never had them. Sue

Oh my, that is an old post...

I try to use them in sweet recipes like pies. I'll try the soup in a few weeks it's way too early for me to eat soup even if the heat wave seems to be over

LOVE sweet potatoes. Also fabulous on BBQs, and I took some along to a BBQ the other week so I wasnt tempted. Wrap them in foil and chuck em on till they cook and soften just like a jacket potato. I usually eat them out of the foil, by cutting through the skin to the gooey centre with a spoon of low fat sour cream. Simply delicious!

I like to cut up and roast sweet potatoes but to cut the sweet factor a bit I roast other veggies (mostly root veg) at the same time. Beets, parsnips, white potatoes, turnips, cabbage, cauliflower, squash/pumpkin, onion, etc.

I used to have a recipe for a Morrocan type spice blend with cumin that was great on winter squashes. Something like that would be good with sweet potato and helps it take on a more savory flavor.

We only have the orange king here. I cut them in wedges, add a little oil, lots of spices and bake them. The trick is to serve them with something spicy, like hot ketchup or spicy kebabs or both.

Ooooooh, forgot to say! My grandma had the idea once to make oven fries with potatoes, sweet potatoes and courgettes. They were gooooooooood!!!