Sweet potatoes are a delightful, but often under-utilized vegetable. Often, they are served on Thanksgiving and then forgotten until the following November. That’s unfortunate. They are a seasonal, widely available vegetable in January, and they are very nutritious.
A cup of sweet potatoes contains more than 100% of the daily value (DV) for Vitamin A and almost half of the daily value for Vitamin C. They also contain substantive amounts of manganese (43% of DV), copper (36% of DV), pantothenic acid (35% of DV), Vitamin B6 (34% of DV, potassium (20% of DV), and niacin (19% of DV). Additionally, they contain 6.6 grams of fiber. So when I saw a recipe for Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan while browsing through a hundred-year-old cookbook, I decided to give it a try.
The recipe for Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan did not call for any added sweeteners, so the natural, rich, almost caramelly taste of the sweet potatoes had the opportunity to shine. The creamy mashed sweet potatoes combined with crunchy chopped pecan resulted in a lovely texture. This dish is perfect for these cold winter days.
Here’s the original recipe:
I’m uncertain about the origins of this recipe. It is from a cookbook page that was neatly pasted onto the inside front cover of a 1926 cookbook compiled by the Domestic Science Class of the Peoria, Illinois Women’s Club. At first, I thought that the page had fallen out of the cookbook, and had then been pasted by the cookbook’s owner onto the inside cover to keep it from getting lost. But the page number is more than a hundred pages higher than the last page of the cookbook, so it originated from another book.
Six sweet potatoes would make a lot of Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan, so I halved the recipe (except for the pecans). It seemed like a recipe that had pecans in the title should contain a substantive amount of chopped pecans, so I stirred two tablespoons of chopped pecans into the mashed sweet potato mixture, and also sprinkled some additional chopped pecans on top of the dish.
I’m surprised that the recipe called for sherry. The cookbook was published a hundred years ago, which was during prohibition, and I seldom see recipes calling for alcohol in cookbooks published during those years. However, since the recipe was pasted into the book, perhaps it is from a book published either prior to or after prohibition. I didn’t have any sherry, but Spruce Eats indicates that wine or apple cider vinegar can be substituted for sherry, so I used white wine.
I could not figure out how to make a mound of the sweet potato mixture on a baking sheet that could be successfully transferred in one piece to a serving plate after it was baked, so I just put the sweet potato mixture in a casserole dish.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan
3 medium sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sherry, wine, or apple cider vinegar (I used white wine.)
2 tablespoons chopped pecans + additional chopped pecans for garnish (if desired)
Step 1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
Step 2. Peel the sweet potatoes, then cut into 1-inch cubes. Put in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes).
Step 3. Remove the sweet potatoes from the heat and drain, then mash the sweet potatoes. (An electric beater can be used to mash them.)
Step 4. Add the butter, salt, and sherry/wine/vinegar to the mashed sweet potatoes, and beat until well mixed. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of chopped pecans.
Step 5. Put the sweet potato mixture in a baking dish; and, if desired, top with additional chopped pecans.
Step 6. Put the baking dish in the oven to bake until the mixture is hot and lightly browned. (About 20 minutes if the sweet potatoes were hot when mashed; longer if they had partially cooled.). Remove from oven and serve.
I do eat sweet potatoes in months other than November. This one sounds great.
It’s tasty.
We were on a sweet potato kick a few years back. After looking at your nutrition facts, it would be a good idea to add them back into the meal plans. Your recipe sounds really good with the added pecans.
I knew that sweet potatoes had lots of Vitamin A, but was surprised when I looked them up and discovered how many other nutrients they had.
I seem to remember my Mom putting pecans in sweet potatoes. They are a very nutritious dish, and this looks very tasty!
It’s nice to hear that this recipe brought back some warm food memories.
They really are a nutritional powerhouse, I wish I liked them more!I do eat them, and as long as there are other interesting things on the plate, I’m good! Love the pecans here.
Similarly to you, there are some some vegetables that never are going to be one of my favorites. The pecans work well with the sweet potatoes in this recipe.
Wonderful that you found this rogue page in the book, Sheryl, and great that you tried the recipe. Interesting about the prohibition recipes, too. When I first read the recipe I wondered how in the world this big mound could just sit on a baking tray, and then saw that you had simplified it all by halving the recipe and putting it into a baking dish. That’s a great adaptation. I really like this recipe, thank you, I’ll try it.
I think that you’ll enjoy this recipe. I’m pleased with how my updated version of the recipe turned out, though I feel like the recipe author somehow successfully made a lovely mound of sweet potatoes. Often when making old recipes, even ones with very abbreviated instructions, I don’t have any difficulty figuring out the directions, but in this case I wish that there had been more extensive instructions (or, if the recipe author could time travel, a YouTube video).
Old time Southerns eat baked sweet potatoes fairly often. Sweet potatoes keep well and add a delicious sweetness to dinner of baked ham or chicken during the fall and winter. This recipe sounds delicious. I be trying it soon.
The way the top of the recipe is laid out, it looks a tad more modern. You don’t have to hunt through the recipe to find the ingredients.
That was meant to be, “I’ll be trying it soon.” it is amazing how a apostrophe and two “l”s make such a difference. 😁
🙂 It’s so easy to make typos. I’m constantly finding little typos that I’ve made.
I wish I could catch them before I hit the send button.
So do I! Somehow typos seem invisible until I hit the send button or until a little time passes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found glaring typos that I’ve made on this blog that I didn’t find until days, weeks, months, or even occasionally years later. I’ll never forget the time I found a typo in a blog post title eight or ten years after I wrote it.
Your comment reminded me of how much regional variation there is in how often sweet potatoes are eaten. They are lovely (and very nutritious) vegetables. I should eat them more often. I’m definitely going to make this recipe again, as well as look for other sweet potato recipes.
Unfortunately, so many people mix all sorts of sweet foods into their mashed sweet potatoes, making them very unhealthy.
I love sweet potato chips and they keep well, at least until Bruce finds them. 😁
I don’t think that I’ve ever had sweet potato chips. I’ll have to look for them.
They are delicious!
We have baked sweet potatoes often–Randy puts brown sugar and butter on his, and I put chipotle chili on mine–no butter or added sugar. This was another intriguing post about the early recipes and the women who put together cookbooks.
I never would have thought about putting chipotle chili on sweet potatoes. I may have go give it a try. Old community cookbooks are fascinating. It’s interesting to learn a little about the reasons they were compiled, as well as seeing what were favorite recipes of group members.
You should try it! I don’t use a lot, but I don’t like traditional sweet potato casserole with the marshmello and brown sugar as they are too sweet for me. I started with chili pepper, just looking for something to counter the sweet and later added chipotle, which is a little hotter. I find that savory and sweet is often a good combination, and I think you have featured those recipes before. But on the other hand, sweet potato bread pudding with pecans and praline sauce is perfect–not too sweet, but still, a luscious dessert.
I also don’t care for the traditional sweet potato casserole with marshmallow and brown sugar. You’ve convinced me that I need to make (or buy) some chipotle sauce.
I use Penzey’s chipotle chili powder, just sprinkled across the top of the baked potato. To make the casserole, it would probably work to stir it into the sweet potato mixture along with the pecans.
Sweet potato is definitely a love in our household – any which way! Adding pecans is now on the menu. Thanks Sheryl..
I think that you’ll enjoy this recipe.
This dish will have your family fighting for the last bite – yummy!
It’s tasty.
Best of the best.
It’s a lovely dish.
This looks wonderfully simple, delicious, and flexible. I’ll have to try it!
Sometimes simple is best.
Pecans and sweet potatoes do pair up good together! Nice it doesn’t use sugar!