(Black) Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes

Black Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes

I love the bold, earthy taste of black walnuts – but seldom see them in stores, so I often forage for them. One of my favorite autumn activities is gathering black walnuts, hulling them (oh, what mess!), and then on a cold winter day cracking them to get the nut meats out. I now have a jar of black walnuts in my refrigerator so was excited to see a recipe for Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes that called for black walnuts in a hundred-year-old cookbook.

The recipe was delightful. It called for sugar instead of the usual brown sugar used in sweet potato recipes which allowed the robust taste of the black walnuts to shine.

Here’s the original recipe:

Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes Recipe — Source: Larkin Housewives’ Cook Book (1923)

This recipe calls for a lot of sweet potatoes (12), so when I updated the recipe I reduced it to 4 sweet potatoes (2 pounds). After all the specificity about the number of sweet potatoes, the recipe was oddly unspecific about the amounts for the other ingredients. So when I updated, the recipe I also added amounts for the other ingredients. And, I changed the name from Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes to Black Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes to better describe the recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Black Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 4-6
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 medium sweet potatoes)

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup black walnuts, coarsely chopped

Wash sweet potatoes and then place in a Dutch oven or other large pan. Cover with water and bring to a boil using high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and let cool enough to handle. Remove skins from the sweet potatoes. They should slip off easily. Then cut the sweet potatoes in quarters and arrange in a shallow baking dish.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 375° F. Dot the sweet potatoes pieces with small pieces of butter, then generously sprinkle with sugar. Top with the chopped black walnuts. Put in oven, and bake until the sweet potatoes are hot, and the sugar is melted and bubbly.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a holiday classic, so I was pleased to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Glazed Sweet Potatoes. The sweet potatoes are glazed with a sugar sauce and baked until tender. The glaze is made with white sugar (not the brown sugar or maple syrup that is more typically used today). The Glazed Sweet Potatoes were tender and sweet, but they were not immersed in a thick sauce – rather (as the recipe title says) they had a sugar glaze.

Here’s the original recipe:

The old recipe called for boiling the sweet potatoes for 10 minutes to make it easy to slip the skins off them, however, the skins didn’t come off very easily. I don’t think that they were boiled for quite long enough, so when I updated the recipe, I indicated that they should be boiled by 15 minutes.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 9 - 12
Time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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6 medium sweet potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

water

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Wash sweet potatoes and then place in a Dutch oven or other large pan. Cover with water and add the salt to the water; bring to a boil using high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool enough to handle. Remove skins from the sweet potatoes. They should slip off easily. Then cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and arrange in a large rectangular casserole dish.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 375° F. And, make the sauce that will be used to glaze the sweet potatoes by putting the sugar and water in a saucepan; stir. Using medium heat, bring to a boil while continuing to stir. Boil for 3 minutes then remove from heat and stir butter into the sauce.

Using a basting brush, spread sugar syrup on the arranged sweet potato halves. Put in oven and bake until tender and the syrup begins to brown (about 30 – 40 minutes). While baking, baste several times with the syrup.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Stuffed Sweet Potato Recipe

Sweet potatoes are the perfect Fall vegetable – they’re both delicious and nutritious. They are a rich source of vitamins A and C, and contain substantial amounts of calcium and potassium. So when I saw a hundred-year-old recipe for Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, I had to give it a try.

The recipe was a winner. It was easy-to-make, visually appealing, and most important, tasty. Here’s the original recipe:

Source: Larkin Housewives Cook Book (1917)

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks (I halved the original recipe.):

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: approximately 1 hour
Difficulty: easy
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3 medium sweet potatoes

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

dash pepper

2 teaspoons minced parsley

1 egg white, beaten

Preheat oven to 400° F. Prick each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork. Place of a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until tender (about 45 minutes – 1 hour, depending upon size). Take out of oven, and cut each sweet potato in half. Gently scoop out pulp, and put into a bowl. Mash; then add butter, salt, pepper, and parsley. Mix thoroughly, then refill the skins. (The mixture should be heaped and nicely rounded–which means that not all the potato skins will be needed. ) Brush with beaten egg white. Put under the broiler until the top is lightly browned.

I used less salt than called for in the original recipe because it seemed excessive for my taste.

Hundred-Year-Old Spiced Sweet Potato Balls Recipe

I’m always on the outlook for hundred-year-old winter vegetable recipes, so I was thrilled to find a recipe for Spiced Sweet Potato Balls.

The outside of the Spiced Sweet Potato balls were crisp and browned, while the inside was nutty, rich, and spicy with the warm blend of nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon. The balls contained ground nuts, which added a nice texture and flavor dimension when combined with sweet potatoes.

Here’s the original recipe:

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Spiced Sweet Potato Balls

Servings: 5-7
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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3 large sweet potatoes (approximately 3 1/2 cups mashed)

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup nuts, ground (I used walnuts.)

flour

shortening

Place whole sweet potatoes in a large saucepan; cover with water and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender (30-45 minutes). Remove from heat and drain. Remove the skins from the potatoes then mash until smooth; mix in butter, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon. Add ground nuts, and stir to combine. Shape into 1-inch balls, then gently roll in flour.

Melt 1/2 inch of shortening in a large skillet. Slip the sweet potato balls into the hot shortening, then gently roll the balls with a fork until all sides are a light brown. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.

Cook’s note: The mashed sweet potato mixture is very sticky. The key to success with this recipe is shaping the balls, and then gently rolling the balls in the flour while continuing to shape.

Old-fashioned Sweet Potato Pancakes (Waffles)

When I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old issue of National Food Magazine for sweet potato waffles, I was intrigued—but I seldom make waffles. I then wondered if the same recipe would work to make pancakes.

Well, I gave it a try, and the Sweet Potato Pancakes were awesome. The recipe called for separating the eggs, and beating the egg whites until stiff. It definitely was worth the extra effort. The pancakes were incredibly fluffy and light.

I served the pancakes with maple syrup. The vivid, yet delicate, sweet potato flavor worked perfectly with the maple syrup to create a lovely taste experience.

Sweet Potato Pancakes would be perfect for an autumn brunch. This seasonal dish will impress even your most discerning foodie friends.

Sweet Potato Pancakes (Waffles)

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes

1/2 cup flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, separated

1/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine the mashed sweet potatoes*, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, egg yolks, milk, and butter. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the sweet potato mixture.

To make pancakes: For each pancake, put two heaping tablespoons of the batter on a hot, lightly-greased griddle. Using the back of the spoon gently spread the batter to make a 3-inch pancake. Lightly brown on both sides. Serve with butter and honey or maple syrup.

Makes 12-15 3-inch pancakes

Note: Batter may also be used to make waffles.

*Mash cooked sweet potatoes with a fork until smooth.

Adapted from recipe in National Food Magazine (September, 1914)

Old-fashioned Candied Sweet Potatoes

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Sunday, November 11, 1912: Am at a loss at what to write.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Since Grandma was at a loss as to what to write, I’ll share a favorite old recipe for Candied Sweet Potatoes. I always make this recipe for Thanksgiving. It’s easy and delicious.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

1 pound sweet potatoes (about 3 medium)

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)

1 tablespoon milk

Put potatoes in large sauce pan. Add enough water to cover potatoes. Cover and heat to boiling; cook 30 to 35 minutes or until tender (i.e., can be easily poked with a fork). Drain. Slip off skins. Leave potatoes whole or cut into pieces.*

In a skillet, melt butter. Add brown sugar and milk; cook over medium heat; stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly. Reduce heat to low. Add sweet potatoes, roll gently in syrup until glazed and heated through. Can let sit in pan on low heat for a few minutes while glaze thickens to desired consistency.

*Alternate directions to cook the sweet potatoes: Peel potatoes and cut into serving-sized pieces prior to cook cooking. Bring water to boiling; cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender.

Yield: 3-4 servings