OMGSNAX!

i bought a sweet potato. i had to use it. end of story.

ps, what exactly makes these “louisiana”-style? i know i’m no expert, but i DID spend three of my formative childhood years in new orleans & i’ve never encountered anything like this. TRUTH IN ADVERTISING PLZ.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 pound sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter, melted

METHOD
place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water & cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. drain, & immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. drain, remove skins, chop, & mash.

in a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, & nutmeg. mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk, & butter in a separate medium bowl. blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.

preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls & cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i considered adding brown sugar or, at the very least, cinnamon — after all, according to most sweet potato fans, the SWEET is the good part. (i’d be inclined to agree, as i don’t really like potatoes so i know it can’t be the POTATO part.) however, i refrained from doctoring the recipe b/c i didn’t want to be responsible for its failure if indeed it were to fail. (spoiler alert: IT DID.)

so ok, first off, & i’m not ashamed to admit this, i don’t know how to mash potatoes. i mean, i understand it conceptually — cook, then smush — but how long to cook? peeled or not peeled? whole or chopped? i liked this recipe b/c it seemed like a no-brainer, but when i followed the directions & the center of the sweet potato was still raw after i’d already slip-skinned it & chopped it? i wasn’t sure. so i just stuck the sweet potato chunks back in some boiling water for another ten minutes & hoped that waterlogging wouldn’t be a surprise issue.

tender but firm

three cheers for katy’s potato masher

the rest of the recipe went off without a hitch, including the actual pancake making part (thanks to my early-year tutorial from daniel), but then there was the reality of the thing, namely: i don’t like pancakes. i guess i thought maybe these would be more sweet potatoey & less, uh, pancakey, but no.

flapjack central

on the plus side, i’ve renewed my conviction that i do, indeed, detest pancakes. that texture — YUCK.

daniel said, “well, they can’t all be winners,” & continued eating his. i asked if he wanted to finish mine, too, & he quickly said, “oh NO, i wouldn’t go that far.” so there you have it. tolerable enough for him to clean his own plate (due to an aversion to being wasteful), but not good enough for him to have seconds.

shoulda made the sweet potato latkes instead.

 

 

“Louisiana Sweet Potato Pancakes” from allrecipes.com.