Recipe: Elizabeth Karmel's Sweet Potato Bourbon Mash

4 large (12 to 14 ounces each) Garnet sweet potatoes, pricked all over with a fork
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup each: bourbon, dark brown sugar, and molasses
1½ teaspoon salt
2 dashes hot red pepper sauce, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Place potatoes on a large foil-lined baking sheet and bake until fork-tender, about 1 hour. When cool to the touch, peel and quarter the potatoes. (Can be covered and refrigerated overnight.)

Place potatoes, cream, butter, bourbon, sugar, molasses and salt in small Dutch oven or soup kettle; mash ingredients together with a large fork or potato masher. Bring mixture to simmer over medium heat, reduce heat to low and cook, covered and stirring frequently, until potatoes are soft and thick, about 30 minutes Stir in pepper sauce and nutmeg, adjust seasonings, and serve.

Serves: 8 to 10
Per serving for 8: 372 calories, 49g carbohydrates, 3g protein, 17g fat (3g saturated), 11mg cholesterol, 5g dietary fiber, 257 mg sodium

Tips:

• Garnet sweet potatoes may, in fact, be labeled yams, but they’re the ones that are either oval or cylindrical with tapered ends and bright yellow-orange flesh.
• You can bake the potatoes the day before and prepare the “mash” the next day.

To simplify:

Substitute 2 cans (40 ounces each) sweet potatoes packed in light syrup, drained, for the baked sweet potatoes.

To lighten:

Substitute evaporated milk for the cream and reduce butter to 2 tablespoons stirred in just before serving.