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Chipotle Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
I hope you all had a lovely holiday and weekend! We most certainly did. It was very quiet around here, with just me and Beloved and Scooter. I, of course, did a lot of cooking – prime rib, roasted garlic white cheddar mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach for dinner on Christmas Eve. On Christmas I made Stacy, The Random Cool Chick’s Slow Cooker Ham recipe. If you haven’t been to Stacy’s blog, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. She posts great holiday recipes, makes her own wine, has the most lovely home decorating ideas you’ve ever seen, does some of the coolest giveaways and is mom to the cutest (to say nothing of the funniest) daughter in the first grade, Princess Nagger. And she’s a sweetheart, to boot.
And the ham? Was absolutely FABULOUS. I can’t even begin to tell you how delicious that ham was. It’s super simple, too. You can adjust the spices to your own taste (I’m not all that fond of cloves so I cut down on them, and a full tablespoon of vanilla seemed excessive although I may add it next time), but what ever you do, don’t leave out the orange peel! It just infused the whole ham with the most wonderful flavor. If you eat ham, you must make this. Beloved just raved about it and scarfed down the leftovers all weekend long (it was really good cold).
The side dishes were a little more difficult to come up with – Beloved asked for sweet potatoes and green beans. And while he would have settled for plain baked sweet potatoes and the usual steamed or sauteed green beans, I just couldn’t see making those for Christmas dinner, even if it was just the two of us. So after scouring my large collection of cookbooks as well as the internet, I found a couple of recipes that sounded as if they’d be perfect with the ham (did I mention that not only is the ham easy, but versatile as well?).
I think I mentioned once that there isn’t anything you can do with white potatoes that you can’t do better with sweet potatoes – the one caveat was scalloped potatoes. I now stand corrected: these scalloped sweet potatoes are to die for. Based on a recipe by Bobby Flay, they’re pretty spicy, but the richness of the cream and the mild sweetness of the potatoes balances the heat perfectly. You can, of course, cut down on the chipotle if it suits you (seeding the pepper will reduce the spiciness), but if you can take the heat use the full tablespoon of adobo sauce and the largest pepper in the can. (Thursday you get the recipe for the green beans, which were also quite tasty.)
Chipotle Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
serves 4 to 6
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8″ thick (use a mandolin if you have one)
1 large chipotle pepper (bottled or canned), very finely chopped, seeds and all
1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce the peppers are packed in
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Butter an 8″ x 11″ glass baking dish well.
Whisk the cream, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce together well in a medium-sized sauce pan; heat gently over medium-low heat until barely simmering. Remove from heat.
Overlapping the slices slightly, place a layer of the sweet potato in the bottom of the baking dish; sprinkle with half the garlic. Pour about 1/4 cup of the cream mixture evenly over the potatoes and garlic. Layer more potatoes on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover with another 1/4 cup of the cream mixture. Repeat with another layer of potatoes and garlic, and another 1/4 cup of the cream mixture. Layer the last of the potatoes, sprinkle with more salt and pepper and pour the remaining cream sauce evenly over the top.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 – 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and all of the cream has been absorbed. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
We love sweet potatoes and this recipe sounds yummy. Since my husband likes things with a spice to them I will have to show him this recipe. I will have to check out that ham recipe. Glad you had a nice quiet Christmas. Happy Monday Jan! XX
Lori´s last blog ..Our White Christmas of 2009
“Loooovvvve, exciting and newwwww!”…sigh…yoiks, that sounds great!
And I think it was Bobby Flay that said “Everything’s better with chipotle on it!”
Irish Gumbo´s last blog ..Wet Shoe Wisdom
Sweet potatoes are one of my most favorite foods and this recipe sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Awwwwww! Thank you so much for your awesome kind words! After the weekend I had, it made me all warm and fuzzy! You ROCK!
I adjusted the spices on the ham recipe this weekend when I made it, too – I actually forgot to put in the vanilla…and reduced the others because I realized I might have put wrong measurements in since I don’t actually measure with measuring devices…
As I was making it this weekend I made mental notes to make some changes. 
It is good cold, isn’t it? I was enjoying nibbling on it all weekend while the chaos ensued. 
The Chipotle Sweet Potatoes? YUM! That just might be the ticket to convince hubby that sweet potatoes really are good!
Since he loves anything spicy, this might be the answer! 
Thanks for posting it! 
Stacy (the Random Cool Chick)´s last blog ..When it Rains, it Pours – Sick Princess Nagger and A Conspiracy between Murphy and his Law and Mother Nature
I have some sweet potatoes so I might try this and I haven’t cooked my ham yet…
Are you being paid to make me put on weight?!
Pippa´s last blog ..The Yummy Mummy With No Tummy Challenge – Week Nineteen
You always make me hungry for dinner at 5 in the morning Jan.
I made a ham last week too. I don’t do hams very often, but it came out really yummy. I had a bottle of Rasberry chipolte BBQ sauce and I mixed it with some mustard and honey for the crust. The baking glaze and basting sauce was seasoned apple juice.
Yesterday I chopped up the leftovers, mixed it with celery, pickle relish, mayonaise, mustard, and tarragon. Spread it on English muffins, topped with cheese,and broiled the little suckers.
See? You make me think of cooking and eating everytime I read one of your recipe posts.
Pseudo´s last blog ..I Love it When Other Teens are as Bad as Mine
Holy Crap! I have got to make this. There is nothing we like better than sweet potatoes.
Oh my gosh that loos sooooooo good!!!!
Monica´s last blog ..Pink Glove Dance!
oops I meant looks so good. lol
Monica´s last blog ..Pink Glove Dance!
Glad you had a nice Christmas. The woman who cuts my hair JUST gave me a recipe for scalloped sweet potatoes and it’s not that different than yours. Maybe they’re the new rage? : )
Twenty Four At Heart´s last blog ..What Are The Holidays Like At 24′s House?
That sounds divine. I love sweet potatoes and chipotle peppers, why not mix the two. I’ve gotta try it.
Mrsbear´s last blog ..Why Hair and Helicopters Don’t Mix
Yum. And I just wanted to let you know that I roasted a rib-eye roast for the First Time Ever for Christmas. Apparently, roast beef is not illegal in California. Who knew?
LPC´s last blog ..How To Survive A (Very Large) Family Christmas, Or, Saturday Morning at 10:10am
Mmmmmmmm! You had me at chipotle!
I must try this. Thanks, Jan. Happy New Year!
Fragrant Liar´s last blog ..I Hereby Don’t Resolve to Achieve Something
It seems so odd to use something sweet for a spicy, yet this sounds dee-lish!
Margaret (Nanny Goats)´s last blog ..New Year’s Resolutions for 2010 (and not just mine)
That sounds so good. And I’m for sure going to check out the other ideas you gave me for my new year’s party! Thanks so much
Man, oh man that sounds good. And the big question…did you take that picture yourself?
Okay, it’s 12:30 at night. Yet I read this and I’m hungry! Thanks a lot!
Maureen@IslandRoar´s last blog ..I Want to be Tone Deaf
Yum! I can practically taste the heat and the sweet!
Sprite’s Keeper´s last blog ..We’re Headed to the Boondocks
[...] Earlier this week, I talked about what I made for dinner Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. While Stacy’s Slow Cooker Ham was the centerpiece of our holiday meal (I will SO be making that again), I prepared some other very nice dishes. [...]