Preheat oven to 375 degrees.   Prick syams with a fork and bake for 1 hour or until soft.  This can be done a couple of days in advance, refrigerating the cooked yams until ready.

When you’re ready mash the warm yams with butter, brown sugar, allspice and pepper. Smoosh ‘em up till there are no big chunks left.    Mix the egg whites with 1/2 the cider and blend into the yam mix. Add more cider until you get to a consistency you can live with, then season with salt to your liking.**

Get the oven up to 400.  In the meantime, put the yams in a pot on the stove over medium heat.  Stir regularly to loosen them until they’re hot.  Gently scoop into a casserole dish and put in oven.  Bake until the top darkens and dries out a bit.  Remove and top with Spiced Pecans.

 

**Actually think of what your guests will like. Don’t be one of them sodium fascists who bland the fuck out of friends and family at the Holidays.  No matter what you do with your food, Thanksgiving meals are never going to be sensibly healthy.  Just roll with it, don’t get hung up on organics or cholesterol, and just have a nice time.

 

Spiced Pecans

This is about as easy and perfect a method as you can get for crunchy, sweet and tasty nuts. You could go the oven baked route or candy up some sugar for the nuts but why bother? These babies rock – if serving them to guests they’ll be gone before the first cocktail is drained.

• 1 pound pecan halves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• pinch cayenne pepper, or more, or optional
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar (turbinado, demarera, etc.) or granulated white sugar
• 1 tablespoons water

Add sugars and water, stirring for 2-3 minutes until nuts well coated and sticky.  Dump onto sheet pan, separate nuts and let them completely cool.  And that’s it.

Can be kept in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks, if they last that long.

Also called Yorkshire Pudding by Henry VIII and today’s culinary douchebags, these are simple as hell to put together and even easier to fuck up. The real trick to making these puffs of gleaming voodoo is NOT TO DEVIATE FROM THE RECIPE!  Don’t screw around folks or you’ll just wind up in a puddle of tears.

As far as variations, the best additions are ones which won’t affect the weight of the batter much. A tablespoon or two of minced fresh herbs, a teaspoon of cinnamon or cardamom or ground chiles, etc.  Cheeses, on the order of about 1/4 cup finely grated or crumbled, taste great in popovers – just don’t expect to get much puff in the finished product.

Makes 12 popovers

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees, set a rack on the lower level (keeps popover tops from over browning).  Grease a 12-cup muffin pan all over, including the surface between cups.  Place in oven for 5 minutes to get hot.

2. Whisk the eggs, salt and milk together until a bit frothy.  Add flour all at once, whisk till smooth then whisk in butter.  Much whisking in these things…

3.  Pull your pan and fill the cups 2/3 full.  Stick back in oven and immediately drop the temp to 450.   Bake for 20 minutes – DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. EVER!

4. Drop oven temp to 350 – AND GET YOUR GRUBBY PAWS OFF THAT OVEN DOOR!  Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the popovers are golden brown.

5. Now you can open the door.  Serve these babies hot – they can be reheated quickly at 350 if you have to wait before eating.

• 1-1/2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
• 6 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
• 1 stick butter
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, chopped
• 2 leeks (white part only), thinly sliced
• 1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 8 tablespoons  flour
• Small bunch rosemary, tied with string
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Splash sherry, optional
•  kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

1.  In a pot over the porcinis with some of the chicken broth, bring to a simmer and set aside for 20 minutes. Drain broth (watch out for dirt at bottom), then chop up the soaked shrooms quite finely.  Diced up the white mushroom as well.

2.  In a big pot melt the butter over medium head and saute the mushrooms until soft, add the leeks/onions/garlic and sautee for another 5 minutes.   Stir in the flour and cook 2 more minutes.

3.  Add the reserved and mushroomed broth.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until flour mix is incorporated.  Add rosemary, and simmer for 20 minutes.

4.  Whisk in cream, sherry and season with salt & pepper.

Fin.