Sweeter Sweet Potatoes & Pre-Breakfast Gambling

Well, Thanksgiving is two weeks away and the one thing on everyone’s mind (well, other than the super classy Little-Miss-I’m-Down-on-Gay-Marriage-but-Cool-with-Sex-Tapes, “new” skin flick, coincidentally surfacing right before her book drops) is what their turkey’s getting stuffed with…get your mind out of the gutter, I’m talking about a bird.

As I mentioned on Saturday, the last time I celebrated Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, I think I got a little ahead of myself with everything I tried to cook. This time, I’m going to make sure my plan of attack is as perfect as it can be. This however, may prove to be easier said than done considering the other thing that happened the last time I was out there was found myself clutching betting slips in front of the television when I should’ve been in the kitchen. I was up at seven in the morning; not to pull my turkey out of the brine, begin cutting Brussels sprouts or peeling potatoes; but to head over to Red Rock Casino to place a couple bets on the Thanksgiving Day NFL games.

The kind of cool thing about visiting Las Vegas during the winter months; or any part of the West Coast for that matter; is that if you wake up at ten on a Sunday; you can roll out of bed and start watching football because it’ll be one o’clock back East. So that morning, I was awake early; wiping the crust out of my eyes with brine-smelling fingers; and driving down to the casino with BC and my step-dad.

I was too preoccupied with thoughts of the turkey and when to start assembling my Sweet Potato S’Mores to worry about spreads. Okay, that’s not entirely true considering I used to write a pretty dedicated little football blog, so I decided on a 3-team parlay, selecting the Colts over the Falcons, the Cowboys over the Jets and the Lions over the Packers because I didn’t think Favre could cover the spread. Things were looking good until the Packers kicked a meaningless field goal, extending their lead from eight points to eleven and giving me the “Joan Collins Special.”

In the wake of that disappointment, I turned my attention to assembling my S’Mores. I’m not exactly sure when the idea came to me, but at some point I decided I wanted to combine what I thought most people liked about lightly candied yams, with the hint of nutmeg and orange my mother used to make; with the melted marshmallows that top whipped-and-mashed sweet potatoes my aunt makes almost every year.

The night before Thanksgiving I sliced sweet potatoes into thin pieces and quickly poached the slices in a combination of orange juice, brown sugar and orange zest. Then I put them in the refrigerator overnight until I was done donating money to the casino re-beautification fund. Then I crushed graham crackers, and sliced marshmallows for the S’Mores. I placed two slices of marshmallow on each slice of sweet potato and then topped it with another piece; before sprinkling butter and graham crackers over the top and placing the “sandwiches” in the oven. What follows is the S’More recipe I’m planning on using this Thanksgiving, not the one I used a couple years ago. Bear in mind, this is a two-day recipe; with the candying, or braising, taking place the day before Thanksgiving and the assembly of the S’Mores happening the next day. This allows the sliced sweet potatoes to firm up overnight and should make them easier to handle when applying the marshmallows.

Sweet Potato S’Mores

6 Sweet Potatoes, peeled & sliced into ¼ inch rounds*

For the braising/candying liquid:
2 Oranges, juiced and zest reserved
2 Cups, Orange Juice
1 Cup, Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Fresh Ground Cinnamon
1 TBSP Fresh Ground Nutmeg
1/8 Cup, Vanilla Extract

For the S’Mores:
½ Bag Marshmallows or 1 Jar Marshmallow Fluff
1 Cup, crushed Graham Crackers
4 TBSP Melted Butter (optional)

Day 1:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Dissolve the brown sugar in the orange juice, then bring to a simmer adding the zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes, or until mixture has reduced slightly.
Arrange sweet potato slices in a baking dish and pour orange juice mixture over them. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and allow to cook in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until sweet potatoes pierce easily but retain their shape.
Remove potatoes from oven and uncover, allowing to cool completely before placing in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 2:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F (although in truth, your oven should probably already be on)
Melt the marshmallows in a microwave-save bowl and place in a pastry bag using a spatula, or simply place the Fluff in the bag (a spoon or small offset spatula can be used if you do not have a pastry bag).
Remove sweet potatoes from refrigerator and arrange half of the slices on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Spread or pipe marshmallow over each slice, topping with the reserved slices and sprinkling with crumbled graham cracker. Drizzle melted butter (if using) over the top of the S’Mores, then bake for 20 minutes, or until tops of S’Mores are golden.

* Extra sweet potato pieces (from the ends, or pieces too small to use for sandwiches) can be saved for a sweet potato pie or casserole.