Christmas

Sally's Special Sweet Potatoes

October 25, 2012
4.3
3 Ratings
Photo by AntoniaJames
  • Serves 4 - 6, depending on the size of the potatoes and the size of your appetites
Author Notes

Here's a great way to roast sweet potatoes. It's how my darling sister, Sally, made them when I visited her last week. She uses a commercial blend of Russian sausage seasoning (Penzey's "Tsardust Memories"), but I didn't have any, and badly wanted to make these, so I went online to look at that product's ingredient list, and then winged it. I like grinding the dry marjoram with the ground spices in my mortar and pestle. I picked up that technique from several Diana Kennedy recipes. Doing this releases the flavor of the dried herb quite effectively. I hope you enjoy this. ;o) —AntoniaJames

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ - 1 teaspoon sumac, to taste
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt (a couple of good pinches)
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (not one with salt)
  • Black pepper (a few turns of the grinder, or to taste)
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh marjoram or ¼ teaspoon dried (see note below)
  • 1 This recipe was posted by AntoniaJames, a contributor to FoodFiftyTwo.
Directions
  1. Heat your oven to 375F. If using dried marjoram (there's no reason not to), grind it with the spices and seasonings using a mortar and pestle; if using fresh marjoram, simply combine it with the spices and seasonings in a bowl.
  2. Toss the sweet potato pieces with the olive oil. (Drizzle it slowly over them and then toss.)
  3. Sprinkle the spices and seasonings, and toss well to coat.
  4. Roast for about 45 minutes, turning them once or twice.
  5. Enjoy! ;o)
  6. Here's a fun trick I discovered on my own: Heat your baking sheet while heating your oven. Don't put the sweet potatoes (or whatever else you're roasting) onto it until it's really hot. It roasts the vegetables more quickly, giving them a nice crispy edge.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Taylor Stanton
    Taylor Stanton
  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • Tarragon
    Tarragon
AntoniaJames

Recipe by: AntoniaJames

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3 Reviews

Taylor S. February 2, 2018
I really enjoyed this spice mix! However, I doubled it for this amount of potatoes since I like a thick coating!
 
AntoniaJames February 2, 2018
Thank you, Taylor. So glad you like it! ;o)
 
Tarragon November 2, 2012
I made these the other night using butternut squash and the actual Tsardust Memories spice blend. They were great, and what a wonderful combination with the sumac- husband and I devoured it. Looking forward to making again soon, perhaps with sweet potatoes.