Sweet Potato Casserole

Not the best picture, but it's the only one I have right now. This is a dish that I was introduced to in Texas. I make it every Thanksgiving and it is always a huge hit. This year I offered everyone leftovers to take home and they all wanted sweet potato casserole and nothing else!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes

1 cup butter

1 tsp salt

1½ cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup plus 4 tsp flour

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:

Cook sweet potatoes and mash. Combine with ⅔ cup butter, salt, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and 4 tsp flour. Pour into a greased 9 x 13” casserole dish. Combine brown sugar, remaining butter, and remaining flour; mix together until crumbly. Add pecans. Put on top of casserole. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

In case you have never cooked sweet potatoes, here's what I do. Poke a few holes in each one with a paring knife. Wrap each in aluminum foil. Place them directly on the oven rack. I put a foil-lined baking sheet underneath them because as they cook, a clear sticky liquid comes out of them (sometimes) and this will make a stinky mess in your oven if not cleaned up right away. The baking sheet catches it all so that I don't have to clean my oven each time. Bake them at 400° for about an hour and fifteen minutes, or until they are soft to the touch. Remove them from the oven, let cool, and remove foil. If cooked long enough, you will be able to peel the skin right off with almost no effort. I bake them long enough so that I do not even have to do much mashing or pureeing (I do this for baby food all the time).

This recipe is so good; it's almost more like dessert than a side dish. Although it reheats well, Jim sometimes likes to eat the leftovers cold.