With Halloween impending as evidenced by all the front lawn cemeteries and ghosts floating in spider web enrobed trees, my culinary thoughts are turning to Thanksgiving. If you compulsively plan ahead like I do, then you too will be thinking of dishes to up change the menu for Thanksgiving while still including all the favorites.
Garnet yams with their fluorescent orange flesh and natural sweetness are a versatile ingredient to work with. In my stuff everything and anything obsessed mind, I decided to stuff crisp green Granny Smith apples with cinnamon and brown sugar flavored mashed yams. This is easy to make and the left overs were yummy.
5 large Garnet Yams
2 tablespoons butter (margarine if you want it non dairy)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, coarsley chopped
8 Granny Smith apples
Topping
½ cup pecan halves
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter (margarine if you want it non dairy)
Wash and dry the yams. Place them uncovered, in a baking dish. Place the baking dish in a 400° oven. Roast the yams for 2 hours. When they are finished, cool them for a bit, until you can touch them without burning your hands and then split them in half. Scoop out all the pulp and place it in a mixing bowl. Mash the yams with a potato masher until smooth and fluffy. Combine the mashed yam pulp with the sugar, cinnamon, chopped pecans and butter. Sometimes I just use my gloved hands to mix the yams.
To prepare the apples, first, wash and dry them, then using an apple corer push down through the center of the stem end and remove the core of the apple. With a sharp paring knife, slice a cap or lid off of the apple and set it aside. Next, using a melon ball scooper, carefully scoop out the center of the apple to create a bowl. Save the apple pieces of apple you have taken out and you can make a couple servings of apple sauce after.
Place the apples in a rectangular baking dish and spoon in the yam filling to just over the top. To prepare the topping, mix the whole pecans, butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar together using your fingers. Evenly distribute the topping over the top of the yams stuffed in the apples. Place the lids of the apples at an angle on top of the yams.
Bake the stuffed apples in a 350° oven for ½ hour or until the topping on the yams is browned and bubbling. If the apples do not appear to be cooked through by then, cover the dish with aluminum foil to prevent further browning and bake for another 10 minutes.
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