Editor’s Note: During the month of November, we’ll be posting some of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes. Got one you want to share? Drop us a note and we’ll feature it!
By Amy L. Hatch
Some people think the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner is the turkey.
To those people, I respectfully say that’s total bunk. Sure, Tom’s dazzling, a show-stopper. He takes a lot of time, effort, love and butter (mmmm, butter). But for me, the bird has always been the wing man (get it? heh.) to the rest of the Thanksgiving table.
The sides.
Oh, the sides! The buttery, hot mashed potatoes. The yeasty, homemade bread. The sweet carrots sprinkled with brown sugar — I mean, really. When else can you put sugar on your vegetables?
And please, please don’t forget the sweet potatoes.
I’ve written before about the folksy glory that is the Applehood and Motherpie cookbook, issued by the Junior League of Rochester in the 1980s. My mom was a member when the recipe collection debuted and for as long as I can really remember, we’ve eaten one of the stars of that show on Thanksgiving — Senator Russell Sweet Potatoes.
This casserole is a thing of beauty. It is sweet, savory, crunchy and creamy all at the same time. This is the sweet potato dish with one singular mission — make you forget about that bird sitting in the middle of the table. It has crumb topping (crumb! topping!), how can you argue with that?
If you’re hosting a crowd, you may want to consider making a double batch of this. Leftovers will seem very sad, indeed, without a scoop of Senator Russell Sweet Potatoes.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: “Holy hell, woman, we just got through Halloween! Shut yer trap about turkeys!” But it’s never too early to start your shopping list for the holiday that is, essentially, the Olympics of home cooking. And hey, a trial run of Senator Russell Sweet Potatoes would make for a very fine weekend dinner side dish.
Senator Russell Sweet Potatoes
Adapted from Applehood and Motherpie
Ingredients
- Enough sweet potatoes to make 3 1/2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes (I use three biggish ones)
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1/4 cup of room-temperature butter
Topping
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1/3 cup of flour
- 1/4 cup of butter, melted
- 1 cup chopped pecans (Don’t skip these, if you don’t like nuts don’t make this dish. The nuts are essential.)
Bake the potatoes for about an hour at 450-degrees, let them cool and scoop out the insides. Beat together the potatoes, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk and softened butter. Put this all in a large casserole dish. Mix the topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of the potato mixture.
Cover and bake in a 275-degree oven for 50 minutes, uncovering the dish for the last 10 minutes.
For those with ambitions, this can be made a day ahead of time and stored, covered, in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it. In my case, I only have one reliable oven so I usually make the whole thing a day ahead (baking included) and then stick it in with Tom to warm it up before serving at the Thanksgiving table.
But seriously, don’t wait until Thanksgiving to try these. You won’t be sorry!