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Sweet Potato Recipes for Thanksgivukkah

by
Joan Nathan
June 17, 2021

With Thanksgivukkah around the corner, I have already been bombarded with requests for my favorite sweet potato recipes from my Jewish cookbooks. Here are my four favorites: my 100-year-old mother’s standard sweet potato casserole with marshmallows and pineapples from the original Jewish Holiday Kitchen, a southwestern tsimmes with cilantro stuffed in Anaheim chilies from chef Lenard Rubin, a curried sweet potato latke from the New Prospect Café in Park Slope Brooklyn, both from Jewish Cooking in America and Moroccan Sweet Potatoes and Vegetables from Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Cookbook. All of these are great side dishes for turkey.

Of course, when I make my sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) this year on November 27, the first night of Hanukkah, I’ll fill them with apples, pecan pie filling, or maybe speculoos spread. Happy Thanksgivukkah!

Featured in: Sweet Potato Recipes for Thanksgivukkah

Ingredients

For the Sweet-Potato Tsimmes with Pineapples

  • 4sweet potatoes
  • 2tablespoons butter or pareve margarine
  • 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained
  • ½teaspoon salt
  • 1tablespoon brown sugar
  • Paprika or marshmallows

For the Newish Jewish: Southwestern Tsimmes Stuffed in Chilies

  • ¼pound pitted prunes
  • 6medium peeled carrots, cut in chunks
  • 3medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and diced
  • 6tablespoons honey
  • ½teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½teaspoon salt
  • 1tablespoon lemon juice
  • ¼cup orange juice
  • 2tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 12green or red Anaheim chilies

For the Curried Sweet Potato Latkes

  • 1pound sweet potatoes, peeled
  • ½cup all-purpose flour
  • 2teaspoons sugar
  • 1teaspoon brown sugar
  • 1teaspoon baking powder
  • ½teaspoon cayenne powder
  • 2teaspoons curry powder
  • 1teaspoon ground cumin
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 2large eggs, beaten
  • ½cup milk (approximately)
  • Peanut oil for frying

For the Moroccan Sweet Potatoes and Vegetables

  • 4large onions, sliced thickly
  • 2tablespoons vegetable oil
  • One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
  • 1pound acorn squash, pumpkin, or carrots, peeled, cubed and microwaved for 5 minutes
  • 1-2sweet potatoes or yams, peeled cubed, and microwaved for 5 minutes
  • ¼cup raisins
  • ¼cup sugar
  • 2teaspoons cinnamon

Preparation

To make the Sweet-Potato Tsimmes with Pineapples

  • Step 1

    Boil sweet potatoes in their jackets until cooked. When done, cool, peel, and mash. Stir in the butter or margarine. Fold in pineapple, salt, and brown sugar.

  • Step 2

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

  • Step 3

    Grease a medium casserole and spoon in mixture. Either sprinkle with paprika or, for a sweeter taste, place marshmallows on top, pressing gently into the sweet potatoes, and cook 10 minutes or until the marshmallows are golden brown.

  • Serves 6 to 8

To make the Newish Jewish: Southwestern Tsimmes Stuffed in Chilies

  • Step 1

    Mix all the ingredients except the cilantro and the chilies in a greased 3-quart baking dish.

  • Step 2

    Cover and bake in a preheated 250-degree oven, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, but not mushy, about 2 hours. Let cool.

  • Step 3

    Using a fork or a potato masher, mash the mixture coarsely with the chopped cilantro to facilitate stuffing into the chilies. This can be prepared a day ahead.

  • Step 4

    Place the chilies on a cookie sheet in a preheated 450-degree oven. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until the skin is black. Remove to a plastic or paper bag and leave until cool. Peel off the skin.

  • Step 5

    With a sharp knife, make a slit from the bottom of the stem to the point of each chili.

  • Step 6

    Gently scrape out the seeds and rinse the inside of the chili.

  • Step 7

    Pat each chili dry and stuff with chopped tsimmes so that each chili is slightly overstuffed, causing the slit in the chili to open, exposing the filling.

  • Step 8

    Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Alternately, you can merely put the stuffing mixture in a greased flat casserole, approximately 9- by 13-inch, and bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes or until it is warm.

  • Yield: 10-12 servings

To make the Curried Sweet Potato Latkes

  • Step 1

    Grate the sweet potatoes coarsely. In a separate bowl mix the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cayenne pepper, curry powder, cumin, and salt and pepper.

  • Step 2

    Add the eggs and just enough milk to the dry ingredients to make a stiff batter. Add the potatoes and mix. The batter should be moist but not runny; if too stiff, add more milk.

  • Step 3

    Heat 1/4 inch of peanut oil in a frying pan until it is barely smoking. Drop in the batter by tablespoons and flatten. Fry over medium-high heat several minutes on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve.

  • Yield: 16 three-inch pancakes

To make the Moroccan Sweet Potatoes and Vegetables

  • Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9 by 13-inch casserole.

  • Step 2

    Sauté the onions in the oil until golden.

  • Step 3

    Put the chickpeas and onions in the bottom of the casserole. Cover with the remaining vegetables and raisins. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon, and add a little oil, if desired.

  • Step 4

    Bake for 30 minutes, covered, and another 20 minutes uncovered, or until well browned.

  • Serves 10 to 12 as a side dish