Sweet Potatoes

I have some friends from Poland who, naturally enough, feel they know potatoes. So rather than fighting preconceived notions, I figured I'd make a left turn and switch to sweet potatoes, which are, of course, not potatoes at all.

Sweet potatoes launched themselves to their favorite list. I like them a lot as they are definitely a utility infielder, being able to be both sweet or savory, or somewhere in between, depending on what you want to do with them, and they cook more quickly than regular potatoes. You can bake them and serve with butter, salt and pepper, or butter and brown sugar, or add herbs, or whatever. They can be pie filling. You can cook them in shishkebab. Rather than just being starch, they've got all sorts of phytochemicals, but of course if you drown them in butter and/or sugar, well....

Stir Fried Sweet Potatoes with Raisins and Crystallized Ginger

I just made this one up---it's far from original---but it works very well and can be hacked without any real trouble. It takes about ten minutes to cook.

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into rounds
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup crystallized ginger
canola oil
salt and pepper
1/4 tbsp allspice

Heat a frying pan medium high. Lightly coat the pan with canola oil and add the sweet potato rounds. Lightly salt and pepper and cook until they brown on the outside but are still hard internally. Add the raisins and crystallized ginger, toss, cover and reduce heat until the sweet potatoes have softened and the crystallized ginger and raisins have caramelized. Dust with the allspice before serving.

I don't own a wok or stir fry pan but I bet this would be helpful.