Fire Roasted Hassleback Sweet Potatoes

Curiosity.

A part of dinner last night was those cute Hassleback potatoes and after dinner, Alexis wondered aloud if we could do that with sweet potatoes.  Why not?  So I tried it for lunch.  You could also cook this in the oven at the same time and temps, but fire roasting adds that extra touch.

Plays well with a grilled ribeye!

Fire Roasted Hassleback Sweet Potatoes
source:  Nibble Me This

2 ea sweet potatoes, washed and dried
2 Tbsp butter
3/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Agave nectar (or honey)
1/4 tsp cinnamon, fresh grated
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Light your charcoal.  Set up your charcoal grill for an indirect set up (cooking over a void with coals to the sides) at 425f. 

Slice the potatoes almost all the way through in 1/8" intervals.   I picked up a trick that makes that easier somewhere on the Internet and can't remember where.  So I can't give appropriate credit but I didn't come up with this genius idea.  

When cutting the potatoes, lay a chopstick on both sides of the sweet potato like this:

That way, you won't cut all the way through by accident.

Drizzle the 2 Tbsp butter and salt over the potatoes. 

Place on the grill and roast for 40-45 minutes at 425f.

Veggies + Fire = Good

Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.  You might need a wide spatula to remove them without breaking.

Meanwhile melt the 3 Tbsp of butter and add the agave nectar (or honey), cinnamon, and red pepper.  Drizzle the butter mixture over the potatoes and serve.

I'm not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, I usually make them because my life loves them (this was a practice run for Valentines and our anniversary coming up).    But I really liked these.  The fire roasting enriched the flavor and the velvety butter sauce has sweet with a subtle heat to it.  

Deep Fried Hassleback Potatoes

While that was cooking, curiosity struck again.  I wondered if you could deep fry small russets done hassleback style so I tried it with two of them.  I deep fried them for 3 minutes at 375f.   As soon as they came out of the fryer, I hit them with kosher salt.

I topped them with melted butter, garlic, parsley, and chopped bacon.

They were good but I prefer them baked.  The petals or slices open up better during baking whereas the frying happened so quick that I had to "reslice" some of the pieces to open them manually before salting. 

Playing with your food....it's not just for kids anymore.