You asked for it: Season of oysters and sweet potatoes

By ANNE LONG

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 10, 2001

Sweet potatoes add special flavor and appearance to fall menus. Barbara Hafner asked for the recipe for sweet potatoes with bourbon and pecans, a delightful blend of flavors and textures.

If you would rather not use bourbon, orange juice is a good substitute. Since you can begin with fresh or canned sweet potatoes, you are not limited by time or season of the year.

Oysters are often part of Thanksgiving menus. Robert Schmid responded to Joseph Navratil's request for an oyster pie recipe.

For: Barbara Hafner of Belleair Beach.

From: Rita Wegener of St. Petersburg.

Recipe: Bourbon pecan sweet potatoes.

Bourbon Pecan Sweet Potatoes

• 3 1-pound, 2-ounce cans vacuum-packed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup bourbon
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Heat sweet potatoes and mash. Whip potatoes with other ingredients. Turn into a buttered 2-quart shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with topping and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Serves 9.

Topping

• 1/4 cup soft butter (1/2 stick)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or more)
• Combine ingredients until crumbly.

From: Betty Martin of Pinellas Park and Rose Cartwright of Palm Harbor.

Recipe: Bourbon yams with pecans.

Bourbon Yams with Pecans

• 4 pounds yams or sweet potatoes (the reddish variety)
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
• 1/4-1/2 cup bourbon
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans (or more)

Wash and peel potatoes. Cut into 2-inch chunks. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. With mixer on low speed, beat potatoes until just broken up. Add all ingredients except pecans and beat well.

Put mixture into buttered shallow casserole and sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until heated through and pecans are toasted. Makes 8-10 servings.

Betty Martin prefers to boil the potatoes without peeling them. When the potatoes are cool, peel and mash them and proceed as above. Sometimes Betty uses 1/2 teaspoon of apple pie spice instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg.

For: Joseph Navratil of St. Petersburg.

From: Robert Schmid of Spring Hill.

Recipe: Oyster pie.

Oyster Pie

• 1 1/2 pints oysters
• 1 1/2 cups oyster liquor with milk added
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup celery, sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup onion, grated
• 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups potatoes, sliced and cooked
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Pastry dough for 2-crust pie

Drain oysters; add milk to liquor. Melt butter in saucepan; add celery and onion. Cook over low heat 5 minutes. Blend in flour; stir in milk and oyster liquor mixture. Cook, stirring, until thick. Add potatoes, parsley, oysters, salt and pepper.

Line 8- or 9-inch pie plate with half of dough. Pour in oyster mixture; cover with remaining dough. Puncture center to vent; bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serves 4.

Recipe requests

Nancy Eggert of Dunedin writes that on her show Rosie O'Donnell has raved about a large apple that is coated with a thick layer of chocolate, then caramel and rolled in nuts. Any chance of getting the recipe?

Povitica, a Croatian holiday bread, is another recipe Nancy is looking for. She thinks it has almost a pound of English walnuts in it. Nancy has seen it for sale, but the tab is $25, so she would like to make it herself.

Geri Mosher of Pinellas Park would like to have a recipe for a creamy dressing to use on fresh fruit salad. Geri would also like to have the recipe for 24-four hour salad using pineapple. She thinks that miniature marshmallows are among the ingredients.

Sea foam is the candy that Billie Kay Piatt of Pinellas Park remembers that her mother made many years ago, probably in the 1970s. It was "white, fluffy and so good," she says. Billie Kay hopes you have the recipe to share.

You Asked For It is a reader mail column. If you have a cooking question or the answer to someone else's question, write to You Asked For It, the St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Be sure to include your full name, city and phone number with your letter. Letters without this information will be discarded. Requests cannot be answered by phone or mail.

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