Whiskey Glazed Sweet Potato and Apple Bake

It is few and far between when both of our kids have other plans, leaving my hubby and I “child-free” for the evening. This past weekend, our teen was attending his first high school dance and our tween received a last minute invitation to go bowling with a pal. With both kids away, we knew there was only one thing to do…break out the whiskey!

Seriously, I often come across amazing sounding recipes that I would love to try but realize they won’t go over too well with the kids. With just the two of us home, we knew this was would be an opportunity to make dinner with recipes that have a more adult focus rather than the usual kid-friendly fare.

This was a perfect night to try Whiskey Glazed Sweet Potato and Apple Bake. I knew we had sweet potatoes and apples on hand, and agave and the spices in the pantry.  But we so seldom imbibe hard alcohol I wasn’t sure if we had whiskey in the house.  Thankfully we had a nearly empty bottle stashed far back in the pantry, just enough for this tasty dish.

Rather than preparing as a casserole, I made individual servings in ramekins. The individual portions cooked faster and were a nice presentation for just the two of us. The cayenne gave just enough kick to balance out the sweet. And the whiskey pecan sauce…oh yeah! It is so good, I can see this drizzled over ice cream, or waffles, served with baked pears and granola, or with Greek yogurt.

Question: what's your favorite "grown up food"?

Whiskey Glazed Sweet Potato and Apple Bake (adapted from Food Network Mag., Nov '12)

Ingredients

• 4 large sweet potatoes (Veggie Boy Produce, Benton, IL)
• 1 cup pecans (Missouri Northern Pecan Growers, Nevada, MO)
• 4 Tbsp. salted butter (Shirk's Country Market, Centertown, MO)
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 tsp. each ground nutmeg & cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup whiskey
• 3 tart apples (Thierbach Orchard, Marthasville, MO)

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and apples and thinly slice, preferably using a mandoline.
3. Spray a light coat of cooking spray to the bottom and sides of 8 ramekins. Layer apple and sweet potato slices in ramekins.
4. Meanwhile, lightly toast pecans in a saute pan over medium heat, being careful not to burn, about 3 minutes. Add butter, melt, then add agave, cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne. Simmer 3-4 minutes. Slowly add whiskey, simmer 3-4 minutes more.
5. Pour whiskey pecan sauce over each ramekin; cover with aluminum foil, bake for 15 minutes, remove foil, bake about 10 minutes more.

until next time...