647. YAMS with PECAN, MARSHMALLOW and BACON STREUSEL

serves 6


unsalted butter to grease baking dish
6 large yams or sweet potatoes, scrubbed and pricked with a fork
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, lightly toasted
1 cup miniature marshmallows
6 slices bacon, cooked until very crisp, blotted on paper towels and crumbled

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch round Pyrex pie plate or a shallow 6-cup casserole.

Bake the yams until a knife inserted in the centers goes in easily, about 45-50 minutes. Remove the yams from the oven; cut them in half lengthwise, remove the flesh, and mash. Transfer the mashed yams to the prepared baking dish.

While the yams are baking, cut the 6 tablespoons butter, brown sugar, and flour together in a large bowl using two knives until the mixture is crumbly. In another bowl, blend the cinnamon, salt, pecans, marshmallows, and bacon; toss gently with the butter-sugar mixture. Sprinkle the topping over the mashed potatoes; then put the dish, uncovered, in the oven and bake until the topping is bubbly and brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.


courtesy of: Seduced by Bacon, by Joanna Pruess and Bob Lape. Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 2006, p. 157