Top 40 Recipes - Simply the Best

Sweet Potato Wedges Recipe, Roasted with Cumin, Coriander

Sweet potato wedge have a lot more character and intrigue than the conventional potato wedges. Made at home you can perfect the subtle secrets that make sweet potato wedges such a delight. These features include:

► Sweet potato skins become crisp, caramelize and have slightly burnt edges that boosts their 'earthy' taste

► The internal flesh has a creamy texture and a delightful color.

► Sweet potatoes are better for adding spices and flavor oils, which really enhances the taste.

John Stephen Dwyer [CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

Sweet potato wedges and fries make a lovely snack or side serve with roast meat of a barbecue

Sanjay Acharya (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

If you slice the sweet potato into smaller pieces you can make delightful spicy fries

Ingredients

Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon well chopped fresh ginger
A lemon grass stalk, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds. Toast them lightly and then grind coarsely.
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, Toast them lightly and then grind coarsely.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or rice bran, or grapes seed oil for a more neutral taste
2 pounds (1 kg) good quality sweet potatoes with rich orange-colored flesh and clean skins

Method

Grind the ginger and lemon grass in a mortar and pestle with 1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt crystals. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and mix with the powder in the mortar to form a paste. Transfer the mixture into a small saucepan, add the remaining olive oil, and fry gently over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Set aside and along the mixture to steep and cool for about 30 minutes. Then strain the mixture through a sieve pushing the lemon grass and ginger against the wire mesh to extract all the flavor into the oil. This should provide about 3-4 tablespoons of flavored oil, after adding more oil to get this amount.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a flat baling sheet with oil and then line with parchment. Brush or spray olive oil onto the parchment.

Wash the sweet potatoes and leave the skins on if possible. Slide the potatoes in half lengthwise and then into large wedges.

Transfer the wedges to the bowl with the oil. Add the ground coriander and cumin, pepper and salt to taste. Stir with a wooden spoon until all the surfaces of the wedges are well coated with oil.

Place the wedges, well separated on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes and then flip them over and roast of another 10 minutes. Turn the wedges over once again and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes. Thicker wedges will take longer. The wedges should have caramelised bits and thick hardened outer surfaces. The core should be tender and cooked. The wedges many not be crisp, but they will have a lot of subtle variation in taste in the thicker and thinner sections.

When cooked remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before serving with sour cream or you favorite dressing or sauce.