Sweet Potato-Apple Stuffing

The inspiration for this soft, moist stuffing came after reading a recipe where the ingredients were originally destined to become a soup, but I thought, why not a moist, flavorful stuffing instead?! Sometimes you can “re-purpose” a recipe and this is an example of that concept. The original soup recipe ingredients list for Sweet Potato-Apple Bisque with Sage Cream is available for download from the www. The download to your desktop should be identified as: pub1843yams4; go to page 7. You can use sweet potatoes or yams in this recipe, depending upon what is available in your area.

I keep the potato cubes smaller and chop the apples up in cubes as well; I chose to use less actual margarine to cook the cubed potatoes in the pan. Remember that size matters when it comes to cooking time–items that are cut into smaller pieces will cook faster and if you desire smaller particle pieces as in a stuffing, keeping the chop size smaller makes sense.

Note: If burner space is at a premium at holiday time, I will sometimes pre-cook some items in my microwave. If you wish, you could pre-cook the potato cubes first by spreading the cubes out in a round microwave safe glass or ceramic baking dish before transferring them to the saute pan; then later the finished stuffing can go into that same dish and be placed in the oven to stay warm. Note that you can also just make the recipe in the large saute pan from start to finish.

The flavors pleasantly meld as sweet and savory often do.

Full Credit to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Publication 1843 Rev. from 10/96 Sweet Potato-Apple Bisque with Sage Cream (Best of Show Yamfest, Winnsboro, 1995). Slight revision of ingredients and method. Their recipe, not mine.

Yield~ 8 servings

Ingredients:

2 tsp. margarine
2 cups chopped sweet onions
2 tsps finely minced garlic
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and evenly cubed
4 large golden delicious apples (or other apple of pleasing cooked texture and taste), cored & peeled & evenly cubed; [if apples are very large, then reduce amount of apples down to only 2]
2 cups of fresh or purchased reduced sodium chicken or vegetable stock or broth (or substitute some pan drippings from the roasted poultry in place of some of the broth if dietary patterns will allow for same)
1 Tbsp sage, crushed
1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Method:

You can skip this microwave step and instead just cook everything in the large saute pan if desired. Only if you wish to pre-cook the potato cubes in the microwave, evenly spread the cubes out in a round microwave safe glass or ceramic baking dish and cook just until slightly softened (depending upon microwave power this could take 5-10 minutes), being sure to gently stir the cubes around to cook evenly.
In large saute pan, melt margarine and saute onions and garlic until onions are softened (about 5 minutes).
Add the sweet potato cubes first and then about 5 minutes later add the apple cubes and cook until all cubes are softened, stirring to help the mixture cook through evenly. Also sprinkle the freshly ground white pepper along with the crushed sage leaves throughout the mixture. Add stock or broth gradually as needed as the mixture cooks to create a moist and soft stuffing texture. The stuffing will be done when the texture is similar to a cooked, soft bread stuffing and will be able to be scooped or spooned for service. Serve warm.