Ol' #7 Yams

Now, if you know me at all, you will know that I LOVE BOURBON. It’s a true story. I tell all my Yankee friends that down South, we have three spigots on our sinks: Hot, Cold, and Bourbon. It’s just that prominent down there. And any connoisseur of Bourbon knows that there are a lot of ways to drink it. Well, I also love to cook with it. Jack Daniel’s is my preferred Bourbon for mixing with anything or cooking with. Maker’s Mark is my preferred Bourbon for sippin’, or Juleps, or Manhattans. Ok, I have digressed. That’s what Jack Daniels will do to you.I can’t for the life of me remember where this recipe came from. It was just in my recipe box, and I have been making it for years. The ink on the index card is brown. So that can mean 1 of 2 things: The recipe is real old, and the ink faded; or I wrote it with a brown ink pen. All’s I know is that this recipe is damn easy, and damn good. It takes a minute, but I always ALWAYS make this on Christmas. I know not a lot of y’all out there are really cooking my recipes, but please. PLEASE steal this one. Cook it. Tell everybody it’s your old Family Recipe. Cause I’m sure that’s what I did.

You will need the following:

4 Large Sweet Potatoes

3 Cups Water

1 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar

4 Tablespoons Butter

1 Cinnamon Stick

1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg

1/3 Cup Jack Daniels

1 Long Strip Orange Peel

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry the sweet potatoes and bake them for 1 hour. Turn them about halfway through. The smell coming from your oven while these sweet potatoes are baking will drop any Southerner to their knees. I promise.

Next, pick the Southerners off the floor. (Bribe them with the rest of the Jack Daniels) and send them out of the kitchen. This is the part can’t no body see because it’s just so flipping easy. Take those taters out of the oven and cool them a minute and remove the skins. (The skins will just practically fall off) Reduce your oven to 350.

Combine all the other ingredients in a saucepan while the taters are baking. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer while the potatoes bake. but at least 35 minutes. Slice the potatoes about 1/2 inch thick and put in a casserole pan. Pour the “sauce” over it and bake for 30 minutes. Throw back a nip of Jack Daniels, and get ready for some GOOD EATING.

Told you so.