an abundance of cheap yams from the Christmas grocery sales

**canadian gardener** · 01-03-2006, 02:08 PM

i thought I'd share my easy method to process a pile of yams. Those big orange flesh sweet potatoes, not the starchy mealy textured yellow flesh sweet potatoes but the wonderfully sweet, deep orange creamy fleshed things we here call yams.

Definitely a fine thing from the southern states of the USA that we now get for about 29 to 39 cents a lb on the holidays and sell for almost a dollar a lb any other time.

OK here goes.

Take some cookie sheets with 4 sides, or jelly roll pans.

I line mine with no name foil, but you don't have to. Just easier clean up when I'm processing oven loads of the tasty veggies.

Then I sit the unwashed plain old yams in rows on the trays, and load the oven. It helps that I have a convection one, but this works with regular ovens too, just rotate the trays more often.

Then bake about 2 hours or so, till the yams are fork tender, and even with the convection oven I do rotate the trays a little once or twice.

OK stick em on the back porch to cool or some protected place.

Before they freeze solid, peel the skins off and toss.

Cut the flesh in big thick tender meaty slices into a big bowl or tub or soup pot and mash.

Take medium size ziplock freezer bags and pack the mashed yams about 2 cups or even 3 cups per bag.

That will make a family size serving of yams to thaw and reheat later in a microwave safe bowl.

Meanwhile take one or two of the cookie sheets again, and pile up the flat filled ziplock baggies and stick in the freezer.

You will have a number of meals of a cheap nutritious delicious veggie with no work, other than pulling out to thaw breifly then putting into a microwave safe bowl and reheating.

Yams are very high in vit A and fibre and good things and they do make a wonderful and cheap veggie side dish.

And if you follow my lead and process them this way, they are ultra easy and make the nicest home made conveniance food side dishes ever.

**canadian gardener** · 01-03-2006, 02:11 PM

I did a bunch the other day on New Years Eve when I was fixing a nice roast of beef in the same oven for company.

I pulled the yams out a little before the roast was done, stuck em out on the porch to cool and left them until this morning. they've been at fridge to almost freezing in the day and semi freezing at night ever since. They are fine, I'm fine, and its too easy.

Today being Jan 3, and they are now in the freezer for good. No trouble for me in spite of unexpected company on New Years Day, and a tired day yesterday in which I didn't process them again.

I used to boil them, or microwave them, but it's the giant yams that go on for the cheapest, and they are too big for more than one to a soup pot, and this way I can process about 6 to 8 in an oven of only yams or about 4 if I'm baking a roast.

**Early Bird** · 01-03-2006, 03:23 PM

Thank you.

For some reason, DH bought me 10 lbs of yams at Sam's Club. (Sounds Seuss-ish. Yams from Sam's brought home by that man!)

And I'm the only one in the family who likes yams!

Anyway, I should bake them all up. Not needing to wash beforehand is a big bonus!