Sweet Potato Mash With Bourbon-Spiced Pecans
Dehydrated sweet potato rebuilt in the pot, with a hot-sweet pecan crunch stirred in at the end.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 160
- protein
- 9 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 5 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated sweet potato flakes | 3/4 cup | cook and mash 2 sweet potatoes, dry them, then grind |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 2 tbsp | |
| Brown sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Ghee or butter powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | |
| Pecan halves | 1/3 cup | toasted at home with cayenne, sugar, and a splash of bourbon |
| Cinnamon | 1/4 tsp |
Method
- Boil 400 ml of water and take the pot off the heat.
- Rain in the sweet potato mix while stirring. Lumps set fast, so keep the spoon moving.
- Cover and wait three minutes. It will thicken more than you expect.
- Stir once more, then scatter the pecans over the top so they stay crisp.
The oven version of this is a casserole held together by eggs and baked in a cast iron pan. Neither of those travels, so the eggs are gone and the structure comes from the potato itself. Dehydrated mashed sweet potato rehydrates into roughly the same texture the casserole had, and it does it in three minutes off the heat instead of thirty in an oven.
Butter and whole milk become ghee or butter powder and milk powder, which is where most of the calories still live. The pecans are the whole point of the original dish and they survive the trip fine, as long as they stay in a separate bag. Sugar in the mix, heat and salt on the nuts.
Packing
Sweet potato flakes, milk powder, sugar, ghee powder, salt, and cinnamon go in one bag. Pecans ride in their own bag; in the main bag they go soft.
Variations
- Skip the milk powder and use coconut milk powder to make it dairy-free.
- Leave the pecans out entirely and it is still a full dinner, just quieter.
- A foil packet of chicken turns it into a heavier meal.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/sweet-potato-casserole-with-spicy-bourbon-pecans