By: Nicholas Leiss
Cooked Vegetables

Smoked Sweet Potato Mash with Miso & Blood Orange Marmalade

Every year for the holidays, my great grandmother, and now my mother, made the classic sweet potato and marshmallow casserole for Thanksgiving. They would always fold in clementines, often with the skin still on. This may sound strange, but as I matured as a chef, I realized that it’s basically like adding orange marmalade to the dish. So, I decided to make a tangy blood orange marmalade and fold it into smoky sweet potatoes that couple well with the earthiness of miso. It’s an updated version of a family treasure.

Blood Orange Marmalade

Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 to 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds of blood oranges 
  • 6 cups water
  • 5 cups white sugar
  • 2 oz. apple pectin (optional)

Step by Step

Prepare the Oranges

  1. Thoroughly wash the oranges
  2. Cut oranges in half from top to tail, then remove the seeds and core 
  3. Thinly slice each orange half to about 1/4 inch thick 

Boil Oranges & Water 

  1. Place blood oranges and water into a large sauce pot
  2. Bring to a boil over medium heat

Mix Sugar & Pectin

  1. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and pectin (optional) together
  2. Once the blood oranges and water are boiling, add the sugar and pectin 
  3. Reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes

Simmer & Check Consistency 

  1. After 15 minutes, check the consistency of the blood orange marmalade. If it is too runny, continue to simmer and reduce
  2.  Be sure to stir the marmalade every 5 minutes or so to prevent it from sticking and burning
  3.  Recheck the consistency after 30 minutes. It should be reduced by half and on it’s way to being marmalade or jam consistency
  4.  Continue cooking until the marmalade is thick and spreadable

Farm2ChefsTable Tip: To check the marmalade’s consistency, pop a plate in the freezer for 10 minutes and place a spoonful of marmalade onto it so that it cools down quickly. This will give you a better gauge of the consistency once it’s completely cooled.

Smoked Sweet Potato Mash

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 45 to 60 minutes

Preheat Oven: 375F degrees 

Special Equipment & Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dry apple wood chips
  • 1 cup wet apple wood chips

Ingredients: 

  • 4 medium sweet potatoes, unpeeled
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt, to taste
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • ¼ cup red miso (yellow miso will also do fine)
  • 4 tablespoons butter, cubed 
  • ¼ cup blood orange marmalade (recipe above)

Step by Step

Roast the Sweet Potatoes

  1. Rub sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper
  2. Individually wrap the sweet potatoes in aluminum foil
  3. Roast in the oven on a cooking tray for 45 to 60 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender and mashable
  4. Once sweet potatoes are cooked through, remove foil and let cool until you can handle them

Mash the Sweet Potatoes

  1. Peel the skin off the sweet potatoes
  2. Place the warm pulp of the sweet potatoes in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher
  3. Next, fold in the butter, miso and blood orange marmalade (recipe above)
  4. Serve warm or store in an air-tight container for up to one week

Smoke the Sweet Potato Mash

  1. With the oven still at 375 F degrees, heat the wood chips in a cast iron pan over medium-high heat until they begin to smoke. A blow torch will work wonders when trying to ignite the wood chips. Just be ready to put out the flames and only use the smoke. Flames are not a good thing but needed to get the wood chips smoking. 
  2.  While the wood chips are beginning to smoke, spread the sweet potato mash on a cooking tray in a flat, even layer
  3.  Once the wood chips are smoking heavily, move the cast iron pan to the bottom of your oven, closest to the fire
  4.  Place the tray of sweet potato mash in the oven on the middle shelf
  5.  Smoke the sweet potato mash for 10 minutes, or until it’s smoky enough for your taste.