Sweet Potato Casserole

During the Christmas holiday season we manage to attend several events that have buffet style dinners followed by entertainment.  It's interesting to see the various foods offered as they tend to be a bit on the fancier side than normal. The nice thing about buffet foods is most of them are easily made at home and for the most part buffet foods tend to be quite economical.

Sweet potato casserole is an easy to prepare, low cost dish that quite often appears on the buffet table during the holiday season.  It can be used as a side dish or topped with a drizzle of maple syrup, fresh whipped cream and chopped pecans as a dessert.  I personally find sweet potato casserole too sweet to use as a side dish.  If you love pumpkin pie but are eating gluten free or are avoiding the crust of pumpkin pie, then sweet potato casserole is a lovely substitute.

Sweet Potato Casserole
recipe by:  Garden Gnome

3 large sweet potatoes
2 large eggs
3 tbsp soft butter
2 tbsp packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
½ c milk
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
¼ c coarsely chopped pecans (optional)

Scurb the sweet potatoes.  Pierce each potato with a fork the bake at 400° until tender.  Set aside to cool.  Scoop the sweet potato flesh from the skins.  Place in medium bowl and mash until smooth.  Slightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl.  Mix eggs, milk, butter, brown sugar, and seasoning into the sweet potatoes.  Mix until smooth.  Pour the mixture into 8 x 8 - inch a non-stick baking pan.  Sprinkle the top with pecans if desired.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until casserole is a bit puffy.  Serve casserole hot.