Are you a procrastinator? If you’re reading food blogs the night before Thanksgiving, good chances you are. Or perhaps, you do what I do, which is make a plan weeks in advance, only to start second guessing myself right before I start cooking, or even in the midst of cooking. Ugh, it’s a serious problem.

I already plotted out the Roasted Butternut Squash with Pears and Cranberries, the Pumpkin Lasagna, and the Cloud Topped Pumpkin Loaf. Don’t forget some of last year’s favorites like Bacon, Beets, and Brussels Sprouts, and the Upside Down Cranberry Pumpkin Cake. But after seeing so many wonderfully enticing pictures of Hasselback potatoes all-over the blogosphere (on Things We Make, Sea Salt with Food, Craving Comfort, and Almost Bourdian), I wanted those too.

Hasselback Yams 2

This Swedish method of slicing and roasting potatoes is so easy that you could easily throw this in last minute. I chose yams (Japanese yams) which my brother loved, calling them cool looking yam fries because they crisp up at the edges while the inside remains tender. The salty flakes of salt bring out the contrasting sweetness inside, so I say yams win. Plus, I like the contrasting colors, but you can do this with potatoes for sure, the original, but I think sweet potatoes are too high in water content and won’t hold up as well.

Hasselback Yam 7

You really don’t need a recipe for this, but I wrote one for those who find comfort in exact measurements. Feel free to eye-ball it and add a sprinkling of herbs.

Hasselback Yams
~approximately 9 small side servings

  • 3 yams
  • 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon butter, thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions –

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Place chopsticks on either side of the yam. Slice yams thinly, without cutting all the way down (the chopsticks helps prevent cutting through). Repeat with all the yams.

slicing Hasselback Yams

3. Tuck garlic and butter slices into the yams, in the slits.

before baking Hasselback Yams

4. Place them on a aluminum foil covered baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Hasselback Yam 5

5. Bake for 40 minutes, or until tender on the inside.

posted by jessica at 09:24 PM Filed under Fusion, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.