Oh, Balls!

Every year, the Friday after Thanksgiving is known as Vegetarian Friday in my stepdad’s family. His aunt and niece host a huge potluck dinner in which not one morsel of meat is consumed. It’s been so much fun trying everyone’s different dishes every year, but the star of the show is always the vegetable gateau made from dozens of layers of crepes and alternating veggies… the whole spread is really remarkable!

My contribution to vegetarian Friday was something new this year. Last year was our rehearsal dinner, and so I missed vegetarian Friday. The year before I think I made corn pudding, and the year before… I don’t remember. This year though, I made balls.

Not these balls.

Or these balls.

I made these balls:

What exactly are these balls?

These are Sweet Potato Hush Puppies.

These were known by the entire party as “the balls” and they were, in a word, fantastic.

I made the recipe to serve about 30 people, which worked out to about 2 balls a person, but this could very easily be halved to make fewer balls. Also, I deep fried them, but they could easily be baked at 375 for about 20 minutes.

Sweet Potato Hush Puppies

Makes about 60 pups

Ingredients

• 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled
• 2 cups cornbread mix (I used an organic one from Whole Foods, Jiffy would work just fine)
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• oil for frying

DIrections

Cut the sweet potatoes into small chunks. Steam or boil until fork tender, about 25 minutes. Place cooked potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Puree the potatoes with a stick blender. Stir in the cornbread mix and spices. Mix well and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. Heat the oil to 350* and using a small scoop or spoon, drop two-bite sized amounts of dough into the oil and cook for 4-6 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with honey mustard.

Yes, I took glamour shots of the balls.

People went gaga over them, and I was so proud to be able to say I’d made up the recipe myself. Now, have other people made sweet potato hush puppies before? Sure.

I’m sure you could substitute in your favorite cornbread dry ingredients for the mix that I used and they’d work just fine. I’m eager to try these baked instead of fried,

You’ve got to try these, and soon. Trust me, they’re worth it!

Tagged as: family, fun, potato, simple recipe, sweet potato, vegetables, vegetarian