Sweet Potato Pie

The Pacific Northwest does not really have a regional cuisine, unless you count farmer's market fresh sheets, which really they've stolen from California, or hot-smoked salmon, which is delicious, but you can't really hold one protein up to such high expectations. Eating in Seattle is like shopping at a thrift store in the best way - you get the lived in Levi's of meat and potatoes crowd pleasers on the same menu with Japanese silk sashimi, handmade Italian pasta, and jackpot haute couture LaCroix vegetables like watermelon radishes. As in any city, there are a lot of people who live here but are not from here, and we've all brought tastes and textures and smells which have mixed and mingled in unexpected ways.

Sometimes, though, sometimes a recipe falls through the cracks. Sweet potato pie is one of those recipes. Pecan pie at least has a faint representation on the landscape, but for some reason, people here think that sweet potato pie is essentially the same thing as pumpkin pie, and it's not. I have my theories: your typical Seattleite stands diametrically opposed to the Southeastern United States and everything it stands for; sweet potatoes are another of those root vegetables that because of the short growing season we see far too much of in the long grey winter; it's too many words to say with a flat vowel accent. Whatever it is, I have set myself the task of becoming the region's sweet potato pie evangelist.

I am not a drinker so much. Don't get me wrong, I can hold my own after a shift, and the first beer of the weekend always tastes good. Water, though, has always been my preferred beverage, so when others traded juice for soda and then beer, it just didn't occur to me to take it up as a regular habit. I love love love to cook with booze, though. Almost anything improves with a little sharp bitter hotness to round it out. There is no better aroma in the world than a pot of onions sweated in butter and deglazed with sherry and reduced cream. Sweet potatoes cry out for Bourbon to bring them home. That's what they're saying to you when they're whistling and bubbling away in the oven.

Sweet Potato Pie

Pastry for single layer pie crust
1 1/2# sweet potatoes
1/3 C. packed dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
4 T sweet butter
1 C Bourbon whiskey
3 large eggs
1/2 C. whole milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 T black strap molasses

Preheat oven to 350. Roll pastry into a 13" circle and place into a 9" pie plate. Tuck overhanging edges under and press the pastry into your desired edge. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Prick the crust with a paring knife or fork to prevent air bubbles. Line the crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until the sides begin to set, about 15 minutes, then remove the foil and weights and bake a further 10 minutes, until the entire shell is a pale golden color. Remove pie plate from oven and set on a rack to cool.
Raise oven temperature to 400. Peel each sweet potato and chop roughly (you want pieces similar in size to a 2" cube). Place potatoes in a casserole then toss with brown sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Dot with butter. Roast until tender, stirring occasionally, about an hour. Remove from oven and pour the Bourbon over the hot potatoes. Lower the oven temperature to 350.
Puree potatoes through a food mill or with a food processor. Press through a tamis if desired. Beat together eggs and molasses, then add milk and vanilla extract. Pour liquid mixture into potatoes and mix to combine.
Pour filling into pie shell. Bake in the middle of the oven until the edges have puffed and the center is no longer liquid but jiggles slightly. Remove from oven and cool completely before slicing.
Serve with sweetened and spiked whipped cream, if desired.