How My Willingness To Try An Unorthodox Recipe Got Me Gratifying Compliments
It is often challenging for even a well-seasoned cook to come up with interesting, palate-pleasing side dishes. Most of the effort of meal preparation involves creating an impressive entrée guaranteed to please family and friends. Side dishes are treated like red-headed stepchildren of dubious parentage, shoved off to the side and ignored.
What if you could create a side dish so creative and so memorable that it would become the stuff of legend? Imagine the word-of-mouth grapevine spreading the news of your amazing culinary prowess! Well, this recipe from Mimi is that too-good-to-be-true type of recipe that will have your guests wondering just what it contains, as they line up to beg for seconds – and your recipe. Quite the compliment!
What’s the secret ingredient that nobody will ever guess? As Mimi says, “Any casserole with bourbon in it has to be good, right?” Oh, my, my – yes sirree; it most certainly does! This dish is a mélange of tastes and textures. There is sweetness from slightly firm sweet potatoes and yielding pears, bathed in a silky glaze of maple syrup and bourbon. There is the smoky, salty taste and crispness of bacon, coupled with the crunch and nutty flavor of pecans. With a little something for everyone, this casserole is a real crowd-pleaser.
USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INSTRUCTIONS.
Quick Tip: Want to make this casserole ahead of time? You can, if you do it in phases and then put it in the oven to heat through, right before you serve it. The first thing to do is get your sweet potatoes cooked. When you are ready to make the sauce and the pears, go ahead and combine with the sweet potatoes and bake. Keep the baked dish in the refrigerator. If you like, you can cook and refrigerate the bacon, too. Personally, I would cook the bacon right before I planned to serve it. When you are ready to serve, toast the pecans, and use them, with the bacon, to top the casserole. Bake for about 30 minutes in order to heat through.
Recipe and image courtesy of Mimi at Mimi Avocado
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