Al Roker’s Sweet Potato Poon, a delicious dish with a side of mystery

By The Associated Press

When Al Roker thinks astir his parent and food, this look comes to mind. The poon is simply a spot of a mystery. While it graced his array for each vacation repast and connected peculiar Sunday dinners, nary 1 successful the household knows wherever this broadside crockery came from oregon wherefore connected world it’s called a poon.

The look is included successful a caller cookbook written by Roker and his girl Courtney, titled “Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By.”

Just arsenic the poon was a tradition, truthful was torturing his parent portion she was making it for Thanksgiving dinner. Once the kids could odor the divine combo of spices wafting from the kitchen, they knew it was astir clip for her to adhd the marshmallows and shove it nether the broiler. At which constituent they’d bash thing they could to distract her.

One of them would beryllium sent to participate the kitchen. “Mom, truthful where’s that, um, large bluish bowl?” She’d commencement rummaging done a cabinet, and earlier long, achromatic fume would billow from the oven. Their giggles would person infuriated her if they weren’t blocked retired by the dependable of the occurrence alarm. But his parent yet figured retired however to bushed them astatine their ain game. One time aft they’d had their fun, she calmly pulled a backup poon retired of the refrigerator.

SWEET POTATO POON

Serves: 8

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

3 pounds saccharine potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2-inch chunks

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, chopped into cubes

1 cupful firmly packed acheronian brownish sugar

¾ cupful all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking pulverization 1½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ spoon crushed cinnamon

¼ spoon crushed nutmeg

¼ spoon crushed allspice

¾ cups canned crushed pineapple, drained

1 (12-ounce) container ample marshmallows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking crockery with nonstick cooking spray.

Bring a ample cookware of h2o to a boil implicit precocious heat. Add the saccharine potatoes and navigator until tender, astir 12 minutes. Drain and transportation to a ample bowl. Add the food and usage a murphy masher to mash the food into the saccharine potatoes. Stir successful the brownish sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice and disturbance until good combined. Fold successful the crushed pineapple and transportation the substance to the prepared baking dish.

Bake until the saccharine potatoes are lightly browned connected top, astir 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and preheat the broiler.

Place the marshmallows successful a azygous furniture connected apical of the saccharine potatoes. Broil for a infinitesimal oregon 2 to toast the apical of the marshmallows — they brownish fast, truthful don’t locomotion away! Let chill for astatine slightest 10 minutes earlier serving.

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Excerpted from the publication “Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By: Easy, Memory-Making Family Dishes For Every Occasion by Al Roker and Courtney Roker Laga. Copyright (copyright) 2024 by Al Roker. Reprinted with support of Legacy Lit, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. All rights reserved.