Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Maple Chile Crisp
By Bryan RoofPublished on September 5, 2023
Time
2¼ hours, plus 4½ hours cooling
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Chile Crisp
3 dried chipotle chiles 3 arbol chiles 2 ancho chiles 2 guajillo chiles 2 dried New Mexico chiles 3 scallions, sliced thin2 tablespoons maple sugar 3 garlic cloves, minced1½ teaspoons fine sea salt 1½ cups sunflower oilPotatoes
2 (12- to 16-ounce) white sweet potatoes, unpeeled, each lightly pricked with fork in 6 places4 teaspoons sunflower oil, divided½ teaspoon fine sea salt, divided½ teaspoon flake sea salt 1 scallion, sliced thin on biasBefore You Begin
Plan ahead: The chile crisp needs to sit for at least 4 hours before using; the potatoes should cool for at least 2 hours before grilling. The chile crisp yields about 1¾ cups. It’s important to combine all the ingredients in step 2 in a metal bowl because the shock of adding hot oil to a Pyrex or glass bowl could cause it to shatter. This recipe makes a medium-spiced chile crisp. If you prefer your chile crisp slightly milder, reduce the arbol and chipotle chiles to two each. To serve a larger crowd, the potato portion of the recipe can be doubled.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread chipotle, arbol, ancho, guajillo, and New Mexico chiles on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Let chiles cool completely on sheet, about 10 minutes.
- Stem and seed chiles. Break chiles into 1- to 2-inch pieces. Working in batches, pulse chiles in spice grinder until pieces no larger than ¼ inch remain, about 6 pulses. Transfer ground chiles to medium metal bowl. Add scallions, sugar, garlic, and salt to chile mixture.
- Heat oil in small saucepan over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Carefully pour hot oil over chile mixture in bowl (mixture will bubble aggressively). Let sit, stirring occasionally, until cooled completely, about 30 minutes. Transfer chile crisp to jar and let sit for at least 4 hours before using. (Chile crisp will keep at room temperature for at least 1 month.)
- Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and place potatoes on sheet. Bake potatoes until paring knife inserted in center meets no resistance, 1¼ to 1½ hours. Let potatoes cool completely, at least 2 hours. (Potatoes can be baked and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.)
- Prepare medium-hot grill or grill pan (if using grill pan, preheat over medium-high heat for 10 minutes). Clean and oil cooking grate. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Brush cut sides of potatoes with 2 teaspoons sunflower oil and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt. Place potatoes cut side down on grill and cook until potatoes are char-streaked and easily release from grill, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Brush skin sides of potatoes with remaining 2 teaspoons sunflower oil and sprinkle with remaining ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt. Using firm metal spatula, flip potatoes and cook until lightly browned on skin side and heated through, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Transfer potatoes to cutting board. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then in half crosswise. Arrange potatoes on platter and spoon generous ½ cup chile crisp over top, plus extra to taste. Sprinkle with flake sea salt and scallion. Serve.
for the chile crisp
for the potatoes
Time
2¼ hours, plus 4½ hours coolingYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Chile Crisp
Potatoes
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Chile Crisp
Potatoes
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Chile Crisp
Potatoes
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Why This Recipe Works: This recipe is inspired by the sweet potatoes with maple chile crisp served by chef, author, and educator Sean Sherman at Owamni in Minneapolis, Minn., a restaurant and community “committed to revitalizing Native American Cuisine and in the process . . . re-identifying North American Cuisine and reclaiming an important culinary culture long buried and often inaccessible.” Sherman’s company, The Sioux Chef, also founded the nonprofit organization North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS), which is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship for Indigenous food businesses in tribal communities, “promoting indigenous foodways education, and facilitating Indigenous food access.” For our version, we started by roasting sweet potatoes in the oven until they were fully tender (at which point they could be refrigerated for up to two days). Once the potatoes had cooled, we halved them, brushed them with oil, and grilled them (this can be done on an outdoor grill or an indoor grill pan) to produce deeply caramelized edges with complex flavors and a pleasing range of textures. Roasting the potatoes ahead ensured that their interiors remained exquisitely creamy while their exteriors became crisp and craggy from grilling. Using a firm metal spatula helped us dislodge and maneuver the potatoes on the grill as they became handsomely charred. We love these potatoes drizzled with smoky-sweet, aromatic maple chile crisp.
Before You Begin
Plan ahead: The chile crisp needs to sit for at least 4 hours before using; the potatoes should cool for at least 2 hours before grilling. The chile crisp yields about 1¾ cups. It’s important to combine all the ingredients in step 2 in a metal bowl because the shock of adding hot oil to a Pyrex or glass bowl could cause it to shatter. This recipe makes a medium-spiced chile crisp. If you prefer your chile crisp slightly milder, reduce the arbol and chipotle chiles to two each. To serve a larger crowd, the potato portion of the recipe can be doubled.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread chipotle, arbol, ancho, guajillo, and New Mexico chiles on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Let chiles cool completely on sheet, about 10 minutes.
- Stem and seed chiles. Break chiles into 1- to 2-inch pieces. Working in batches, pulse chiles in spice grinder until pieces no larger than ¼ inch remain, about 6 pulses. Transfer ground chiles to medium metal bowl. Add scallions, sugar, garlic, and salt to chile mixture.
- Heat oil in small saucepan over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Carefully pour hot oil over chile mixture in bowl (mixture will bubble aggressively). Let sit, stirring occasionally, until cooled completely, about 30 minutes. Transfer chile crisp to jar and let sit for at least 4 hours before using. (Chile crisp will keep at room temperature for at least 1 month.)
- Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and place potatoes on sheet. Bake potatoes until paring knife inserted in center meets no resistance, 1¼ to 1½ hours. Let potatoes cool completely, at least 2 hours. (Potatoes can be baked and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.)
- Prepare medium-hot grill or grill pan (if using grill pan, preheat over medium-high heat for 10 minutes). Clean and oil cooking grate. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Brush cut sides of potatoes with 2 teaspoons sunflower oil and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt. Place potatoes cut side down on grill and cook until potatoes are char-streaked and easily release from grill, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Brush skin sides of potatoes with remaining 2 teaspoons sunflower oil and sprinkle with remaining ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt. Using firm metal spatula, flip potatoes and cook until lightly browned on skin side and heated through, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Transfer potatoes to cutting board. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then in half crosswise. Arrange potatoes on platter and spoon generous ½ cup chile crisp over top, plus extra to taste. Sprinkle with flake sea salt and scallion. Serve.
for the chile crisp
for the potatoes
Gift This Recipe
Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.
Key Equipment
Keep Exploring
0 Comments