Sometimes my brain goes on little trips down the pathway. I start out thinking about one thing and it brings up the next and the next and the next, till I pipe up in a conversation 4 or 5 trains of thought later and the person I’m talking to has no idea what I’m talking about. They might be talking about baking which makes me think of the ovens we have in the garage waiting to be installed, that makes me thing of stopping at my parent’s house to pick them up, that makes me think of going there for my brother’s wedding next month, that makes me think of California and I may reply to the person talking about baking I wonder what the weather will be like in California next month. They think I’m not paying attention but I am. I just carried the conversation ahead without any notice! I kind of do that with cooking as well. For instance these Sweet Potato Clouds.
I started thinking I have potatoes that I need to use. Then I thought about some of our readers that didn’t know what a tator tot was, so I was going to make some from scratch. Then, when I went into the potato drawer I saw a couple of sweet potatoes and thought those would be really tasty as tots. So I started on the path towards sweet potato tots. Then life happened and I left them to bake too long. This ended up being a happy accident because the end result was a delicious sweet potato cloud. They’re crispy on the outside and light and fluffy like a whipped sweet potato on the inside. I could eat them all day long all by themselves but they are delish with honey drizzled over the top or dipped in a pesto mayonnaise.
You could even freeze them after you’ve fried them and then reheat them in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or so. The perfect little bite! I can’t wait to make them the next time I make this Pesto Chicken Sandwich.
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour plus 1/2 cup
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups canola oil
Instructions
- preheat oven to 350
- place sweet potatoes in oven and bake for 45 min or until fork can poke in and be removed easily
- remove from oven and allow to cool until they can be handled
- using a paring knife remove the skin
- grate on a box cutter using the large holes
- place sweet potato into a medium sized bowl
- mix in 2 tbsp of flour, salt, garlic powder, and cinnamon
- place 1/2 cup flour into a shallow dish, like a pie plate
- roll 1 tbsp of mixture into a 1 inch long log
- roll log into flour to coat the outside and shake off any extra
- repeat with remaining sweet potato mixture
- add oil into a skillet with high sides
- heat over medium high heat for 5 minutes
- place 8 clouds into oil at a time, cooking 1 minute per side (I found wooden chopsticks worked best to flip)
- remove from oil and allow to drain on a paper towel lined baking sheet
- continue with remaining clouds
- serve warm!
