Appetizer/ Main Dishes

Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats

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Please read all the instructions before attempting this recipe.

We at Our Southern Odyssey really enjoy making and eating our Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats.  The recipe may seem complicated; but, if you just take and do one step at a time it is less overwhelming.  Creating a recipe for the first time can be a challenge, but the second time you make the recipe it is a breeze.  This recipe would be great to make if you are having friends over for game night and they also make great appetizers.  This is an excellent nightshade-free recipe.

Because this is one of those recipes within a recipe we have taken and divided it up into categories.  So you will know what you can do in advance and, also, when to start what.  That way everything gets done at the correct time. 

The night or day before you make the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats go ahead and make the Coconut Milk Ranch Dressing.  We like to dip our Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats into the Ranch Dressing when we are eating them.  For the complete recipe click on our Coconut Milk Ranch Dressing.  Place the Coconut Milk Ranch Dressing in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats.

On the day that you are going to make the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats you will need to put an organic whole air chilled chicken on to boil.  Follow the instructions and recipe for our Boiled Whole Chicken.  It will take about an hour and a half for the chicken to cook.  While the chicken is cooking we can go ahead and get the white sweet potatoes ready to go into the oven.

Take four Organic White Sweet Potatoes wash and dry them and place them on a baking pan lined with unbleached parchment paper.  Poke holes with a fork on the side of the white sweet potato that is facing up.  Try to poke the holes in a line, up and down the white sweet potato.  That way when you cut the white sweet potato later, you will cut along the dots made by the fork, you will not see any of the holes the fork made after the potato is cut.  The type of white sweet potato that we are using for this recipe is the White Sweet Potato that has a brown skin and white flesh.  It will take about an hour for the potatoes to cook.  We have a step-by-step guide on our blog titled; “How to bake a Sweet Potato” that will provide you with instruction on baking a sweet potato.  

The recipes for:  Our Coconut Milk Ranch Dressing, How to Boil a Chicken, How to Bake a Sweet Potato, and How to Fry Bacon.

While the chicken is boiling and the white sweet potatoes are cooking take this time to fry the bacon.  You will need eight slices of sugar-free bacon.  Cook the bacon and set to the side to cool.  You will not only be using the bacon for the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats.  You will, also, be using the bacon grease.  So do not discard the grease.  After the bacon has cooled enough to handle crumble the bacon and set it to the side until you are ready to assemble the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats.  Don’t forget to turn off the eye (burner).  If you have never cooked bacon before we have a guide on our site that explains how to cook bacon. 

 The White Sweet Potatoes should be done or just about done by now.  Take and remove the white sweet potatoes from the oven and let them cool slightly.  Take a larger baking pan, one that is large enough to hold eight white sweet potato halves, and line it with unbleached parchment paper.  Cut the white sweet potatoes in half and place them on the larger baking pan.  Set them to the side.  We will get back to them in a little bit.

The chicken that you put on to boil should be done by now.  Take and turn the eye (burner) off and remove the chicken from the water.  Be careful removing the chicken from the water as the chicken is very tender and tends to fall apart.  Set the chicken on a plate and allow it to cool so that you can handle the meat.  You will only be needing half of the chicken for this recipe.  Set the chicken to the side and we will get back to it later.

Use the recipes for “How to Bake a Sweet Potato”.

As the chicken is cooling take the white sweet potato halves and with a knife or spoon, refer to the step-by-step guide, remove the inside portion of the white sweet potato leaving about 1/4” perimeter all the way around the skin of the potato.  Again, refer to the step-by-step guide for a visual.  Remove the filling from each sweet potato half.  Also, don’t forget about leaving a little around the perimeter.

Place the potato filling in a medium size bowl.  You will want to keep all of the potato filling.  The potato filling acts like a binder that help hold all the ingredients together in the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats.  Set the bowl with the sweet potato filling to the side.  

With your basting brush and the bacon grease that we saved earlier take and baste the inside of each potato half with the bacon grease.  Repeat until all the white sweet potato halves are coated.  You do not want to much bacon grease in the potatoes just enough to flavor the sweet potato.  Don’t try to create a pond with the grease.  

Salt and pepper each sweet potato half.  We use Himalayan pink salt for its incredible flavor.  That is all you have to do in prep work to the sweet potato boats.  Set the sweet potato boats to the side and we will began to work on the filling.

Take the mixing bowl that you set to the side with the sweet potato filling in it and with a fork start mashing the sweet potato filling, removing any lumps.  You will want a smooth texture.  You could, also, use a potato masher for this step as well if you do not want to use a fork.  Again, set the bowl with the now creamy sweet potato filling to the side.

Take this time to get out a cutting board and knife and began chopping a small size onion.  The onion will need to be chopped very finely.  If you need a visual or step-by-step guide on How to Chop an Onion we have a guide on our site.  After the onion is chopped add the onion to the creamy sweet potato filling in the bowl and mix well.

Follow the recipes for: How to Chop an Onion and Tomato-Free BBQ Sauce.

Now take and wash 4 to 5 chives and dry them.  Since we still have the cutting board and knife out go ahead and chop your organic chives.  Put the chopped chives in a small bowl to use later.  Set the chives to the side.  

The chicken has had time to cool by now.  Remove the chicken from the bone.  Remember that we will only be using half the chicken for this recipe.  So you will be using one of the breast, the leg, thigh and the wing.  You will have extra chicken to eat later.  Who does not love that?!  As you are removing the chicken from the bone remember to make the chicken meat small, either by pulling the meat with your fingers or using a knife and cutting board.  Cut the chunks of meat that you pulled off the bone into small pieces.  This is a little messy.  If you want to keep your hands clean you can always wear food safe gloves.  After the chicken has been pulled apart add the meat to the potato and onion mixture in the bowl and mix well.   Remember you are only using half of the chicken.  After you finish adding half of the chicken meat to the bowl set the bowl to the side.  

Take the rest of the chicken and remove it from the bone as well.  And place it in a glass bowl and put it into the refrigerator to eat later.  The reason I say go ahead and pull the rest of the chicken off the bone even though you are not using it, is because, the chicken meat will come off the bone easier now, than say after you put the chicken in the fridge and it is cold.  So just to save yourself the hardship later go ahead and do it now.

So after all of this is taken care of, take and move the knife and cutting board out of the way; we will not be using it anymore.  Wash your hands if you pulled the chicken off the bone with your bare hands or throw away the gloves if you used gloves.  Now that you have more room in your work area it is time to make the Tomato-Free Barbecue Sauce.

Follow the recipe for the Tomato-Free Barbecue Sauce that we have on our site.  This is a really simple recipe that taste amazing on its on, but it is absolutely delicious on these Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats.  When the BBQ sauce is done and while it is still hot take and add it to the mixing bowl that has the mashed sweet potato, onion, and chicken in it.  Mix all the ingredients really well.  You want all the flavors incorporated together.  

Set the oven to broil.  Now it is time to start loading the boats.  This is the fun part, and the time that you get to see all your hard work come together.  You should notice how the sweet potato is acting like a binder to the mixture in the bowl.  It does so well you might think that there is cheese in the mixture.  But this recipe is dairy-free.  Who needs cheese when you have sweet potatoes? 

Move the bowl with the filling over to your baking pan with the sweet potato boats.  Taking a spoon, scoop out a little bit of the mixture at a time and began filling the boats up.  Here is a tip, don’t fill each sweet potato boat up completely, you know, to the tip top.  Just add a little mixture to each sweet potato boat then add a little more until all the mixture is gone.  Basically, just go around in circles until each sweet potato boat is filled, that way you will know that each boat has an equal amount of filling.  Otherwise, if you just filled each sweet potato boat individually to the brim toward the last boats they might remain empty, and no one wants that.  An empty sweet potato boat, how sad.  

Now after each sweet potato boat is loaded take the bacon that we crumbled earlier.  Wow!  That seems so long ago.  Take the bacon crumbles, and now with your own judgement take, and sprinkle the bacon pieces over the potato mixture in each sweet potato boat.  After you have successfully spread or sprinkled out the bacon.  Take the chives, that we chopped earlier, and sprinkle them on top of the mixture as well.  

Now that we have the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats all dressed up and loaded down.  We are going to pick up the baking pan and very carefully put them into the oven that we had set to broil earlier.  STAY WITH THE OVEN!!!  Do not go and do something right now.  If you need to do something do it before you put them in the oven.  It will only take 3 minutes to broil.  That is all the time that they need to be left in the oven.  If they are left longer in the oven they will burn.  Remember, the oven is on broil.  Three minutes is not long enough to do anything.  Stay beside the oven and watch the timer.  I cannot stress this enough.  It would be horrible, if after all your hard work, all you had to show for it was an oven full of smoke.  

After the three minutes are done remove the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats from the oven and place them on a potholder on the counter.  Plate them on your favorite platter.  Now remove the Coconut Milk Ranch Dressing, from the fridge that you made in advance, and serve it in a small bowl with the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats.  We hope that you enjoy this delicious recipe.  

We like to serve the Loaded White Sweet Potato Boats with either fresh steamed broccoli or a side salad.  You already made the Coconut Milk Ranch Dressing.  So having a side salad is always a nice addition to a meal, especially this one.

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Remember anyone can be an amazing cook — you just have to find the right ingredients that are right for you — add a little bit of patients — laugh at your failures — and keep trying.

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