Sweet Potato Tots Prove Even Tator Tots Can Be Improved by Lisa Messinger on Creators.com

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Sweet Potato Tots Prove Even Tator Tots Can Be Improved

You can't get much more comforting when it comes to food than tator tots. Whether homemade, restaurant ordered or packaged, the browned oil-drenched nuggets are decadent and diet busting.

Fast food chain Sonic, though, is one in a line of preparers who have decided seasoned sweet potatoes should be added to the mix. They have created a stir and an uptick in orders with the ones they've been promoting as accompaniments to spicy popcorn chicken.

Specialty supermarket chain Trader Joe's notes sales spiked fast when its brand of frozen sweet tots came on board.

The little darlings are fairly simple to prepare at home, too. When that's the case you can add your own favorite flavors, such as bacon, garlic, oregano and curry powder featured in the recipes below. Best of all is the mild sweet kick from the flavor of the potato and the mild nutritional benefits from the sweet potatoes additional vitamins. Or you have the option of baking them while they still remain more flavorful than their bland cousins.

SWEET POTATO AND BACON TOTS WITH CREAMY MUSTARD DIPPING SAUCE

—Sweet potato tots:

Salt, to taste

2 large sweet potatoes, unpeeled

2 strips bacon

3 cups vegetable oil

3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour

—Mustard dipping sauce:

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Yields 4 servings.

To prepare tots: Boil a pot of salted water. Add the potatoes and partially cook, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside.

Meanwhile, add the bacon to a small skillet over medium heat and cook until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate. Finely chop the bacon when cooled.

Carefully heat the oil to 300 F in a straight-sided skillet.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, shred the potatoes using either a box grater or shredding attachment on a food processor.

Place 4 sheets of paper towels on a countertop. Dump the potatoes on top of the paper towels and fold the towels over the potatoes.

Squeeze as much moisture out of the potatoes as possible. (This is the trick to make perfect tater tots; too much moisture will result in little pieces of potato all around your skillet when frying.) Combine the potatoes with the bacon, flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix well to combine.

Form the potato mixture into small logs using a 1-tablespoon measuring spoon. Working in batches, carefully fry the tots in the skillet until golden brown, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed to keep the oil at 300 F. Carefully transfer the tots to a paper-towel-lined plate to strain excess fat. Sprinkle the tots with salt while still warm.

To prepare dipping sauce: Combine the mayo, honey and mustard in a small bowl. Sprinkle the sauce with salt and pepper.

Serve the sweet potato and bacon tots hot with the creamy mustard dipping sauce. —"Ten Dollar Dinners"/FoodNetwork.com

BAKED GARLIC SWEET POTATO TOTS

2 small sweet potatoes, unpeeled

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Dried oregano, to taste

Curry powder, to taste

Garlic powder, to taste

Yields 8 servings.

Grate sweet potato and par boil for 2 minutes in a pot of salted boiling water. After par boiling, place potatoes in a bowl of ice water to stop it cooking further. Drain thoroughly, carefully squeezing out moisture.

Shred potatoes. In a large bowl, mix together potatoes, egg, salt, oregano and curry powder. In a separate bowl, mix panko breadcrumbs and garlic powder. Roll potato into approximately 2-inch pieces and coat with panko crumbs.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 425 F for 20 minutes, carefully turning with a utensil halfway through. —SparkPeople.com —Photo courtesy of Sonic

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "Cooks' Books" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.