Cooking with Quady: Essensia Yams

If you have fans of tender sweet holiday yams or sweet potatoes in your family, try them on the Essensia yams. These have delicious flavors of apricot and orange, that only Essensia can bring, different from the usual sugary sweet potato recipes. Use whichever type of sweet potatoes or yams you enjoy. Essensia is a full-bodied sweet wine made with Orange Muscat grapes. The experience of Essensia is unmistakable: a rich gold in the glass is accompanied by spicy orange-apricot-pear flavors and aromas, balanced with perfect fruit acidity to finish clean, tempting you for one more sip.

Ingredients

4 medium sweet yams, peeled and sliced into 1-inch squares

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/3 cup Essensia

1/3 cup Honey

1/3 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large saucepan, place the sweet yam squares.  Cover the yams with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to moderate and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Strain well.

Arrange the yams in a glass dish. Season with salt and pepper, then dot with the butter pieces. Whish Essensia and honey together in a separate dish. Drizzle the Essensia honey mixture over the yams. Sprinkle the yams with water. Bake for 15 minutes, until they’re tender and lightly browned.