Ham and Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Yes Please!

I managed to get a regular ham for only $1.03/lb, and sweet potatoes were a manageable $0.98/lb, so tonight is ham and mashed sweet potatoes! Going with it will be steamed peas and a warmed loaf of Italian bread, remainder from the bakery bought at 1/3 off the price. Who says I have to bake everything from scratch!

It turns out that 10 pounds of bone-in ham does *not* fit nicely into a 6 qt crockpot no matter which way you lay it, so I cut that big ham in half and put one half into the 6 quart oval crockpot and the other half into my 5 quart round crockpot. I had read up on cooking ham with ginger ale in the crockpot, and several reviews on several recipes said about spreading a paste of brown sugar and dijon/fancy mustard on top after ginger ale is poured over and around, so I gave it a try. The verdict is don't waste your time. The soda was good, as it draws out some of the salt while maintaining or adding a touch of sweetness, but it imparted no flavor and the brown sugar and mustard paste did absolutely nothing, just a waste of ingredients. Also, doing it in the crockpot instead of the oven did absolutely nothing to glaze the ham, just an FYI. I'm really considering getting another ham and trying the soda and baking method (any soda works well with this, and if you bake the ham instead of crockpot cooking it, basting every 30 minutes, it will glaze the ham). As it is, I have ham for dinner, and more than a dozen baggies (each 1 cup of cubed ham) of meat in the freezer to use in omelets, stir fries, hashbrowns, scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, stuffed potatoes, baked potatoes, bean soup, and more, plus I have the bones to make either split pea or ham and bean soup later this week.

1 ham (I used a 10 lb ham hacked in half, using two crockpots)
ginger ale - enough to put an inch of soda in the bottom of the crockpot
crockpot
1. Remove as much fat as you can from the ham. Put it in the crockpot.
2. Pour the ginger ale over the ham. Cover, and turn on low and cook for 8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Heck, the ham is already cooked, so 3-4 hours on low should do it. I did mine for 8 hours, and it fell apart as I pulled it out.

Now for the luscious mashed sweet potatoes. I'm sorry to say that I do this to taste every time, and whenever I try to do exact measurements, I end up fussing and fixing it anyway. These are my rough measurements.

9 medium sweet potatoes
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. butter/margarine, melted
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1. Bake the sweet potatoes: 400 degrees, 1 hour, don't forget to prick them so they don't explode from steam build up and don't forget to put foil under them to catch the sweet juice drips (which would turn into smelly burnt sugar drips on the oven floor).
2. Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and just kind of shake the insides into a mixer bowl - the skins slip right off, so I just grab the ends, flip it cut side down over the bowl, jiggle, and watch the meat of the potato fall right away.
3. Add the remaining ingredients, and mix until the consistency of mashed potatoes. Melting the butter not only ensure even dispersal but also means that the butter isn't cooling the sweet potatoes prematurely, changing the starch reactions (this is why you should warm your milk and butter before adding to white potatoes when mashing them too!).
I serve this just the way it is, although diners might want to have a pat of butter, drizzle of maple syrup or honey, or a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. To freeze, I put 1 cup portions in baggies, lay flat on a cutting board, freeze, and bag in a gallon freezer bag. Reheating is simple in the microwave, and they are great paired with grilled venison, ham, herbed pork chops, barbeque chicken, peas, broccoli, aspagaragus, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, green beans, almost any vegetable. Try serving with lemon herb chicken and a simple salad of fresh spinach, dried cranberries, candied pecans, thinly sliced red onion rings, crumbled chevre, and a cranberry vinaigrette. Wow!