The first time I made Coal-Fired Sweet Potatoes was at the Middleton Place plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, when Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q catered a food conference sponsored by Johnson & Wales University called “Cuisines of the Lowcountry and the Caribbean.” On the day of the dinner, every member of the Big Bob Gibson team was enlisted to do a cooking demonstration of the Caribbean fare. I am not sure whether my father-in-law, Don McLemore, drew the short straw or got the last pick, but somehow he was assigned the sweet potato ground pit. Imagine working at ground level in the dark over hot coals generating temperatures close to 1,000°F, all to cook an edible offering that looks like a smoldering meteorite. Under the sweat that dripped from his chin, Don wore a scowl all day—right up until dinner, when his sweet potatoes were the talk of the party. He was happy in the end, but I don’t know if he’ll ever let me live that one down. For that event we served the potatoes with a Caribbean butter sauce, but here I suggest subbing a maple pecan butter. This is my favorite way to eat sweet potatoes, whether they are cooked in coals or baked in the oven. It is also a fantastic topping for sweet potato pancakes—but that is a different cookbook.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　4 sweet potatoes, skin on

　　

Maple Pecan Butter

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

　　1/4 cup pure maple syrup

　　3 tablespoons chopped pecans

　　1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

　　1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

　　1/8 teaspoon salt

　　

Step 1

Place the sweet potatoes directly on a bed of hot coals. Cook for 40, minutes turning once halfway through.

　　

Step 2

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the maple syrup, pecans, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt. Heat the mixture on low for less than a minute, just until a layer of bubbles forms over the surface. Remove from the heat, but keep warm.

　　

Step 3

Remove the potatoes from the coals and brush away excess char. Split the potatoes lengthwise and top with the maple pecan butter.

　　

Cooking Method

Step 4

Coals

　　Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book by Chris Lilly. Copyright © 2009 by Chris Lilly. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Vice president, executive chef, and partner of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, Chris Lilly oversees the two company-owned restaurants as well as their new chain of franchises.