February is North Carolina Sweet Potato Month! To celebrate, the NC Sweet Potato Commission is hosting “Signature Sweets.” Over 50 chefs and artisans from NC will be featuring a special dish for the whole month of February using sweet potatoes grown in NC.
Here is the finalized list of participants.Located in Raleigh, NC, Kimbap is a Korean-inspired restaurant serving delicious foods created with local ingredients. In honor of NC Sweet Potato Month, Chef Kim Hunter has shared a recipe for NC Sweet Potato Gratin. Try this dish at home or enjoy at Kimbap throughout the month of February.
NC Sweet Potato Gratin
Ingredients
2 lbs sweet potatoes
2 T butter
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t allspice
2 T flour *(can use rice flour for gluten free version)
2 cups half & half
4 ounces gruyere cheese, grated
2 t salt, plus pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes, for garnish
Directions
Get a bowl of water ready. Butter 4-6 ramekin dishes and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Peel sweet potatoes, then use mandolin to slice into thin disks. Place sliced sweet potatoes in water; set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add spices. Add flour and whisk to incorporate. Cook flour/butter mixture for a couple minutes until golden in color. Very slowly whisk in half and half, a little at a time, allowing mixture to come together. Allow sauce to simmer and thicken a bit. Turn off heat and add gruyere. Allow to melt. Gently stir mixture.
Drain sweet potatoes. In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes and cheese sauce. Sprinkle salt and pepper and mix. Spoon sweet potato mixture into ramekins, distributing remaining sauce into each ramekin also. Fill ramekins to just below the top. Bake for about 25 minutes until bubbly and potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, sprinkle red pepper flakes on top, and enjoy.