Jim Coleman: Sweet potatoes work deliciously in place of russets

Q: I read your column about sweet potatoes and yams. My question: Can sweet potatoes and regular potatoes can be used interchangeably?

- Speedy

A: Calm down, Speedy - potatoes do take a while to cook, and you don't want to rush the enjoyment of eating them. Unless of course, there is a ball game on and you want to get back to the television.

In fact, my favorite team is about to play, so I am going to give you a "speedy" answer.

Basically, you can substitute sweet potatoes in any recipe that calls for russet potatoes. Sweet potatoes will definitely work in a stew, a casserole or a roast.

The other good thing about substituting sweet potatoes is that they contain many more nutrients and anti-oxidants than regular potatoes. Sweet potatoes contain 380 percent of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin A in every half-cup! They also are extremely high in vitamins C and E.

As a rule of thumb, the paler the sweet potato is, the starchier it is. So if you want to use them to make something that requires a lot of starch (like a potato pancake), look for light-colored sweet potatoes.

I am glad to see that you are giving sweet potatoes their due and not just topping them with marshmallows and lots of brown sugar. You have to wonder, who was the first person to take a bite of mashed sweet potatoes and think, "I wish I had a bag of mini marshmallows?"

It was probably the same guy who thought M&Ms should go on steamed asparagus and Swedish Fish should be sprinkled over chicken pot pie. Now hurry up and get those sweet potatoes in the oven - the game's about to start.

Q: I enjoy watching your TV show on PBS and reading your column in the Daily News. I have been trying to make sweet-potato french fries in the oven, but they keep turning black while cooking. What am I doing wrong?

I first wash them, peel them, let them soak in water after cutting, lay out foil on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and also give them a spray on top. I bake them at 350 degrees for a few minutes. Result: baked sweet potatoes with black spots. Please help!

- Carol S.

A: I want your sweet-potato fries to have as good a taste as you do in TV shows and newspaper columns, Carol.

As you know, sweet potatoes have carbs, and when you apply heat to complex carbs, they turn to sugar and caramelize. The more heat, the more caramelization, the darker it gets.

However, I'm not throwing in the towel. I'm going to attack these black spots with all my intelligence.

OK, we'll have to do better than that. Here are some things that could cause the problem, based on what you're telling me.

First, your fries may be too thick. The thinner you cut the fries, the less time you need to cook them. A shorter cooking time means a smaller chance of them over-caramelizing.

Second, you are better off not washing the potatoes; and since you are peeling them, you really don't need to. Also, unless you are prepping them way ahead of time, you do not need to soak sweet potatoes after cutting.

Another tip: Don't refrigerate sweet potatoes. Putting sweet potatoes in cold storage produces a "chilling injury" that hardens them and makes them impossible to cook.

Chilled sweet potatoes would have to stay in the oven far too long, and in the end you'd have blackened (and I don't mean in the good Cajun way) sweet potatoes that would still be hard as rocks.

The other thing you may want to try is to lose the foil and the baking sheet; use a glass baking dish instead. A baking sheet will get as hot as the oven, but the glass baking dish won't, because glass does not conduct heat.

You can also try preheating your oven to 450 degrees and then turning on the broiler. Place thinly cut sweet-potato fries under the broiler on a rack positioned in the top third of the oven.

Another thing to try is to toss the fries in a little olive oil, and use the Pam to spray the baking dish. The seasoning you use shouldn't have anything to do with the potatoes turning black, and the type of oven won't matter. Even the temperature shouldn't make too much difference if the sweet potatoes are cut small enough.

Try this recipe, and if it works, remember who saved the day. If it doesn't work, say you got it from another TV show or column I have nothing to do with.

CAROL'S 'GOOD TASTE' SWEET-POTATO FRIES

2 to 3 sweet potatoes, peeled

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

(optional)

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the peeled potatoes lengthwise as thinly as you can with a sharp chef's knife. Lay the slices down and cut them into thin french fry sticks.

Mix the oil together with the spices in a large bowl. Add the potatoes and gently toss until they are all well-coated. Place them in a glass baking dish coated with cooking spray and bake for approximately 20 minutes, shaking them in the pan about halfway through the cooking.

Serves 6 to 8.

Chef Jim Coleman, corporate chef at Normandy Farm and Blue Bell Country Club, is the author of three cookbooks and hosts two nationally syndicated shows: "A Chef's Table," noon Saturdays on WHYY (91-FM); and "Flavors of America," 1 p.m. Saturdays on Channel 12, and 4:30 p.m. weekdays on CN8. He and his wife, writer Candace Hagan, will answer questions.

E-mail ChefColeman@aol.com.