Honey-Glazed Sweet Potato Steaks with Brussels Sprouts

I’ve noticed the word steak applied to portabella mushrooms for years, and more recently, to cauliflower, but a new one to me was sweet potato steaks.

This wonderful recipe was found in a Food & Wine Magazine article about Baltimore-based chef Spike Gjerde, who approaches local sourcing like no other. For instance, instead of olive oil and lemons, he uses locally-grown and pressed oils and vinegars in his restaurants, thus providing more opportunities to area farmers and producers.

There were several of Gjerde’s recipes included in the article that sounded amazing like Baked Sheep’s Milk Ricotta with Dried Persimmons and Potato Soup with Sage Butter and Rye Crumbs, but Honey-Glazed Sweet Potato Steaks with Brussels Sprouts intrigued me the most, plus, it was by far the healthiest.

The recipe, as written, only serves two, and it’s really more of an appetizer or small plate quantity, so double it if you want a full meal or if serving as a starter for a small dinner party. Most of the prep can be done ahead of time and the dish comes together quickly after that.

The coating on the sweet potatoes is an addictive bit of crunch and the drizzle of honey that finishes them caramelizes nicely and will have you scraping your plate to get every remaining drop. The less sweet Brussels sprouts are the perfect pairing with their browned bottoms and nutty, savory flavor. Enjoy!

• Servings: 2
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From Food & Wine Magazine, March 2019

Be sure to use a cast-iron skillet for this recipe; it maintains heat and will result in beautifully caramelized honey and well-cooked Brussels sprouts.

1 (1-pound) sweet potato, peeled

1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger

1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon neutral oil (canola, grapeseed, or avocado)

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, halved top to bottom

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons clover honey, divided

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut sweet potato lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slabs. Place the 2 center-cut potato slabs on a cutting board; reserve remaining sweet potato pieces for another use. Score 1 side of each slab in an 1/8-inch-deep diamond pattern.

Stir together ginger, 3/4 teaspoon salt, coriander, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Rub mixture evenly on both sides of sweet potato slabs.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high until smoking, about 3 minutes. Add oil, and swirl to coat bottom of skillet. Add sweet potatoes, scored side down, and cook until bottoms are golden brown, about 1 minute. Flip and arrange Brussels sprouts, cut sides down, in a single layer around sweet potatoes. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons honey; transfer skillet to preheated oven.

Roast until sprouts are tender and cut sides are caramelized, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove sprouts from skillet, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and set aside. Return skillet to oven; continue roasting until sweet potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 more minutes.

Remove skillet from oven, and drizzle sweet potatoes with remaining 1/4 cup honey (I used most, but not all of the honey). Tilt skillet, and baste sweet potatoes until honey caramelizes and sweet potatoes are glazed, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer sweet potato steaks to serving plates. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and drizzle with remaining caramelized honey in skillet. Top with Brussels sprouts. Makes two servings.