Honey-Roasted Mashed Opelousas Sweet Potatoes

And while we were together in Manitowoc for Christmas, we needed a side plate to accompany the beef tenderloin Christmas dinner.  Very Thanksgivingish, these sweet potatoes were really easy and didn't end up too sweet in the end.  Megan said that they were like good Thanksgiving sweet potatoes without that overly sweet marshmallow topping.  We would definitely make these again.

6 sweet potatoes, about 1# each
8 T (1 stick) butter, diced
1 t ground cinnamon
¼ t freshly ground nutmeg

1 cup honey

kosher salt and freshly

ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350

Peel and quarter the sweet potatoes and place them in a roasting pan.
Place the diced butter evenly on top of the potatoes, sprinkle the cinnamon and
nutmeg on top, drizzle with the honey, and season them with salt and pepper.
Gently pour about 2 cups of water into the pan without washing anything off
the potatoes.

Cover and bake for 1 ½ hours, or until the potatoes are very tender.
Remove the cover, stir and cook for 30 minutes more.
The potatoes should have a dark drown color on top and be very tender.

Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon, place them in the large bowl of an
electric mixer, and mix until all the lumps are gone. Drizzle in as much liquid from
the pan as desired. Turn off the mixer, and scrape the bowl. Continue mixing
until the potatoes have the desired consistency. Adjust seasoning, place
potatoes in a large casserole dish and serve.

(Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. Refrigerate covered, and then reheat in oven.)