Caramelised Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Iron Chef Australian's Note:

This is more a basic cooking technique than a recipe, but it's one of my favourite veg sides, and you do have to get it right to get that delicious caramelisation - where the natural sugars in the sweet potatoes melt into a delicious sweet crust on the cut side of the potatoes. It's important to get that really deep brown colour for full flavour - pull them out of the oven just before they look like burning. I use cheap, high-smoke point blended vegetable oil, but I guess these would taste better with a better (ahem, more expensive) oil. These would be good with any meat, but great with pork.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 4 sweet potatoes (kumera or yams)
• 1 -2 tablespoon vegetable oil

To serve

• finely ground sea salt
• sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C and preheat two baking trays.
2. Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthways.
3. Coat in oil.
4. Place the potatoes cut-side down on the hot trays, spacing them far apart so they cook faster.
5. Roast the potatoes for approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour (depending on their size), until the underside is caramelised dark brown.
6. Serve sprinkled liberally with sea salt and dollops of sour cream.