CUBAN SWEET POTATOES (WITH GARLIC & CILANTRO)
Put a heavy-duty baking sheet into the oven and preheat (oven and baking sheet) to 450º.
2 medium sweet potatoes
4 T. olive oil
4 cloves garlic - or more!
1/3 bunch cilantro
juice of 1 lime
Peel the sweet potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, and then cut into half-circle shaped slices about 1/2-inch thick. Put them in a big bowl, add the olive oil and stir to coat well, then season with salt and toss again.
By this time, the baking sheet should be nice and HOT. Take it carefully out of the oven and pour the sweet potatoes onto it - they should really sizzle. Spread them out so they're all flat and in a single layer - there shouldn't be any pieces on top of each other. Put them back into the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes - don't wash the bowl.
Peel the garlic and chop it very finely. Take the leaves of the cilantro off of the stems and chop roughly. (Sometimes I don't chop them at all.) Put the garlic, cilantro, and lime juice into the bowl you used for the sweet potatoes.
When the timer goes off, check to see if the sweet potatoes are browned on the bottom. If they are, turn them over. If they're not, put them back in for 5 more minutes.
An aside about cooking in a hot oven: Cooking in a 450º oven makes this a quick dish to make, and gives you nice and brown potatoes. However, there's a fine line between "brown" and "burnt beyond repair." Use a timer, pay attention, and don't drink any wine until the sweet potatoes are safely out of the oven! Learn from my mistakes...
After the sweet potatoes are turned over, put them back into the oven to get brown on the other side. This will take a little less time than it took for the first side. Total cooking time should be less than 30 minutes - more like 20.
When the sweet potatoes ARE brown on both sides, take them out and immediately toss THEM in the bowl with the garlic, cilantro, and lime juice. Season with a little more salt and a nice dose of freshly ground black pepper.
NOTES: Yes, the garlic is raw. It gets warmed up by the hot sweet potatoes, but it doesn't get cooked.
