Sweet Potatoes with Spiced butter and Pomegranate seeds

My feasting on Thursday was grandiose - everything was super delicious. My uncle smoked a turkey that was free from any gluten contact, and there were two grain free pies and lots of delicious sides. I made these sweet potatoes that turned out really delicious (I was a little nervous about the spicing).

The original recipe was in Bon Appetit using squash, but I tried it with sweet potatoes. It's a Persian spiced butter with cinnamon, coriander, lime zest and cardamom. The flavor was perfect: enough to be interesting, but not too overpowering to make it difficult to eat with other foods, and the pomegranate seeds were festive. I was making a double batch (7-8 lbs of sweet potatoes) and it all was pretty easy. I did not get any finished photos, alas. I meant to take one right before serving (with the pomegranate seeds), but of course was too swept up in the forthcoming eating to remember to take a picture. Imagine a blend of these two photos:

 Because this was Thanksgiving, I made a little extra effort and peeled the sweet potatoes. I cut them into a large dice - a little over an inch cubed. Originally I roasted them in olive oil and than poured the spiced butter glaze over the top, but were I to make them again I would just roast them in the butter glaze.

Spiced Butter

My double batch! Lots of sweet potatoes!

8 T butter/ghee
1 tsp fresh grated lime zest
1 T fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp pepper
salt

Additional ingredients: Sweet potatoes (3-4 lbs) and pomegranate seeds.

1. Make the spiced butter: Either in a bowl by hand or in a food processor, mix all ingredients except salt until combined. Salt to taste (I used about 1 tsp.) Use within a week, or roll up in parchment paper and refrigerate up to 2 weeks, or freeze for 3 months.
2. When ready to make sweet potatoes: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring about 1/2 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Whisk in spiced butter, 1 T at a time, until all butter is incorporated to form a rich, glossy sauce. 
3. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into large chunks. In a large bowl, toss sweet potato pieces with 1/2+ of butter sauce. Stir to coat on all sides and use extra butter sauce if needed.
4. Layer sweet potatoes in single layers on sheet pans (with an edge) and lightly salt with a nice sea salt (I like Maldon). Roast for 20 minutes, flipping sweet potatoes midway through. Sweet potato pieces should be soft and browned.
5. To serve, pour remaining butter sauce over sweet potatoes and toss with pomegranate seeds.
YUM!

*Note: I learned an easy way to get pomegranate seeds from this youtube video. You basically score the pomegranate around the middle and pull it apart, then wack each half with a wooden spoon to knock out the seeds. I thought it worked great.