Coconut-Pecan Sweet Potatoes

July 2022. Memphis summer, 63 years old, and the heat wraps around Orange Mound like a wet blanket that nobody asked for but everybody wears because that is the deal you make when you live in the South. The smoker calls louder in summer — something about the heat amplifying the smoke, the way humidity amplifies everything in Memphis — and I answer, because answering is what pitmasters do.

Marcus and Angela in Whitehaven, building their family, their house full of the sounds I remember from our own early years — a baby's laugh, a spouse's voice, the daily music of people learning to live together. Naomi growing with the speed of childhood, each visit revealing a new word, a new capability, a new expression that catches my breath because it echoes someone I lost.

I smoked a pork shoulder this week — the king, the classic, fourteen hours over hickory. The bark was dark and the smoke ring deep and the meat fell apart in my hands with the familiar magic of something that has been loved patiently. I served it on white bread with coleslaw and vinegar sauce, the way Uncle Clyde taught me, the way I teach everyone who stands next to my smoker, because the serving is the tradition and the tradition is the point.

The week ended on the porch with Rosetta, the evening settling over Orange Mound, the smoker cooling in the backyard. The fire was banked but not out — it's never out, just resting between cooks, holding the heat the way I hold the tradition: carefully, permanently, with the understanding that what Uncle Clyde gave me is not mine to keep but mine to pass, and the passing is the purpose.

The pork shoulder gets all the glory, and it deserves every bit of it — but what Rosetta always brings to the table when that smoker fires up is something quieter, something that doesn’t demand attention but makes everything around it better. These Coconut-Pecan Sweet Potatoes are that dish. The pecans were Uncle Clyde’s idea, years ago, and the coconut came later, from Rosetta herself, and together they make something that feels like it was always meant to sit right next to white bread and vinegar sauce and the kind of afternoon that slows down just enough to be worth remembering.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 6

Ingredients

3 large sweet potatoes (about 3 lbs), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup canned coconut milk (full-fat)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon honey, for finishing

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick spray.
Season the sweet potatoes. In a large bowl, toss the cubed sweet potatoes with melted butter, coconut milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until evenly coated.
Transfer and spread. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Cover tightly with foil.
Bake covered. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are just fork-tender but still holding their shape.
Add the topping. Remove the foil and scatter the shredded coconut and chopped pecans evenly over the top. Return to the oven uncovered.
Finish and brown. Bake an additional 12—15 minutes, until the coconut and pecans are golden and toasted and the edges of the sweet potatoes begin to caramelize.
Drizzle and rest. Remove from the oven, drizzle honey over the top, and let rest 5 minutes before serving so the coconut milk sauce thickens slightly.

Nutrition (per serving)

Coconut-Pecan Sweet Potatoes — The Side That Earns Its Place at a Memphis Pitmaster’s Table