I've been mentally chewing on this recipe for a while now. I knew I wanted to do something with yams and oranges ever since my mom told me that she secretly adds a splash of orange juice to her candied yams at Thanksgiving - sorry for spilling the beans, mom! Her candied yams are usually the highlight of the Thanksgiving meal for me, so I knew it would be a winning combo from the start. What I didn't know was what the heck else to add. I bought the yams and oranges and watched as they sat in sadness day after day until finally I knew I needed to use them or lose them. In the end I decided to add ginger and garlic to spice things up a bit, and drizzled the whole thing with honey to kick up the natural sweetness of the yams and oranges. It turned out looking gorgeous and tasting even better. The sweet caramelization of the yams and honey mixed with pungent orange, ginger, and garlic flavors were spot on. Next time I might try adding some red pepper flakes for a bit of heat, or some cardamom for another layer of spice, or maybe I'll just leave it as is. It was pretty darn good.
