Yam recipes

Fruits afire is a flambe dessert with canned pears, apricots, and bing cherries in a reduced cinnamon-apricot syrup, finished tableside with flaming rum. A dramatic, retro showstopper.

Raspberry coil coffeecake made from rolled dough ropes swirled into a spiral, spread with raspberry preserves, and finished with a sweet powdered sugar glaze.

Linda Williams' many bean soup with mixed dried beans, a ham bone, tomatoes, carrots, and chili powder. A slow-simmered Southern bean soup built to feed a crowd.

Sweet and sour shrimp tossed in a fresh stone-fruit sauce of pureed nectarines, plums, apricot preserves, Dijon mustard, lemon, and a hit of red pepper flakes. Bright, tangy, and unlike any takeout version.

Hearty Shaker bean soup simmered with a ham bone, navy beans, tomatoes, carrots, and spinach. A rustic American heritage recipe that feeds 12 and gets better every hour it cooks.

Homemade deviled ham spread with warm spices, hot mustard, anchovy paste, and a whisper of sherry. Skip the canned stuff and make a version that actually tastes like something.

Italian-style lentil soup with diced ham, fresh tomatoes, carrots, celery, and bay leaf simmered into a hearty, protein-rich pot. Top each bowl with grated Parmesan for restaurant flavor.

Yellow split pea soup simmered with a ham bone, carrots, celery, and thyme for 3 hours until thick and smoky. A hearty, old-fashioned soup that turns a leftover ham bone into a full meal.

Hearty Italian bean soup with white kidney beans, ham, zucchini, spinach, and stewed tomatoes in chicken broth. Mashed beans thicken the broth for a creamy, rustic texture.

Spanish pan con tomate with Serrano ham slow-roasts plum tomatoes for a sweet, garlicky spread piled onto toasted baguette and topped with thin slices of jamón. A classic tapas party platter.

Quick red beans and rice with diced ham, cayenne, cumin, and hot sauce over brown rice. A Cajun-spiced skillet dinner ready in 25 minutes using pre-cooked ingredients.

Beau's notes: * There are no "jalapeno beans;" there are jalapeno peppers and pinto beans. I have two recipes, both of which are quite tref, but a Catholic should worry? But if you are hosting a Jewish person, smoked turkey will substitute most agreeably for the chazer called for in either recipe.]

A variation of the classic french canadian pea soup.

Buttery thumbprint cookies with brown sugar and vanilla, filled with a dot of raspberry jam. A diabetic-friendly treat that's ready in 30 minutes with just 7 simple ingredients.

Light chicken and ham soup with courgettes, mushrooms, and a touch of soy sauce, thickened with cornstarch. A quick, low-calorie bowl ready in minutes.

Homemade grainy raspberry mustard with whole mustard seeds, raspberry vinegar, white wine, and seedless raspberry jam. A sweet-sharp condiment that keeps for up to a month.