QUESTION: Could you do me a favor, please? I'm looking for a delicious sweet-potato-pie recipe. I recall my mom making this wonderful pie and she would sprinkle freshly grated coconut on the top.ANSWER: Sweet-potato pie is a real treat from the South, but where did your mom grow up? In a coconut grove in Florida? I have to hand it to your mom, though. My mom is from the South, too, but she would have had to be bonked on the head with a coconut before she would have gone to the trouble of grating it fresh for her sweet-potato pie.Coconut or no coconut, before you can make a sweet- potato pie, you have to answer the question: What is a sweet potato and what is a yam? Although most canned sweet potatoes are labeled as yams, these two tubers are from different plant species. Sweet potatoes are actually related to the morning glory - go figure. Real yams are difficult to find, so when you're shopping, most often you are really getting a sweet potato. Either way, you'll wind up with a good pie.Next you have to decide if you want to use canned sweet potatoes or cook the fresh ones yourself. If your mom actually went to the trouble of grating fresh coconut on the pie, she probably went the whole nine yards and cooked the sweets herself - skinning them and mashing the flesh as you would mash white potatoes. You've got to love that dedication.This whole coconut issue begs the question: What part of the South was your momma was from? There are lots of variations of this regional treat. In some places, the sweet-potato pie is blended with pecans for a sweet-potato pecan pie. And folks in other areas separate the eggs and beat the whites before folding them in, creating a lighter pie. Any way you slice it, it's good eating.Well, my mom made some pretty good sweet-potato pies in my childhood, but I can tell you with five kids, she wasn't going to cook her own potatoes or separate the eggs and beat the whites. And she sure wasn't going to get a coconut, crack it open, drain it, remove the hard shell and grate the flesh! We were canned pie filling and packaged coconut all the way.When you're ready to prepare it, remember this pie is similar to a pumpkin pie and doesn't take well to over-baking or it will be very dry.

2 large eggs, beaten3/8 cup sugar1 1/2 cups cooked, mashed and sieved sweet potato (or from a can)1 cup evaporated milk4 tablespoons butter, melted1 teaspoon good quality cinnamon1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg1/4 teaspoon salt1 (9-inch) prepared pie shellFreshly grated coconut or whipped cream for garnishPreheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat eggs and sugar together. Blend in sweet potato puree. Mix in milk and melted butter and spices. Pour into pie shell and bake for 10 minutes on a rack placed on the bottom third of the oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45 or 50 minutes until set. Allow to cool. Garnish with freshly grated coconut or whipped cream. If you want your coconut toasted, sprinkle the top of pie before baking.

Chef Jim Coleman and his wife, writer Candace Hagan answer your food questions. He is the executive chef at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia, the author of three cookbooks and the host of two nationally syndicated cooking shows - "A Chef's Table" on NPR, and "Flavors of America" on PBS.KRT News Service