Parmesan Roasted Potatoes-Secret Recipe Club

Since group “B” of Secret Recipe Club had January off, this is my first post for 2014.  I was thrilled when I received my assignment for February as it was CJ Huang's blog, Morsels of Life.  CJ and I are internet friend.  We "met" when we were both linking up our Friday Finds posts over at Finding Joy in My Kitchen.  Although that linkup is no longer active, I continue to follow Morsels of Life and like to check out CJ's current Friday Finds.  CJ also hosts Share Your Stuff Tuesday with several other bloggers. CJ has guest posted on my blog with a great recipe for Chocolate Cake Mix.   I am very happy to highlight the wonderful recipes on CJ's blog.

There were so many recipes I wanted to make for this post, it was hard to narrow them down to just one.  Some that I considered and will make later are Bacon Jam, Asian Cole Slaw, and Stuffing Balls.

On Superbowl Sunday, I wanted to make barbecued pork roast and used her Barbecue Sauce recipe.  The Barbecue Sauce was very good (I did reduce the amount of chili powder to suit my wimpy taste).

Today, however, I am blogging about the Parmesan Roasted Potatoes that I made to go with the roast pork.  Since, like CJ, I love potatoes in any and all forms, I am always on the lookout for new potato recipes.  I had cooked the pork roast in a slow cooker so had the oven free to make the potatoes.

I peeled the potatoes since hubby does not particularly like potato with the skin left on.  I used six medium potatoes as that is the amount that fits well in a single layer in my 10x15-inch baking pan.  I changed the method of preparation slightly.  I put the potatoes in a container that had a lid, poured 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the potato chunks and shook the container well to coat the potatoes.  I then mixed the parmesan cheese, the garlic powder and the paprika together, sprinkled the mixture over the potatoes and shook the potatoes again to coat the chunks.  I preheated the baking pan, dumped the potatoes into the pan and sprayed the top with olive oil spray.  I cooked the potatoes for 15 minutes, turned the chunks over and baked until tender about 10 more minutes.  The potatoes tasted great, and the paprika gave the chunks a lovely golden brown color.

I suppose that this amount of potatoes should feed six, but it certainly didn’t feed that many at our house.  We ate plenty the first night, and I had about a Cool Whip bowl left which hubby ate for two leftover meals.  I will be making these often.  Next time I think that I will up the amount of garlic powder and add an herb such as rosemary or cumin.

Thanks, CJ, for a great recipe.

Note:  I have been having problems getting Pickmonkey to save my pictures, so this one will have to do until they get the problem fixed.

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
6 medium potatoes, peeled or not, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 T. garlic powder
1 T; paprika

If peeling potatoes, peel, rinse, dry with a clean dish towel and cut into chunks.  If not peeling potatoes, wash, dry with a clean dish towel and cut into chunks.  Place chunks in a bowl or container with a lid.  Drizzle olive oil over potatoes.  Close container and shake well to coat all chunks with the olive oil.  In a small bowl, combine parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and paprika.  Mix well and sprinkle over potatoes.  Close lid and shake potatoes again to coat with cheese mixture.  Meanwhile heat a 10x15-inch baking pan about 5 minutes in a 425-degree oven.  Dump potatoes into pan and spread out in a single layer.  Spray lightly with olive oil spray.  Bake for 15 minutes, turn chunks and bake 10 to 15 minutes more until tender.  Makes 4 servings.

If you would like to join in the fun and have your blog considered for Secret Recipe Club, you can fill out the form on the Secret Recipe Club Information Page.

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Potato Zucchini Meat Loaf Roll

Good Monday, all.  Welcome to my new followers.  As always many thanks to those who take time from their busy lives to stop and read this blog.  You are much appreciated, and I hope that what you find here is useful to you.

Still getting zucchini from my daughter, still trying to find ways to use it.  As I said last week, hubby really doesn’t care for zucchini except in sweets, but this is a dish that I dreamed up that passed muster with him.  He actually said that it was very good and ate the leftovers for his dinners last week until it was gone.

It wasn’t all that creative, I just decided to use my go-to meatloaf recipe, roll it out and spread it with a filling of shredded potato, zucchini, diced red pepper and onion bound together with an egg, add some grated cheese, roll it up and bake it.

Now I would like to say that everything went smoothly, but I did have a little trouble with the meat roll separating a bit in the middle.  There are two things that I will do differently the next time I make this.  I will salt the zucchini and potato. put it in a sieve and press some of the moisture out.  I will not pat the meat loaf mixture out as thinly as I did this time.

I omitted the onion in my meat loaf since I was putting it in the filling.  I used a Lucerne (Safeway) product called Mac and Cheese Blend grated cheese which melted very nicely in this.  I made a simple gravy to serve with the meat roll using a can of beef broth, 1/4 c. flour, 2 t. Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of garlic powder and a bit of coarse ground pepper.  Ketchup or tomato sauce could also be spread over the top of the roll before putting it in the oven.

Zucchini, Potato Meat Loaf Roll
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 c. dried bread crumbs
1 t. salt
1/2 t. rubbed sage
1/4 t. pepper
2/3 c. milk
1 egg
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 c. grated potatoes, about 2 medium potatoes, peeled
1 c. grated zucchini
1/2 c. finely chopped red pepper
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
1 c. shredded cheese, flavor of choice

Place ground beef in a large mixing bowl.  Add bread crumbs, salt, sage and pepper.  Mix lightly to combine ingredients.  Measure milk into a glass measuring cup.  Add egg and Worcestershire sauce and beat well with a fork or whisk.  Add to meat mixture and mix lightly until well blended.  Spread a length of foil (about 15 inches long) out on baking sheet.  Turn meat mixture out onto foil and press out to about a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.  Place potato and zucchini in a sieve and salt lightly.  Let sit for a few minutes over a bowl.  Press vegetables with the back of a spoon to remove excess moisture.  Place in a medium bowl and add red pepper and onion.  Add beaten egg and mix until all the potato and zucchini is moistened.  Spread the vegetable mixture in an even layer over the meat mixture.  Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the vegetable mixture.  Using both ends of the foil to assist, roll up as for a jelly roll.  Leave foil under meat loaf and place baking pan in oven.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, bring ends of foil over meat loaf and let sit 10 minutes before serving.  Cut into slices and serve.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Pork Stew with Dill Dumplings

Happy Monday.  Welcome to my new followers.  Thank you all for stopping by my blog and reading my posts.  It is so nice to have you here.  Hope that you find the information I post useful.

Although it is still warm here, I recently was hungry for stew.  Pork is more tender than beef so it cooks more quickly.  This makes it a good choice for making stew in the summer.  Pork Stew with Dill Dumplings fits the bill.

Either pork shoulder or loin may be used, but the shoulder will be slightly more flavorful.  As with all stews, the vegetables can be changed to suit personal preferences.  Although I usually use frozen peas for this dish, the stew in the photos has drained, canned peas in it.  I had some of those left over in the fridge that needed to be used up.

Pork Stew with Dill Dumplings
1 to 1 1 /2 lbs. boneless pork, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 c. flour
1 t. paprika
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper, coarse ground if possible
2 T. or more vegetable oil
3 medium/large potatoes (about 1  1/2 lb.) peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 c. coarsely chopped onion
2-3 medium carrots (1 c.) cut into 1x1/4-inch matchstick pieces
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch bias slices
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth
1 c. frozen peas
Dumplings
1 c. flour
2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. dried dill weed
1/3 c. milk
2 T. vegetable oil
1 egg

Place flour, paprika, salt and pepper in a plastic bag and shake to combine.  Add pork cubes and shake until the cubes are coated.  Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven.  Add pork cubes, but do not let them touch.  (You may need to do this in two batches.)  Brown cubes on all sides.  Remove and set aside.  Continue until all cubes are brown, adding more oil if necessary.  Return pork to Dutch oven and add potatoes,  onion, carrots, red pepper, celery, bay leaf and garlic.  Stir in remaining flour.  Pour in chicken broth and stir well.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 30 minutes.  While stew is cooking, prepare dumplings.  In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and dill weed.  Stir to mix well.  Combine milk, vegetable oil and egg in a small bowl.  Add to flour mixture and stir just to  moisten dry ingredients.  Add peas to stew and bring back to a low boil.  Drop dumpling mixture by tablespoonsful into hot stew.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and serve.  Makes 6 servings.  Store dumplings and stew separately if there are leftovers.

Linking to these great parties:
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Montreal Crumb Coated Potato Wedges and Post 500

It is sort of a milestone for me today as this is my 500th post.  When I started this blog back in 2011, I am not sure that I thought that it would ever get this far, but I am still here. It is not, however, my 500th recipe so I will save celebrating for that milestone.

Today’s recipe, Montreal Crumb-Coated Potato Wedges, is an easy side dish to make when you want to do a little something different with potatoes, and it goes well with any meat dish from steak to meatloaf.

I like to cut my potato wedges from the curved side of the potato as shown below.  I think that I have better control of the size of the wedges when I do this.

You can use either my Sorta Montreal Steak Seasoning or the commercial product.  Of course, any other seasoning blend can be used for this dish, also.   I prefer to use melted butter for the flavor, but do use olive oil whenever I am feeling lazy.

Montreal Crumb-Coated Potato Wedges
2 1/2 lbs. medium potatoes, about 3 to 4-inches long,  about 8 potatoes
2 T. melted butter or olive oil
1/2 c. fine dry bread crumbs
1 t. Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. salt

Peel potatoes and cut into wedges.  Place wedges in cold water and soak for 10 to 15 minutes.  Drain wedges and dry well with a clean kitchen towel.  Place wedges in a mixing bowl and drizzle with the melted butter or olive oil.  Toss until all wedges are coated.  Place the bread crumbs and seasonings in a plastic bag.  Shake potato wedges a few at a time in the bread crumbs until well covered.  Place on a foil-lined jelly-roll pan.  Roast about 20 minutes in a 375-degree oven.  Turn potatoes and cook another 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.  Serve these with a dipping sauce such as honey mustard or ranch dressing if desired.  Makes 6 servings.

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Montreal Pot Roast

I fix pot roast quite often as it usually makes enough for several meals, and hubby can eat the leftovers on the nights that I work.  One of the things I do to vary a pot roast is to use different seasonings on it.  One of the seasonings that I use often is the Sorta Montreal Steak Seasoning that I posted recently.  It gives the meat a little bit of a kick.

I use a Corning Ware casserole dish (that I have had forever) which can be used both on the top of the stove and in the oven.  A Dutch oven can also be used.  If neither of these is available, brown pot roast in a skillet and transfer the meat to a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Most of the time, I serve pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy as that is hubby's preference.  My preference is to cook the vegetables with the pot roast so I do that from time to time.  Hubby doesn't eat cooked carrots as a side dish, but he will eat them in stews, soups, casseroles, and when cooked with a pot roast   If the vegetables are cooked with the meat, pot roast is an easy-to-do, mostly hands-off, one-dish meal, and that is something I really, really like.

Montreal Pot Roast
1-2 T. olive or vegetable oil
3 lbs. boneless chuck roast, or other pot roast meat
1-2 t. Sorta Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 t. beef bouillon granules or broth base
6-8 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
6-8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch x 1 1/2-inch sticks
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
2 to 3 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch chucks
1 c. water, divided
1/4 c. flour

Heat oil in a range-top/oven-proof casserole, Dutch oven or a skillet.  Rub all surfaces of roast with the seasoning.  Place in hot oil and brown on all sides.  Remove from heat.  If using a baking dish, transfer meat to it.  Add tomato sauce.  Fill sauce can with water to rinse out and add to tomato sauce.  Add beef bouillon and stir a bit to blend the water, tomato sauce, and bouillon.  Cover and place in 350-degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Add potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to the casserole or Dutch oven, arranging the vegetables  all around the meat.  Cover, and continue to roast in oven another 45 minutes to 1 hour until vegetables are tender.  Remove meat and vegetables from the liquid.  If using a baking dish, pour the liquid into a medium saucepan.  Add 1/2 c. water and heat until boiling.  Mix 1/2 c. water and 1/4 c. flour together until smooth and stir into pot roast liquid.  Stir and cook until gravy is smooth and thickened.  Serve gravy with pot roast and vegetables.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Linking to these great parties:

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Loaded Baked Potato Cubes

Welcome to my new followers and thanks to all who take the time from their busy lives to read this blog.  I hope that you find what you read here useful.  Hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and that you found the time to remember family, friends and service people who have gone before us.

About a year ago, I ran across a recipe over at Mennonite Girls Can Cook for Buttermilk Dressed Potatoes.  That was the inspiration for this dish.  Although I love the flavors in ranch dressing, hubby is not particularly fond them. He does love loaded baked potatoes so I decided to make something along that line and came up with Loaded Baked Potato Cubes.

The Mennonite recipe had the potatoes cooked separately and then cooked in the oven.  Since I am inherently lazy, I decided to see if I could just cook the potato cubes in the oven and then add the “loaded” ingredients.  This worked really well, and I have made this dish often over the last few months.

Red potatoes, russets, Yukon gold potatoes, both unpeeled and peeled have been used for this dish, and they all have worked just fine.  Although I prefer a 3-cheddar cheese blend made by Kraft, I usually use whatever cheese I happen to have on hand.

The temperature at which the potatoes bake is very forgiving so this is a great side dish for a main dish that is being cooked in the oven.  Anywhere from 350 to 400 degrees will work.

If there are people who don’t like bacon (they don’t live at my house) or green onions, reserve them and serve them on the side for people who like them to use.

Loaded Baked Potato Cubes
6 to 8 medium potatoes, peeled or not
1 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
1/2 t. coarse ground pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/3 to 1/2 c. water.
1/2 to 3/4 c. sour cream (low fat is fine)
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c. crisp cooked bacon bits
1/4 c. thinly sliced green onion

Peel potatoes if desired.  (If peeling, I usually peel six and see if that amount covers the bottom of my jelly roll pan.  If not I peel one or two more or whatever it take to make a single layer.)  Place potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes and mix until the cubes are well coated.  Combine salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a small bowl and mix well.  Sprinkle evenly over the potatoes and stir until well mixed.   Spread potatoes out in an even layer on a non-stick sprayed 10x13-inch pan.  Pour enough water into the pan to just cover the bottom.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are just tender and water has evaporated.  (If potatoes are tender, but there is still some water, just pour it off.)  Remove from oven and  gently mix the sour cream into the potatoes until they are evenly coated.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top and then the bacon bits.  Return to the oven and cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with the green onion.  My hubby uses additional sour cream on his, I don’t on mine.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Linking to these great parties:
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Cheesy Sausage Potato Bake

Good Monday to all.  Welcome to my new followers and thanks to everyone who takes time from their busy lives to read this blog.  I hope that you find some useful information here.  Have a great first week in April.

Recently I need to use up a roll of Jimmy Dean Sausage that I had in my refrigerator and wanted to use it to make something for dinner.  After wandering the internet to get some ideas; as usual, I pretty much came up with my own thing.

I combined the sausage with some diced potatoes, added a cheese sauce, and topped the whole thing with French fried onions.  I could have added peas, peas and carrots or other veggie to make this a one-dish meal.   Of course, I added some diced red pepper.  You could use green pepper if that is more your thing.

Hubby liked this one.  It is the kind of thing that is easy for him to reheat to eat on the nights that I work.

 Cheesy Sausage Potato Bake
6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch chunks (enough to cover the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish in a single layer)
1/2 c. diced red pepper
1 lb. ground sausage
1/2 c.  flour
3 c. milk
1 to 2 c. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 can (6 oz.) French fried onions

Place potato chunks in a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes.  Add diced red pepper and boil 5 minute more.  Remove from heat and drain off water.  Meanwhile, brown sausage in a large skillet.  Place potato/red pepper mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch baking dish.  Remove sausage from skillet with a slotted spoon and spread over potato/red pepper mixture in a single layer.  Add flour to skillet and stir well to mix with sausage drippings.  Gradually add the milk, stirring and bringing to a boil.  Boil 1 minute or until thickened to medium/thick sauce consistency.  Stir in cheese and cook until cheese is melted stirring to blend.  Pour cheese sauce over sausage and potatoes in baking dish.  Spread French fried onions evenly over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees until browned and bubbly.  Serves 6 to 8.

Vegetable Beef Soup

Shame on me, I forgot my weekly Welcome and Thank You to my new followers and readers so here it is today.  Welcome new followers and Thank You to all who take the time to read my blog.  I am truly humbled that anyone would spend some time from their busy lives here.  I always endeavor to write posts that will be useful.

The days are getting a little colder, so when I think about something to make for lunch soup comes to mine.  From time to time our local newspaper prints recipes that have been sent in by readers.  This soup recipe was submitted by Amy Olander.

I, of course, have changed the recipe some from the original.  This is somewhat like a sloppy stew and  makes a large pot which will feed hubby and me for several days.

Vegetable Beef Soup
adapted from a recipe by Amy Olander
2 c. cubed potatoes
1 c. diced carrots
3/4 c. diced celery
1 c. diced onions
6 c. water
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained of excess fat
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. diced green or red pepper
1/2 c. barley
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 t. dried parsley or 1 T. snipped fresh parsley
1 large bay leaf
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
3 whole allspice
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

In a large sauce pot combine potatoes, carrots, celery and onion.  Cover with water.  Bring to a boil and simmer until vegetables are just tender.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer at least 30 minutes.  Remove bay leaf and allspice before serving.  Serves 6 to 8.

Linking to:  Trick or Treat Tuesday
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Hunk of Meat Monday

Ingredient Spotlight-Herbed Potato Frittata

 

The theme for today’s Ingredient Spotlight over at Eat at Home is Eggs 2012.  Now eggs go into lots of things, but this is for recipes that highlight eggs.  I am sharing one of my favorite egg dishes.

This is one of those dishes that Rachael Ray calls a B, L, D.  It can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It is a good, basic recipe with which much can be done.  Just use your imagination.  Other cheeses, other seasonings, the addition of chopped cooked veggies, whatever.

This frittata can be a meatless main dish, served as a side dish with meat, or cooked meat can be added to make it a one-dish meal.   Bacon, sausage, ham, ground beef, chicken, and even cooked chopped steak could be added if desired.

If the potatoes are cooked ahead of time, this can be on the table in less than 15 minutes.   If I have cooked the potatoes ahead, I cook the red pepper in the butter for about 5 minutes, before adding the other ingredients.

Any leftovers warm nicely in the microwave.  Since hubby does not eat breakfast, I sometimes make this up and use it for a quick and easy breakfast dish that I just have to warm up.

Herbed Potato Frittata
2 cups diced red potato
1/4 c. finely chopped red pepper
1 T butter
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t. paprika, smoked if you have it
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 eggs, well beaten
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

If potatoes are not already cooked, cube them and cover with water.  Salt lightly.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add red pepper to water after 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.  Melt butter in a 10-inch non-stick skillet.  Add green onions and garlic and cook 2 minutes, stirring often.  Add seasonings and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring.  Add potatoes and stir until they are well coated with seasonings.  Spread potatoes out into an even layer.  Pour the eggs over the potatoes.  Cook, uncovered, over med-low heat until almost set, about 8 to 10 minutes.  If the handle of the skillet is not ovenproof, wrap it in foil.  Place skillet under broiler and broil until egg is completely set, about 3 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese, and broil until cheese melts, about 1 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Cut into 4 to 6 wedges, depending on whether it will be a main dish or a side dish.  Serves 4 as a main dish and 6 as a side dish.  (Or me all by myself for a few days!)

Linking to:  Ingredient Spotlight
Cast Party Wednesday
Wow Me Wednesday-Ginger Snap Crafts
Wow Me Wednesday-Polkadots on Parade
What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Whatever Goes Wednesday
Whole Foods Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Tastetastic Thursday
Tasty Thursday
Sweet Treats and Swanky Stuff

Cooking from the Blogs-What I Made

I have just one recipe that I have cooked from the blogs recently that I was able to get a picture of, but what a good recipe it is.  If you did not check out the link to Three Cheese and Onion Stacked Roasted Potatoes in my post for the Improv Cooking Challenge you must click on over to Little Mama Big Appetite blog and get it now.  Go on.  Go get it.  Your won’t be sorry.

Little Mommy was a genius to think up this idea of stacked, roasted potatoes.  I posted here about making her original recipe.  They were so good that when she revised the recipe to include onion and cheese, I knew I had to make them again.  They were absolutely wonderful.

I have found that 3 T. of the olive oil is enough for me.  I have also used melted butter so either can be used.  Of course, the olive oil is healthier.  I used dried minced onion instead of the grated onion called for.  I mixed the onion with the olive oil and seasoning and let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes.  I also did not have any pepper jack cheese so used cheddar and an Italian cheese blend.

The potatoes are crispy on the bottom like fried potatoes without all the work.  This is such a versatile recipe, I will be making it a lot by varying  the seasonings and cheese      Thank you, Little Mama, for a wonderful recipe.

Improv Cooking Challenge-Boursin Smashed Red Potatoes

There will be two posts from this Grandma today.  I am also participating in Eating the Alphabet and that gets posted on the 15th this month also.  Look for a second post.  Hint:  It involves carrots.

When I started thinking about a potato and cheese dish, I could not get Boursin cheese out of my mind.  I just was not sure what type of potato dish I would use it in.

Well, a funny thing happened.  We get America’s Test Kitchen on Saturdays here.  My husband happened to be in the house when they were making Smashed Potatoes.  He thought they looked good.  I said I hadn’t made them because he doesn’t usually eat potato skins.  Well he said that the potatoes looked good enough that he would be willing to try them.  I thought, OK, how about smashed potatoes with Boursin topping; and so an idea was born.

I make my own Boursin, but it certainly can be purchased at most grocery stores.  It is fairly expensive to buy and easy to make at home, so give it a try.

It turned out that the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen was for very small potatoes not more than 2-inches across they said.  I went on a hunt for other smashed potato recipes.  I liked the method that Simply Recipes used to cook her Smashed Potatoes.  That involved baking them in the oven with some butter.  I adapted her method, but added some additional baking time.  I also want the potatoes topped with the Boursin, Cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onion so they would be more like a thick potato skin.

The potatoes can be baked ahead and refrigerated.  The toppings can be added and the potatoes baked some more to serve them.

This is very flexible recipe.  The amount of potatoes used  is determined by the size of the potato, the number of people being served, and the appetite of those people.  I am, therefore, going to list the ingredients by what is needed for the number of potatoes used.

Boursin Smashed  Red Potatoes
1 or 2 red potatoes per person depending on size of potatoes used
1 T. butter cut from cube of butter for each four potatoes
1 T. melted butter for each four potatoes
1 T. Boursin cheese for each potato
1 T. grated sharp Cheddar cheese for each potato
1/2 slice bacon cooked and crumbled for each potato
chopped green onions as desired

Place washed and dried potatoes in a baking dish or pan that can be covered.  Slice a tablespoon of butter from a cube for each 4 potatoes, cut into 4 pieces and place a piece of butter on each potato.  Cover and bake potatoes at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Remove potatoes from oven and roll around so that all surfaces of each potato is covered in butter.  Cover potatoes, return to oven and bake until tender, abut 45 minutes.  Remove potatoes from oven and smash with a potatoes mashed until they are about half their original size.  Brush 1 tablespoon of butter on every four potatoes.  Return to oven for 15 minutes. (This crisps up the skin and makes the potatoes more like potato skins.)  Top each potato with 1 T. Boursin cheese.  Return to oven for 10 minutes to allow cheese to soften.  Spread cheese over the top of each potato.  Sprinkle each potato with 1 T. grated Cheddar cheese and 1/2 slice cooked, crumbled bacon.  Return to oven 5 to 10 minutes until Cheddar cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped green onions if desired.  Serve with sour cream if desired.

If you haven't joined in the fun and would like to be part of  Improv Cooking Challenge, you can find all the information right here.  In April we will be doing peanut butter and jelly.  Now that should be a fun one.

Visit the links below to what other bloggers made with the ingredients of potato and cheese.

Linking to Ingredient Spotlight

Sausage Potato and Corn Chowder

Good Monday.  It appears there are no new followers to welcome this week.  I do want to say my usual thank you to all who take the time to read my blog.  I know that you all have busy lives, and I appreciate it.

Since February’s Foodie Pen Pal reveal is tomorrow and so is the start of SoupaPalooza, I decided to post a soup recipe today.  We love soup and have it often for lunch.  One type of soup that we especially love is potato soup.

When I posted the Confetti Potato and Ham Soup recipe, I said that it was one of my two favorite potato soups.  Sausage Potato and Corn Chowder is the other one.  This provides another use for breakfast sausage other than just cooking it for breakfast   If I can find it on sale, I love Jimmy Dean sausage in this, but any ground sausage will work.  I usually use a locally-made sausage that is sold for a very reasonable price.  The original recipe called for a can of low sodium chicken broth.  I have changed the recipe to use the water the potatoes are cooked in and Better than Bouillon chicken flavor.  Granulated bouillon may also be used.

This is a hearty chowder that makes a lot so it is a good choice for a “Soup Supper”.  Add some hot bread and a salad and you will be well fed at a very inexpensive price.

The chowder has a tendency to thicken up when it is refrigerated so a little more milk or water may need to be added upon reheating.  This soup actually gets better with age, so it is perfect to make ahead and reheat.

This recipe has been in the files on my computer for a very long time, and I do not know where it came from.

Sausage Potato and Corn Chowder
5 to 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 lb. pork sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 c. diced red pepper
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. flour
2 t. Better than Bouillon Chicken Flavor or granulated chicken bouillon
5 to 6 cups milk
1 (1 lb.) cans cream style corn
salt and pepper to taste

Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook until just crisp/tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Meanwhile brown sausage, onion, red pepper and garlic in a large cooking pot.  Do not drain.  Stir flour into sausage and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add milk, 2 cups of the potato cooking water, and the Better than Bouillon.  Bring to a boil, stirring often to prevent scorching.  Boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat and add drained potatoes and the cream corn.  Return to heat and cook on low until ingredients are heated through.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast, and Le Creuset” 

Linking to:  SoupaPalooza

Cooking from the Blogs-What I Made

Recently I made a couple of blog recipes that I managed to take photos of.  Both of these were great and will go into my regular recipe rotation.

Since I make lunch for hubby and me every day, I am always looking for something new that will provide more variety than my old standbys.  I had seen this recipe for French Dip Crescents and Easy Au Jus over at Mommy Loves Food and included it in one of my Friday Finds.  When I ran across deli roast beef at a great sale price, I bought some to make this.  I used cheddar cheese instead of  Swiss.  These were very good and hubby said that he would eat them from time to time.  I had two left over that I took for lunch at work.  Although the meat was a little dry, they reheated nicely in the microwave.  I liked the homemade au jus very much, but I would double the recipe next time so that I could put some in the freezer as we used all of it.

In my last Cooking from the Blogs post, I had made Roasted Potato Stacks which were very good.  Those were made by stacking slices of potato in muffin pans.  This time I made Crisp Roast Potatoes from Amanda’s Cookin  which was her Secret Recipe Club recipe this month.  For this dish, you slice the potatoes thinly and place them on their edges in a baking pan.  She used shallots.  I didn’t have any so use red onion slices instead.  I halved the recipe since there were just the two of us and knew that there would still be leftovers.  I used a 7x11-inch baking dish and ended up using about nine medium potatoes to fill the dish.  I mixed some garlic powder with the butter and olive oil that is poured over the potatoes and used Spice Islands Rosemary Garlic Grinder as my seasonings.  Hubby said the these reheated well in the microwave when he fixed them for dinner the next night.  This was another fun way to serve potatoes, and I will make these often.

The Convenience of Ready Cooked Potatoes

One of the most convenient things to have in your kitchen is some refrigerated, all-ready-cooked potatoes.  Of course, frozen potatoes have been available at the grocery stores for a long time, and refrigerated potatoes have shown up in recent years.  It doesn’t take much effort, however, to make a supply of all-ready-cooked potatoes yourself.  Russets, reds, and Yukon gold potatoes are all varieties that can be cooked up and kept on hand for a few days.

I like to select whole potatoes of a similar size and steam them until they are just tender, but the potatoes can also be boiled, and Russets can be baked in the oven or the microwave.  There is no need to peel that potatoes before cooking.  Reds and Yukon golds can be served with the skins on.  My hubby doesn’t like the skin on any type of potato, so I do peel them after cooking.  The potatoes can be grated for hash browns and cubed for soup and other dishes.

So with all-ready cooked potatoes, you can make country hash browns.  We all probably have our favorite recipe for these.

You can make potato soup.  I posted one of my two favorite potato soup recipes here.

You can use the potatoes to make sauced potatoes.  Just cube the potatoes and add them to white sauce, cheese sauce, curry flavored sauce or other flavors.  Make the amount of sauce necessary for the amount of potatoes you are using.

One of my favorite things to do with all-ready cooked potatoes is to make a Meat, Potato, Egg Scramble.  As Rachael Ray says this can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  The meat can be almost whatever you have on hand:  sausage, bacon, ham cubes, Italian sausage, ground beef, link sausage-just whatever you have on hand.  If you cook the meat ahead of time, this is very quick to put together.  It may be changed up by using different seasonings.  I use chili powder and cumin for southwest, Greek seasoning for Greek, Italian seasoning or oregano and fennel seeds for Italian.  I use other seasoning blends, mainly whatever I am in the mood for.

Meat, Potato, Egg Scramble
1/2 to1 lb. meat or bacon, cooked
or 6 slices bacon, cooked
3 T. bacon grease, butter, margarine, olive or salad oil
1/3 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped red or green pepper (opt.)
6 potatoes, cooked and cubed
1 t. salt
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper
4 to 6 eggs, depending on how many people are eating
2 T. milk for 4 eggs and 3 T. milk for 6 eggs
Shredded cheese of your choice (opt.)

Heat bacon grease or other fat in a large skillet.  Add onion and pepper and cook about 5 minutes.  Add potatoes, salt and pepper and other seasonings of choice.  Cook until potatoes are golden brown, turning occasionally.  Add meat of choice and continue cooking until it is heated through.   In a bowl, mix eggs with milk until well blended.  Pour over potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally until the eggs have set.  Sprinkle cheese over the top and let melt or serve cheese on the side to sprinkle over individual servings.  Serves 6.  Reheat leftovers in the microwave or a skillet.

Linked to:  It's a Keeper Thursday
Tastetastic Thursday
What's Cooking Thursdays
Creative Juices
Low-Cost Food Challenge Link Up
Full Plate Thursday
Twisted Thursday

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Good Monday morning and welcome to my new followers.  As always, thank all of you who take the time to read my blog.  I hope that what you find posted here is useful.

I am part of  the Crazy Cooking Challenge, and we are doing mashed potatoes.  Our hostess, Tina, over at Mom's Crazy Cooking is doing a wonderful job of hosting.  We are all having a great time.  If you would like to join the fun and participate, hop on over to Tina's blog to get the full details.  Since the challenge posts are today there will no DIY grocery post this week.

When I did a search for mashed potato recipes on blogs, I did not get very good results.  There were lots of mashed potatoes recipes, but not many on what I consider personal blogs.  Maybe it was the search engine I used.  I decided to just check out some of the blogs I have subscribed to over the last year, and I did find that many of them had recipes for mashed potatoes.  In the end, I decided that I would make Loaded Mashed Potatoes from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures.

I liked that Lynn’s recipe just called for milk for liquid and her idea to incorporate the cheese and bacon right in the potatoes.

Of course, I can never leave “well enough” alone so I made some changes.  First, I prefer to use Yukon Gold potatoes to make mashed potatoes.  Second, we love garlic so I almost always use it in my mashed potatoes.  Third I used a Mexican blend for the cheese so I added some cumin.  I guess that what I ended up with was Mexican Garlic Loaded Mashed Potatoes.

To serve the potatoes, I added a dollop of sour cream on top and garnished them with a little more cheese and bacon.        

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures

3 lb. potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used Yukon Gold)

1-2 large cloves garlic, minced (optional, I added this)

1 c, milk, warmed

1/4 c. butter

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (I used a Mexican Blend)

4 slices or more crumbled crisp cooked bacon

1 t. cumin (optional, I added this)

1/4 c. sour cream for garnish (optional, I added this)

Combine potatoes and garlic in a saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain potatoes well.  Mash potatoes with butter and milk until well mashed and creamy.  Stir in cheese and bacon.  Lynn's post didn't say how many servings, I am thinking about 6.

Thanks, Lynn, for a great potato recipe.

Confetti Potato and Ham Soup

As I have said, although I cook a night meal only three time a week, I make lunch almost every day.  That means, I make soup a lot.  With fall rapidly approaching, I will be making it more and more.

Last week I shopped at a new-to-me grocery store.  Grocery Outlet, which I think may be a little like the Aldis in other areas of the country.  I went there because they advertised bacon at $2.99 a lb., which is an excellent price for bacon here in our area right now.  The store happened to have some Oscar Mayer Deli Select ham at .50 a package as it was the sell-by date.  I picked up two packages, put one in the freezer, and used the other one in the soup I made today.

I love potato soup and have two favorite recipes.  I used one as the base for today’s soup.  It came off a email list a number of years ago from someone named Brandi and was called Chunky Potato Soup.  I have added and modified the ingredients over the years and now call it Confetti Potato Soup.  I like the additional color that the celery and red pepper give to the soup.  Diced carrots, frozen peas, or corn could be added to make this even more confetti-like.  Peppers of other colors could be used also.

I think the addition of the potato-cooking water and the little bit of sugar make this a great tasting soup, and I make it often.  It is easily put together in less than an hour.  The soup thickens upon standing so leftovers may need a little bit of milk or water added when reheating.

Confetti Potato and Ham Soup
3  medium  potatoes
2  cups  water
1 small  onion,  diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/3 c. chopped red pepper
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour                     
1 qt. milk (4 c.)
1/2  t. sugar
salt and pepper to taste (I use Spice Islands Sea Salt and Pepper Grinders)
1/2 to 1 c. cubed, cooked ham or crisp cooked bacon (optional)
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes.  Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain potatoes reserving liquid.  Set aside potatoes and 1 cup of cooking water.  While potatoes are cooking, melt butter in another large saucepan.  Add onions, celery, and red pepper and cook until tender, stirring frequently.  Add flour and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.  Mix in reserved cooking water and sugar.  Stir well.  Gradually add milk stirring frequently.  Add  potatoes and ham.  Simmer over low heat 20-30 minutes, stirring often.  May either stir cheese into soup or use as a garnish when serving.  Serves 8.

Linking to:  It's a Keeper Thursday
Full Plate Thursday
Ingredient Spotlight

Savory Roast Potatoes

 

These are the potatoes that I made with the chicken that I posted on Tuesday.  This is a recipe that I make often when I am making chicken or meat where there will not be any gravy.  The potatoes soak up the butter and broth while they are baking and are so good.

This dish is also very versatile.  Either chicken or beef broth may be used, although the beef broth will make the potatoes a brownish color.  Any low salt seasoning desired may be sprinkled over the potatoes. Spice Islands Garlic/Herb Grinder is very good. The broth provides plenty of salt.  The paprika provides a pretty color.

The potatoes may be halved, quartered, or cut into chunks, depending on the length of time needed for whatever else they are being cooked with.  These may also be cooked at whatever temperature is needed.

The original recipe called for 1 can of condensed chicken broth.  I now use homemade double-strength broth that I either make by cooking down 3 cups of homemade broth to 1 1/2 c. or by mixing 1 1/2 c. water with 1 T. Better than Bouillon Chicken Broth Base.  Generally the latter as it is much quicker.

Savory Roast Potatoes

9 (4-inch or so) potatoes, peeled and halved (this is the amount I can get in a 9x13-inch glass baking dish)
1/3 c. butter
1-2 t.  low salt seasoning of choice-Mrs. Dash, herb blends, Italian seasoning, etc.
1 t. or so paprika
1 1/2 c. water
1 T. Better than Bouillon Chicken or Beef Broth Base or other broth base

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place butter in baking dish and put  in oven to melt.  Peel and halve the potatoes.  Roll potatoes in the melted butter and place in dish.  Sprinkle liberally with chosen seasoning and paprika.  Bake uncovered 30 minutes.  Mix water and broth base together well.  Pour over potatoes.  Cover and bake another 30 minutes to 1 hour or until done.  Remove to serving dish, pouring any liquid left in baking dish over the potatoes.  Makes 6-8 servings.