Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts

4.11.2011

Mosaic Monday

“An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.”
-Will Rogers


Hello! I do not know about you, but I am really happy that Spring is here! My local CSA is open and the local, fresh grown goodness is starting to make it's way to my pantry! Don't forget to at your vegetables! Enjoy!


“A vegetable garden in the beginning looks so promising and then after all little by little it grows nothing but vegetables, nothing, nothing but vegetables.”
-Gertrude Stein


Mosaic Monday: 4/11/11

"What did the carrot say to the wheat?
Lettuce rest, I'm feeling beet."

-Shel Silverstein


Joke of the Day:

What do you call a stolen yam?
A hot potato.



Have a great day and remember: Go Ahead & Indulge!

3.17.2011

Temptation Thursday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"For each petal on the shamrock... this brings a wish your way. Good health, good luck, and happiness, for today and every day."
-Author Unknown


I am not a big corned beef and cabbage fan, so I decided NOT to share a recipe for that. Instead, I thought I would give you a recipe with a main ingredient that can be substituted with left over corned beef. Enjoy!

"Never iron a four-leaf clover, because you don't want to press your luck."
-Author Unknown


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Brisket Hash

Ingredients:

* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
* 3 cups Idaho potatoes, peeled, very finely chopped
* 1/2 cup carrots, peeled, finely chopped
* 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
* 1/2 cup sweet onion, peeled, finely chopped
* 3 cups beef brisket cooked & finely chopped
* 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
* Salt and pepper to taste
* Your favorite toast

Equipment Needed:

* Large Ovenproof skillet

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Heat skillet on medium high.
3.) Add oil and swirl to coat.
4.) Stir in garlic and potatoes, cook 3 min, until lightly browned.
5.) Add carrots, celery, and onion, cook 3 min.
6.) Mix in brisket and tabasco; cook, without stirring 5 min.
7.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8.) Place skillet in oven and bake 10 min, until lightly browned.
9.) Serve with toast.

"May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,
May good luck pursue you each morning and night."

-Irish Blessing



Have a great day and remember: Go Ahead & Indulge!

9.20.2010

Mangia Monday!

"Life is too short, and I'm Italian. I'd much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0."
-Sophia Bush

Hello! Sorry for the lull lately - I have been VERY busy! I hope you are doing well!
When I am busy, some things tend to suffer and one those things is cooking meals! It is so much easier to go out or pick up take-out, however that gets old REALLY fast.

I am lucky, our local grocery store publishes a magazine several times a year and it always has wonderful recipes. The following recipe has been published in their magazine a couple of times and the following is one of our favorites. Enjoy!

"No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention."
-Christopher Morley


Italian Pork Chops w/ Roasted Potatoes & Rappi
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 large eggs, whisked until foamy
* 1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
* 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
* 2 pkgs (about 1 lb each) boneless thin-sliced pork chops
* Sea Salt and cracked pepper
* 3/4 cup olive oil
* 3/4 cup marianra sauce, warmed (your choice)

Directions:

1.) Put flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls.
2.) Blend cheese into bread crumbs.
3.) Season pork chops with salt and pepper.
4.) Coat each cutlet with flour.
5.) Dip each cutlet in egg until well-coated & then cover with bread crumbs.
6.) Heat oil in pan on medium-high, 1-2 min.
7.) Add 3 chops at a time to the pan.
8.) Cook about 2 1/2 min, until edges turn golden-brown.
9.) Turn over; cook about 2 min, until internal temp reaches 145 degrees.
10.) Drain on paper towels.
11.) Repeat with rest of pork.
12.) Transfer to serving platter & cover to keep warm.


Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 Lbs. fingerling potatoes, larger ones halved lengthwise
* 4 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* Sea Salt
* Fresh cracked black pepper
* 4 Tbs. rosemary

Equipment Needed:

* Baking Sheet

Directions:

1.)Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2.) Toss potatoes and garlic with olive oil in a large bowl.
3.) Season with salt, pepper & rosemary.
4.) Roast 25-30 min in oven, until potatoes are tender & light brown.


Cooked Rappi:

Ingredients:

* 6 cups water
* 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
* 6 cloves garlic, minced (2 Tbsp)
* 1 Tbsp salt
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 12 oz Rappi, chopped
* 4 Tbsp. grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

Equipment Needed:

* Braising pan

Directions:

1.) Place water, lemon juice, garlic, salt, & oil in braising pan on high.
2.) Add rappi, then bring to a boil.
3.) Cover and cook 8-10 min, until rappi is tender and has changed color.
4.) Stir in cheese and serve with pork and potatoes.

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta."
-Federico Fellini

Have a great day and remember: Go Ahead & Indulge!

4.27.2010

Tasty Tuesday!

“Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.”
-Francis Bacon

Hello! Today I have a wonderful breakfast/brunch recipe for you! However, if you like us you may even make it for dinner at times! (brinner!) This recipe is easy to make and only requires one pan! Enjoy!

“Marriages are all happy, its having breakfast together that causes all the trouble.”
-Irish Proverb


Sweet Potato & Apple Hash

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

* 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 2 medium (about 1 1/2 lbs) sweet potatoes, peeled, diced small
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 2 Tbsp sweet onions, minced
* 4 medium (about 2 lbs) firm apples, peeled, diced small
* 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
* 4 large eggs


1.) Heat olive oil on high, in large saute pan until oil begins to faintly smoke.
2.) Add sweet potatoes in single layer and cook, turning occasionally, 3-4 min.
3.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4.) Stir in onions and cook for 1 minute.
5.) Add apples to the pan and cook, turning occasionally, 3-4 min.
6.) Season with thyme and cook 1 min.
7.) Remove from pan and set aside.
8.) Cook your eggs in same pan, until yolks are desired consistency.
9.) Portion potato/apple mixture onto plates and top with an egg.
10.) Serve with fresh fruit and/or toast.

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked”
-Bernard Meltzer

Silly Joke of the Day:

What lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches?
....A nervous wreck!



Have a great day and remember: Go Ahead & Indulge!

4.12.2010

Mangia Monday!

"Only two things in this world are too serious to be jested on, potatoes and matrimony."
-Irish saying.

Hello! Come on in and have look around. Today I have a tasty appetizer recipe to share with you. Truth be told - I even make these for dinner! They are easy to make a require very few ingredients - give them a try!

"The potato, like man, was not meant to dwell alone."
-Shila Hibben



Baby Potatoes with Blue Cheese Filling

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

* 12 large baby yellow potatoes, unpeeled
* 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
* 9 strips cooked bacon, finely diced
* Salt and pepper
* 2 Tbsp chives, finely chopped


Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.) Place potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover them.
3.) Cook on medium-high, until they are almost tender.
4.) Drain and cool.
5.) When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut off ends and discard.
6.) Cut each potato in half.
7.) Using 1/4 tsp measure spoon or a melon baller, scoop out potato, leaving a 1/4-inch shell.
8.) Reserve scooped-out potato.
9.) Combine reserved potato and blue cheese in medium bowl.
10.) Mix well to blend.
11.) Add in 3/4 off diced bacon and combine.
12.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.
13.) Scoop mixture into potato shells.
14.) Sprinkle with the remainder of the diced bacon.
15.) Place potatoes on a baking sheet and cook 7-10 min, until hot.
16.) Put potatoes on a serving platter and garnish with chives.


"Zen...does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes."
-Alan W. Watts


Bad Joke of the day:

What do you say to an angry 300-pound baked potato?
...Anything, just butter him up.


Have a great day and remember: Go Ahead & Indulge!

1.11.2010

Mangia Monday!

Hello! I hope you had an enjoyable weekend, and wish you well for the upcoming week! I am sharing a few recipes today that will make a great family meal - Enjoy!

Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains; another, a moonlit beach; a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years. Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth.
-Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses


Home-Style Pot Roast



Serves: 6

Ingredients:

* 3 yellow onions
* 1 beef chuck roast, (about 2 1/2 lb.)
* 3/4 tsp. kosher salt, plus more, to taste
* 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 Tbs. canola oil
* 4 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 tsp. sweet paprika
* 1 1/2 cups beef broth
* 1 1/2 cups canned plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
* 2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish

Equipment Needed: Dutch Oven

Directions:

1.) Slice the onions into 4 pieces, then Set aside.
2.) Season the chuck roast with the salt and pepper.
3.) Spread the flour on a plate. Coat the roast with the flour, shaking off the excess.
4.) In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the oil.
5.) Add the roast and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on both sides.
6.) Transfer to a plate.
7.) Add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil to the pot and heat over medium-high heat.
8.) Add the onions, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft. minutes.
9.) Stir in the garlic and paprika and cook until the garlic is fragrant.
10.) Stir in the stock, tomatoes and the 2 Tbs. of parsley.
11.) Return the beef to the pot, nestling it in the onions.
12.) Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low.
13.) Cover and simmer until the beef is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
14.) Transfer the pot roast to a deep serving platter.
15.) Season the onion mixture with salt and pepper.
16.) Skim off any fat from the surface.
17.) Spoon the onion mixture around the roast and garnish with parsley.
18.) Serve immediately.



Garlic Mashed Potatoes



Serves: 10

Ingredients:

* 4 lb. small Yukon Gold potatoes, skins on/left whole
* Salt
* 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1 3/4 cups half-and-half, warmed
* 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
* 4 Tbs. garlic (crushed into a paste)
* Freshly ground pepper, to taste
* Chives, finely chopped

Equipment needed: Potato Ricer

Directions:

1.) Place potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover the potatoes by 2 inches.
2.) Generously salt the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3.) Reduce heat to medium and cook until the potatoes are tender.
4.) Drain well in a colander.
5.) Set a potato ricer over a large bowl and pass the potatoes through in batches.
6.) Add butter, 1 1/4 cups of the half&half and the sour cream and stir until smooth.
7.) Add more half-and-half until the desired consistency is reached.
8.) Stir in the garlic paste, and pepper to taste.
9.) Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and garnish with chives.
10.) Serve immediately.

(Potatoes boiled whole in their skins absorb less water and produce lighter, fluffier mashed potatoes)


Have a great day!

Until Tomorrow: Go Ahead & Indulge!

7.14.2009

Tasty Tuesday!!




Hello!

I hope everyone made it through their Monday without too much difficulty!

I never think of days in terms of Monday: the first day of the week, and so on...

Since I am a stay at home mom it does not matter what day it is - I still have my kids, DH, house, business (and everything else) to care for!

I think of days of the week in terms of food.

I like to plan my supper menus so I have an idea of what I will be making for the week.

Everything is open to change, but it is nice to have a rough plan to go buy!

For instance, yesterday, was a cool, but enjoyable day - so the kids and I spent most of the day outside!

In cases like that, we eat dinner later and it need to be quick and easy to make!!!

I decided to make a Frittata! Who can go wrong with eggs, cheese, vegetables and whatever else you can find?

The first thing I like to do is scour the refrigerator for leftovers that I can use - this makes cooking even EASIER!!!

Second, I take filling requests from the kids!

Lastly, I create! I say create, because that is what I do: no recipes, I just grab what I want/need and cook away!






Monday Night Frittata

Serves 4

* Organic cooking spray
* 6 Organic Eggs
* Pinch of Sea Salt
* Fresh Ground Pepper (to taste)
* Garlic Powder
* Parsley
* 1/2 cup leftover diced potatoes & onions
* 6 Slices of Bacon (minced)
* 1 tomato (chopped)
* 1/4 cup fresh grated mozzarella


Directions:

1.) Spray omelet pan with cooking spray.
2.) Place pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
3.) While pan is heating beat the eggs in a small bowl, add seasonings.
4.) Once pan is heated thoroughly, add potatoes and bacon - saute for about 3 minutes.
5.) Add beaten eggs to pan and let cook until bottom is set.
6.) Push in sides of eggs with a rubber scraper to let the loose egg on top fall to the sides.
7.) Once the sides have cooked until set, flip egg mixture and let bottom cook a few more minutes. (this takes practice).
8.) Top the egg mixture with tomatoes and cheese (and whatever else you may want).
9.) Place a lid on pan for several minutes to melt the cheese.
10.) Cut into slices, transfer to a plate and serve with toast.





Enjoy!


I wonder what tonight has in store for us!!!

Ciao!