Standing Roasted Potatoes

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I have all those amazing dishes on the brain, particularly the sides. Stuffing and potatoes, what more could a girl ask for. Stuffing is probably my all time favorite food, but sometimes you just need an amazingly crisp roast potato. These take a good amount of time but they are worth the wait. In addition to delicious-ing up your Thanksgiving table (not that it needs it), they are perfect for Sunday night roasting, my favorite cold weather tradition. And now that the cold has settled in, expect lots more roasting to come.

5 golden potatoes
2 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes

Pre-heat the oven to 375. Thinly slice the potatoes into rounds (like potato chip shape). Divide potato slices between 6 muffin cups, and place the slices in the cups vertically (standing up). Slice the garlic, and divide between the muffin cups, putting the slices in between potato slices. Drizzle with olive oil and then season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Slice the butter into small pieces and put a few on top of each muffin tin. Roast for 1 hour until the slices are browned at the top, then lower heat to 325 and roast until potatoes are cooked through, about 30 minutes more. Makes 6 individual portions. (adapted from Martha)

Happy Eating.

Beef and Potato Hash

The use everything up experiment continues, and I have to say I feel proud. I have not only managed to make some delicious meals, our fridge is near empty and devoid of perishables, and not because we have thrown out what went bad, but because we have used everything! We really need to go shopping now, but I've learned a valuable lesson in using what you have, and hopefully the dinners from this week can help me to buy less and use everything up to decrease what I waste.

Beef Potato Hash:
2 large russet potatoes
2 yellow onions
2 bell pepper
1 small hot pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp of worchestershire sauce
1 can/bottle of beer
8 oz of ground beef
Canola oil
Salt, pepper, Tabasco

Heat the a thin layer of oil over high heat in a large skillet. Chop potatoes into small cubes and add to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally until potatoes begin to brown, about 4-5 minutes, then lower heat to medium. Chop onions into small squares and add to the pan , cook until onions soften slightly, about 3 minutes. Chop the peppers (hot and bell) and add to the pan, stir to combine, raise heat to high and cook 1 minute, then stir in the chili powder, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce and half the beer. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to allow beer to simmer, cook until the liquid has absorbed. Add ground beef and stir in. Add remaining beer and cook until absorbed and potatoes are tender. Serve with sunny side up eggs. Potatoes will need to cook about 30 minutes total, depending on how small you chopped them.

Happy Eating.

Papas con Chorizo

This was a delicious meal. It was hearty and satisfying, yet unmistakably summer. And the best part? Almost all of the vegetables came from my small garden! Beautiful and plump orange cherry tomatoes, a delicious and gigantic zucchini, a few small, but tasty peppers, and they were all grown right in my back yard. It's summer time and local eating at it's best! There is something immensely satisfying about eating something you grew. It's like using chopsticks for Chinese food, it just makes it taste better. Even if your backyard isn't overflowing with tomatoes, this delicious concoction is still worth whipping up, for a fast and delicious summer dinner.

Papas con Chorizo
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 large russet potato (about 2 cups diced)
1 medium yellow onion
1 zucchini
1 bell pepper
1 small jalapeno
2 chorizo style sausages
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1/2 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of paprika
1/4 tsp of chili powder
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 clove of garlic
Salt
Avocado and cheddar cheese for serving

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, over medium-high heat. Chop the potato into small pieces, about 1/2 inch. Add to the oil and stir. Let potatoes brown slightly, while you chop the other vegetables, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Chop the onion, zucchini, and bell pepper into roughly the same size pieces as the potatoes. Add to the pan and stir. Dice the jalapeno and add. Squeeze the Chorizo from it's casings into the pan and break up with a wooden spoon, while the chorizo is browning. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender. Add the stock, pepper, paprika, and chili powder. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until all the liquid is gone. Chop the tomatoes into halves or quaters and mince the garlic, stir into the pan and cook 1-2 minutes more until tomatoes are warm. Add salt to taste. Serve topped with chopped avocado and cheese.

Happy Eating.

Daring Cooks Potato Salad

Blog-checking lines: Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

***This post won 3rd place in the Daring Cook's contest hosted by the United States Potato Board***

I could not have been more excited about this month's daring cooks challenge. I love potaotoes, and generally hate potato salad. The cold, creamy, mayoed up stuff hardly tastes like the glorious root vegetable that is it's chief ingredient. So as I was looking through diverse and mouthwatering potato salads in the daring kitchen, I realized, just becasue that thick mayo version is what I first think of when someone says potato salad, doesn't mean that is the only one. So I set out to make a completely delicious, non-creamy, warm potato salad, and the resulting recipe is simple, fresh, healthy and absolutely delicious.

Grilled Potato Salad:
4 medium-large red potatoes
1 bunch of asparagus
1 medium shallot
4 tsp of olive oil, divided
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp champangne vinegar
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.
Plus additional salt and pepper

Chop potatoes into 1 inch chunks. Fill a pot with water and season with salt. Bring water to a boil and add potatoes. Cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Let potatoes cool, or chill briefly, until they are around room temperature. Pre-heat the grill. Season potatoes with salt, pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and toss to coat. Cook the potatoes in a foil packet, or a vegetable basket on the grill until golden and cooked through. In the mean time, cut the ends off the asparagus and toss with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and salt and pepper. Place asaparagus on a vegetable griller, or directly on the grill and grill until slightly charred, about 8 minutes. Remove potatoes from grill and put in a large bowl. Chop cooked asparagus into 1 inch pieces and add to the bowl as well. Whisk together the remaining teaspoon of olive oil, the mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Pour the dressing over the warm potatoes and asparagus and toss to coat. Serve warm.

Happy Eating