Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Truth: I don't make mashed potatoes that often. Maybe once every two months. I don't know why...but I find them to be time consuming. 

Some meals MUST have mashed potatoes with them. This was one of those meals. I adapted this recipe from "My Favorite Recipes." I loved the flavor the cheese gave to the potatoes. Yum!

Ingredients:

6-8 small potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
green onion, diced
salt and pepper

In large pot, add water, potatoes and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and let cook until potatoes are tender. Drain water. Mash potatoes until creamy. Add all ingredients and mix well. Enjoy!

Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

I love potatoes...I am always trying to find something new to make with them....or we would be eating mashed or fried potatoes all to often. My friend Jill does a dinner group once a month, and when it was her turn, this is one of the recipes she made. These potatoes are the perfect side to any dish.

Ingredients:
1 pound potatoes, washed and quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In mixing bowl mix together all ingredients, until coated well. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 45 minutes or until soft to the touch. Serve immediately.

Chicken Stuffed Potatoes

This recipe is adapted from a recipe in our neighborhood cookbook. It is such a great way to combine your meat and veggies!

Ingredients:

4 large baking potatoes

2 chicken breasts, shredded (or a rotisserie chicken)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 onion, chopped

3 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon dill weed

salt and pepper

Bake potatoes as you normally would. Remove from oven when fully cooked and let cool. Once cooled, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out middle. Place filling in bowl along with the rest of the ingredients. Mix together until smooth. Fill potato shells with mixture and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

White Cheddar Mashed

This is a perfect, elegant, and simple side to any meat.  Serve this and you will look like a professional, with the training of an amateur (similar to me).  

I

Ingredients:

4-5 Large baking potatoes skinned

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

1 cup white cheddar (Irish Cheddar is great)

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Start by peeling and chopping your potatoes into small squares as close to the same size as possible.  In a large pot add the potatoes, enough water to fill the pot 3/4 of the way, and the salt.  Bring to a boil and let boil rapidly for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are done and soft to the fork.  Strain the potatoes and place back in the pan over low heat.  Add the cream, cheese and pepper and mash until smooth.  You can have them as  lumpy as you like but I like mine smooth.  If they are dry, you can add the milk a few tbsp at a time until you reach the consistency you like.  Add the chives, and butter.  Serve hot.  (You may need more salt so taste them and salt to taste.)

Ecco!!! Supper easy and tasty.  These are the bomb with little effort, please give them a try.

Potato Salad

I have said this before, but we are a two jar family. I am a Miracle Whip kind of girl, and Brooks likes Mayo. So when it comes to potato salad, I love my Momma's version! Whenever we have a bbq or any type of get together, I beg her to make her potato salad. So if you are a Miracle Whip fan, you will love this!

Ingredients:

10 potatoes, washed and peeled
10 boiled eggs
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 cup Miracle Whip
3 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoon pickle juice
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Wash and peel potatoes. Then boil until cooked. Let cool. Boil eggs while potatoes are cooking as well so that they both can cool at the same time. Once cooled, dice potatoes and eggs. Chop onion. Save two eggs to slice thin and add to the top of the potato salad. Mix together the Miracle Whip, mustard, pickle juice, paprika, salt and pepper. Then mix with the potato mixture. Top with sliced eggs and a little more paprika. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

"Fried" Potatoes

I am a little confused as to why I have always called these "fried potatoes." I guess maybe because I fry them in butter. When I was younger my mom would always make these as a side to many meat dishes. When I could make them myself, I would often just make them because I loved them so much. Now my kids request these at least once a week! They are so easy and we just love them!

Serves 5

Ingredients:

4 large baking potatoes

1/2 stick a butter

salt, pepper and season salt to taste

Wash potatoes and poke them with a fork on each side. Microwave them for 5 minutes per side in the microwave. Then let cool. Remove skins, and dice. Place them in a fry pan with melted butter. Season with salt, pepper and season salt. Let potatoes fry over medium-medium high heat. Keep stirring. I like a little crispiness to my potatoes, so cook them how you would like them! 

Dutch Oven Potatoes

So as a summer tradition (2 years running) we go up to a canyon near our house, and have a campfire dinner.  Having mountains close affords us some spectacular scenery, wonderful wildlife, and delicious dutch oven cooking.  Hot dogs, and smores are a thing of the past.... while we still do the smores from time to time.  This is the first of a couple of recipes that you can make using a dutch oven, fresh ingredients, and some coals from the fire... briquette if you a cheater like me.  Enjoy a taste of the mountains.

Serves 10
Ingredients:
15 medium sized potatoes sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
2 medium sized onions sliced
1 package bacon chopped into small squares
4 tblsp butter
2 tblsp grill seasoning
salt and pepper

Start by heating up your dutch oven over 12-15 briquettes getting it nice and hot.  Cook the bacon, until crispy.  Keep as much or a little of the fat as you want, as it will help cook the potatoes.  Add the onion, and cook for a couple of minutes stirring often until they begin to caramelize.  Add the potatoes, grill seasoning, and butter.  Stir until all the ingredients are mixed well.  Place the lid on the dutch oven over the potatoes and use 4 of the briquettes from the bottom, on top, evenly spaced.  Cook for 30-40 minutes or until fully cooked, checking often and stirring.  You'll know they are close when the skins start to fall off the potatoes.  Be sure to season them all along the way with the salt and pepper to taste.  That's it, all the dutch oven, smokey goodness you can eat.  Enjoy!

(Hint: I'm a cheater as I said, I also use my camp stove to cook the bacon before I add the potatoes over the coals.  Feel free to do this as it won't take quite as long.  If you do this, just finish the cooking over the briquettes.)

Pesto Mashed Potatoes

I was reading a magazine a few months back, and they said to try new things with your mashed potatoes.  If you follow our blog at all, you probably know that we love Pesto.... so there it was, pesto mashed potatoes.  It's the right balance of creamy, and cheesy mixed with the bite of a good pesto.  With this recipe, plain old meat and potatoes can always have some personality


Serves 5-7
Ingredients:
5 large potatoes peeled
1/2 cup of milk or cream
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup pesto
salt and pepper


   Peel your potatoes, and cut them into small pieces.  Keep each piece as even as possible so they cook at the same rate.  Boil them for 25 minutes or until soft.  Strain them and put back into the pot.  Add the milk, cheese, and pesto and  smash until all smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.

That's it, serve with a large steak, or chicken breast.  Whatever you serve it with, just serve it!!!

Crab and Shrimp Boil

This is the best activity for a family to gather around together over some good food and good conversation.  Growing up on the Gulf Coast allowed us to enjoy delicious shrimp, and fresh blue crab.... all we could catch.  This recipe is a tribute to all of you who are suffering with the horrific oil spill that has effected the most beautiful place I have ever been.  I love you Pensacola, and I patiently await when you and all other Gulf Coast cities will be able to offer us such abundance again....

Ingredients:
Feeds 10-12 people

2-5 lbs of medium shrimp (depends on your shrimp eaters as I can eat a pound myself)
2 lbs crab legs and claws (frozen or fresh if you can catch em, and any kind of crab you want)
10 ears of corn peeled and cut in half
5 lbs red potatoes cut in half
4 lbs smoked sausage cut into 1 inch pieces
creole seasoning

In a large steam pot, put about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Then layer each ingredient in the following order, being sure to liberally season each layer with the creole seasoning.  Potatoes, corn, sausage, shrimp and crab.  Then on a large burner (outside if you can on a propane burner) boil on high for 20-25 minutes.  Once the shrimp are all pink, you are good to eat.  Pour out on a table with some newspaper or plastic down and dig in.  Serve this with some melted butter, and cocktail sauce on each corner of the table, and you'll have a party that you'll never want to be over.  

Smashed Potatoes

I have a blog that I visit daily, Annie Bakes. I just love it. She has such a fun style and always has creative recipes. I saw this recipe for potatoes a month ago, and new it would be a perfect change to the regular baked potato. For once we did not have any fresh or grated parmesan...just the powdery kind. I still loved them either way, and I know you will too!

 
Ingredients:

Small potatoes
olive oil
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Wash your potatoes, then boil for about 30 minutes. Remove, and put on a baking sheet. Smash the tops of them. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Then top with parmesan cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.

Oven Baked Fries

It is getting to be grill season, and we probably eat hamburgers once a week. We are always experimenting with different ways to make homemade fries. These ones were a home run!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 large baking potatoes, or 8 small ones

4 tablespoons parmesan cheese  

1 tablespoon season salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Wash potatoes, and then chop. In a bowl mix the potatoes with cheese, oil, and seasonings. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Spread the potatoes on the pan. Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes, or until fully cooked. 

Funeral Potatoes

I don't know why these cheesy yummy potatoes that my family usually eats with ham are called "Funeral Potatoes." But I do know when I went to my cousin's funeral two months ago, and we went to the luncheon there were probably six or more different kinds of these potatoes there! My  Mom's "Funeral Potatoes" are my favorite and they are super easy! 

Makes 1 9x13 pan
Ingredients:

2 pounds cubed hash browns-thawed
1/4 cup onion
2 cans cream of chicken
1 pint sour cream
10 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients together. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Then spread out potatoes mixture on the pan. Sprinkle with a little more cheddar and parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes.

Pan Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Bearnaise, Confit Potatoes and Aparagus

You may have noticed that we don't do much with steak.  It just so happens that Lindsay doesn't like it, and I love it.  Of course we see who rules the roost.  However, we also see that in Canada we learned how to cook the most marvelous steak.  They showed us the difference in marbling with a local beef and Kobe beef (amazing). We learned the way to properly butcher a tenderloin.  We also learned just how delicious a perfectly cooked steak tastes... or at least I did!    

Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 6 ounce beef tenderloins
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper
12 fingerling potatoes
6 1/3 cups olive oil or canola oil
thyme
24 spears asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil

Horseradish Bearnaise Sauce
2 shallots sliced
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon tarragon
1 cup white wine
3 egg yolk
2/3 cup clarified butter
1/2 teaspoon grated horseradish
salt and pepper

Begin to confit the potatoes. In a pot, add oil-either olive or canola. Do this instead of water. Seriously the taste of the potatoes with the oil is AMAZING! Then put the potatoes and thyme. Simmer on low until tender. Remove from heat and let cool.
Blanch the asparagus in hot boiling water for 1 minute. Then plunge into ice cold water to ensure the bright green color. Half the potatoes and set the asparagus and potatoes aside.
For the bearnaise, bring a pot of water to a boil. In a separate pot, reduce the wine with the shallots, peppercorn and tarragon by half.
In metal bowl, place egg yolks and wine reduction and whisk together over the top of the boiling water. This is called a bain marie. Whisk vigorously until the yolks become pale, making sure not to heat too much and scramble the eggs. At this point, slowly drizzle the warm clarified butter into the egg mix and remove from heat. Add horseradish and salt and pepper. Keep warm.
In an oven safe pan, over high heat season beef with salt and pepper. Sear beef on both sides and place in the oven at 400 for 4-6 minutes.
When the meat is done and resting (you want to let it rest before serving), saute up the potatoes and asparagus in a little bit of butter and salt and pepper. Add some fresh herbs if you want to season. Plate, and top beef with bearnaise sauce.
Enjoy!    

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

A lot of times when I think of what to post, I think about when I first got married. I didn't know what to cook or how to make certain foods. I adore my sister, but she doesn't really know how to cook at all! And I think that soon she will be getting married and will have no idea how to make this. These potatoes are a perfect side dish and alternative to the regular old mashed potatoes.

9 red potatoes-washed and partially skinned

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons parsley flakes

2 garlic cloves-minced

salt and pepper

Partially skin your potatoes and place in water-make sure to add about 2 tablespoons of salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes become soft when poked with a fork. Drain water and add sour cream, butter, parsley flakes, garlic and salt and pepper. Mash and serve.

Pork Wellington and Potato Pancake

This is actually a leftover makeover. Give it a try.

Roasted Pork loin (see the post on Garlic Stuffed Pork Loin)

1 store bought pie crust

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 tblsp butter

2 tblsp

2 cups of milk

1 tsp Rosemary

1 tsp garlic powder

Potato Pancake:

Leftover Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (see our post on those)

1-2 tblsp vegetable oil.

Take the cooked Pork Loin and stand for 10 minutes. If using leftovers from the fridge, that is fine. Wrap the pork loin in the pie crust covering on all sides, and making a seal with the crust. Brush the crust with olive oil on all sides, and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 350 until the crust is golden brown. Remove and let stand. Slice into 1 inch thick pieces.

Potato pancakes:

Flatten the mashed potatoes (see the post again) into flat patties. Fry them on each side in the vegetable oil on medium-high heat. They should brown right up and the cheese should form a nice crust.

Sauce:

In a saucepan melt the butter, and add the flour. Whisk in the milk and rosemary and garlic. Stir over medium heat until thick. Serve over the pork and the potatoes

This second go around may actually be better than the first.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

I got this recipe from a neighborhood cookbook...and then changed it up a bit. These mashed potatoes aren't your average kind! they are super cheesy...my kids LOVED them!

6 large baking potatoes (or 12 small ones)

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1 cup Cheddar/mozzarella cheese mix

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon season salt

salt and pepper to taste

Boil your potatoes in water. When softened add the rest of the ingredients and mash. Put in a baking dish at bake uncovered at 375 for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Potato Wedges

Bacon does make everything better, especially fries.

Ingredients:

4-5 large Potatoes

10 slices of bacon

2 green onions chopped

(Dipping Sauce)

Mix in a bowl the following;

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp grill seasoning

Start by heating up vegetable oil to 375 Degrees. Wash and slice your potatoes into 4 large wedges. Fry the wedges for 8-10 minutes until they are just a little al dente. On the stove top fry the bacon for only a few minutes. Make sure the bacon isn't crispy. Remove the potatoes and bacon and let drain on a paper towel. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Cut the bacon into halves or thirds. Wrap the potatoes with the bacon and place seam side down on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes or until Bacon is crispy. Cover with green onion and serve with the sauce on the side. Eat up, they are tasty!

Twice Baked Potatoes

This is one thing that I never here my kids complain about! They gobble this right up!

4 large baking potatoes

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 cup butter

salt and pepper to taste

Bake potatoes at 375 for about an hour. Remove and let cool.

Then cut potatoes in half (the long way) and scoop out the middle into a bowl. Add milk, cheese, butter and salt and pepper. Mash and then scoop potatoes back into shell. Bake at 375 for another 20 minutes until golden brown.

New Potatoes

This recipe is almost identical to the recipe on the Lipton Onion Soup Mix box. It is super easy...

6 red potatoes-diced

1/4 cup olive oil

1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix

Mix together potatoes, olive oil and soup mix. Bake at 425 for appx. 40 minutes.