Salt Crusted Potatoes

I've seen many versions of salt crusted potatoes and thought I would give it a whirl. I love the sweetness of a baby red potato and then with the salt crust, yum! This really is the easiest recipe ever. Also, the skins of the potatoes come out super crisp and tender like parchment. Enjoy!

Salt Crusted Potatoes

2 Pounds Baby Red Potatoes
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Bay Leaves

Scrub potatoes and dry. Then toss with just enough olive oil to coat.
Place 1" of salt in a baking dish that is large enough to hold all the potatoes in a single layer, scatter a few bay leaves. Next place potatoes in salt and press into the salt so they are almost covered. Bake in a 375 degree oven until tender, about 45 minutes. Brush a bit of the salt off and serve immediately.

Oven Fries

I love french fries and was craving them the other day and decided to make oven fries. Making double fried fries is a lot of work, a huge mess, and they are so bad for you! This is a super easy recipe and can be done with russet or red potatoes. I just love a crispy golden fry, and this is the recipe to take care of that craving!

Oven Fries

2 Large Russet Potatoes
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Herbs de Provence

Pre-heat a large baking sheet in a 400 degree oven. Cut the potatoes into large fry sized pieces, leaving the skin on. Toss with a generous amount of olive oil, salt & pepper, and herbs de Provence. Arrange fries on the pre-heated baking sheet and bake until just tender turning half way through, about 30 minutes total. Turn on broiler and roast fries until golden brown and crisp, turning often.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This is a dish that I only make for Thanksgiving and look forward to it every year. This is a Southern recipe and is always a hit at dinner. It’s creamy, sweet, and could almost be served as dessert. I like this so much better than the traditional baked sweet potatoes with butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows which I always ate growing up. I first had this recipe about 5 years ago when my friend Doug made it. I thought he was crazy going to so much work for a side dish, but now realize it is definitely worth it.
I like to use yams instead of sweet potatoes because of the beautiful orange color they add do the dish. If you like sweet potatoes better or can’t find yams, it will turn out just as good.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Potatoes:
3 Medium Sweet Potatoes or Yams
¼ Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
½ Cup Evaporated Milk
¼ Cup Melted Butter

Topping:
1 Cup Brown Sugar
½ Cup Flour
½ Cup Melted Butter
1 Cup Chopped Pecans

Peel and dice potatoes and place in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking until very soft, about 20 minutes, drain well. Next mash the potatoes with a mixer or heavy duty whisk and add sugar, eggs, evaporated milk and melted butter, mix well. Place potato mixture into a medium sized casserole dish, set aside.
For the topping combine all ingredients and mix with hands to form a crumb mixture. Spread evenly over the potatoes. Bake in a 375 degree pre-heated oven until bubbling and top is just crisp, about 30 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before serving.

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

If your not a huge sweet potato fan, you can always try out my Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I have been told that they are the best mashed potatoes people have ever had. Well, once you look at the ingredient list, I think you will understand why they are so amazing. I made a double batch of these for Thanksgiving as well and they were so good, I wish I had some to eat right now, just looking at the picture is making me hungry. Enjoy!

Potato Soup

I used to make potato soup with just onion, milk and potatoes…this recipe is has evolved dramatically, and so has the flavor. I love the subtle onion taste that the leeks leave, and with the addition of the celery and carrots, it really kicks up the flavor dramatically. On top of this, when you cook the vegetables in chicken stock and then puree them into a nice thick creamy soup, it makes it simply sinful. This recipe is a little unusual for potato soup, but I must insist on the use of the carrot and celery as it adds so much flavor, although it does change the color from a perfect creamy white to a lightly yellow tint, it’s worth the sacrifice. If you want a more hearty soup, skip the blender and serve it as a rich, chunky vegetable soup.

Potato Soup

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 Leeks, thoroughly cleaned green parts remove, and finely chopped
3 Carrots, peeled and diced
3 Celery Stalks, diced
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
6 Russet Potatoes, skinned and cut into ¾ inch cubes
1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
8 Cups Chicken Stock (Or vegetable stock for a vegetarian soup)
Salt & Pepper
2 Cups Heavy Cream
Bacon, for garnish (optional)

In a large stock pot over medium high heat add the olive oil and leeks and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Next add the carrots, celery, and garlic, and a good pinch of salt and pepper, continue cooking until just softened, about 5 minutes more. Next add the potatoes, thyme, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, turn down heat and continue to cook until all the vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes or so. Remove the soup from the heat and use a stick blender to puree the vegetables into a fine smooth soup. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer, season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, pour into bowls and add a generous amount of crispy bacon bits. If you are making this a vegetarian dish you can garnish with some fresh green onion, chives, or thyme.

Red Potatoes and Herbs de Provence

Herbs de Provence are so underused in my opinion and they are one of my favorite herbs to use. I love the complexity of the flavor and the aroma they add to any dish. I use them with pork chops, in soups, stews, on roasted vegetables, and in many other recipes. Lydia posted an entire blog just on Herbs de Provence, you should check it out! This potato recipe went over very well at my Sunday brunch, but this would be a perfect side dish to any lunch, breakfast, or dinner.

Red Potatoes and Herbs de Provence

Red Potatoes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Herbs de Provence
Salt & Pepper

Clean potatoes and cut into cubes, and place in a baking sheet. Drizzle potatoes generously with olive oil and then sprinkle liberally with the Herbs de Provence, and salt & pepper, stir to ensure potatoes are well coated with spices. Place in a 375 degree oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 30 minutes, turning half way through cooking.

Spanish Frittata

My friend Amy was in town a couple weeks ago and was talking about a Spanish Frittata that she had seen in one of her magazines and she wanted me to make it for her. I looked a the recipe and immediately started adding to it and substiting different ingredients to make it taste better. Overall it turned out really good and I will make this again. I usually don’t like anything spicy for breakfast, but this hit the spot.

Spanish Frittata

1 Pound Spicy Chorizo Sausage
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Onion, diced
5 Small Red Potatoes, diced
3 Roasted Red Peppers (I used canned), cut into strips
12 Eggs
½ Cup Half&Half
6 Ounces Chevre, crumbled

Cut the sausage into ¼ inch thick pieces and fry in a 12 inch, oven safe, non-stick frying pan until browned, remove and set aside. Drain the grease and add the butter, onion and potato, cook over medium heat until the potatoes and browned and softened, about 15 minutes. In a bowl mix the eggs half&half and the crumbled chevre. Next, evenly distribute the red peppers over the onion and potato mixture, along with the cooked sausage. Pour the egg mixture over the top and place in a 350 degree pre-heated oven and cook until lightly golden brown on top, about 50-60 minutes. Can be served hot or at room temperature.

Steak & Frites

I love a delicious steak, and pared with the best frites ever, how could you possible go wrong? I had a craving for this the other day and had to cave in to this unhealthy but completely decadent delicatessen. I got my frites recipe from my Cooks magazine (from last spring I think?). They turn out completely hot crispy and perfectly golden brown. Don’t be tempted to take the easy route on these, it takes a few steps but after you have these frites you will never pick up that frozen bag of fries in the grocery store again!

Steak & Frites

4 Russet Potatoes, cut into a square and then into fry sized pieces
3 Tablespoons Corn Starch
1-48 Ounce Bottle Vegetable or Peanut Oil, for frying
4 New York Strip Steaks, 1 inch thick (or a favorite steak of your own)
Salt & Pepper
6 Tablespoons Butter
1 Pound Crimini Mushrooms (optional)
1 Teaspoon Herbs de Provence (optional)

Rinse potato strips in large bowl of cold water until all start is gone and water runs clear, about 3 rinses. Lightly dry with towel. Sprinkle with corn starch and lay in a single layer on a cookie cooling sheet and let rest until coating forms on the frites, about 20 minutes. Heat oil to 325 degrees in heavy deep skilled (I always use my cast iron dutch oven for this). Fry frites in two batches until almost slightly browned and soft, about 5 minutes, remove and let sit until cool, about 20 more minutes.
While frites are cooling prepare steak and mushrooms…
Season steaks generously with salt and pepper, set aside and let rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
Heat a couple tablespoons butter in a large skillet with herbs de province, add mushrooms and sauté until tender, reduce heat to low to keep warm.
Heat a couple tablespoons vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed, or cast iron skillet with over high heat until oil just starts to smoke. Add steaks and cook without moving for 4 minutes, turn over and continue cooking for an additional 3-5 minutes or until desired doneness. Remove from pan, place one tablespoon butter on each steak and cover with foil to rest.
To finish frites heat oil to 375 degrees, cook in 2 batches until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes, remove to paper lined tray and season heavily with salt (you can add herbs if desired).

Roasted Red Pepper and Potato Frittata

My friend Therese just had her birthday this last weekend and it was a total blast! The theme was Spanish Tapas, and the food…simply delicious! There were about 50 people at her party, so I was asked to make some larger quantity dishes since not a lot of our friends are foodies like me. I made a delicious roasted red pepper and potato frittata, stuffed mushrooms, and roasted red potatoes with aioli.
I took pictures of my frittata, but totally forgot to take pictures of the mushrooms and potatoes, so I will have to post those two recipes when I make them again. I made four 12 inch frittata’s which I divided into 16 pieces, so it was a good easy thing to make for a large crowd. The recipe below is for one.

Roasted Red Pepper and Potato Frittata

1 pound bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
2 teaspoons oil
1 large yellow or sweet onion, cut into thin slices
2 large russet potatoes peeled and sliced very thin (I drug out my mandolin for this)
¼ cup butter
1 jar roasted red pepper (in water), cut into ¼ inch strips
3 cups grated jack cheese
12 eggs
½ cups half&half
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In 12 inch frying pan cook bacon until crisp, remove and drain fat from pan. Add oil and onions and sauté over medium heat until caramelized, about 10 minutes, remove from pan and set aside. Next add butter and potatoes and cook stirring occasionally until potatoes are lightly golden and tender, about 10 minutes, remove from pan and set aside.
In large bowl add eggs, half&half, salt and pepper and beat until well combined. Ladle a small amount of egg mixture to cover bottom of frying pan, layer with ½ each; bacon, onions, potatoes, roasted red peppers, and cheese, repeat with remaining ingredients. Pour egg mixture over layers to cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to one hour or until puffed and golden brown on the top, let rest for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature.

Potato Soup

I love potato soup and especially love how easy it is to prepare and how few ingredients it takes. I have also added ham or bacon to this recipe which makes it even better. If you have a little sour cream and chives, that makes the perfect complement!

Potato Soup

6 Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes

1 Medium Onion, chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

6 Cups Chicken Stock (I use Pacific Brand)

2 Cups Half & Half

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

In large stock pot, heat oil over medium high heat, add onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes, add garlic and continue to cook two more minutes. Next add chicken stock and potatoes, turn heat to medium and cook until potatoes are very soft, about 30 minutes.
Puree mixture in blender or food processor until smooth, return to stock pot. Stir in half &half and season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat over low heat until ready to serve.

Dry-Spiced Potatoes with Cauliflower

Yeah, I am finally home!!! Two weeks is a long time to be away from home eating out. I can’t even begin to decide what to make for dinner. I think this is the last Indian dish recipe I have in my files. I am making all of these wonderful recipes tomorrow for my co-workers, but have to change them to vegan recipes…I have my fingers crossed they will turn out the same. I will take some pictures and post on Monday.

Dry-Spiced Potatoes with Cauliflower

1 Pound Potatoes, peeled and washed
1 Pound Cauliflower, broken into florets
½ Teaspoon Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 Jalapeno Pepper, finely chopped
1 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
¼ Teaspoon Chili Powder
½ Teaspoon Ground Turmeric
1 Teaspoon Salt
Chopped Fresh Cilantro, to garnish

Cut the peeled and washed potatoes into 1 inch cubes, and par-boil in salted boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until just soft. Drain well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry the cumin seeds for 2 minutes until they begin to sputter. Add the jalapeno pepper and fry for a further 1 minute.

Add the cauliflower florets to the pan, and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, spices and salt. Cook for a further 7-10 minutes, or until both vegetables are tender. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Indian Spice Stuffed Vegetables

This was the first Indian dish I ever tried. I was in New York and my friend Nick and I went to his friend Rena’s house and she cooked this meal. She served it with flat bread and rice. I was amazed at the punch of flavor and the mesmerizing delicious aroma. Of course my version isn’t half as good, but I still think it’s a great recipe with a lot of flavor.
I am not a huge potato fan, so often times I will make this with just eggplant. Also, if you can’t find the cute little baby eggplant, just cut thick slices of a regular eggplant, cut a pocket in the middle and stuff the slices with the spices.

Indian Spice Stuffed Vegetables

12 Small Potatoes (I like to use red)
12 Baby Eggplant (You can find these at the Asian grocery store, they are about the size of a plum)

Stuffing:
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds
2 Tablespoons Ground Coriander
2 Tablespoons Ground Cumin
½ Teaspoon Salt
¼ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
½ Teaspoon Ground Turmeric
2 Tablespoons Sugar
¼ Teaspoon Garam Masala
1 Tablespoon Peanuts, roughly crushed
2 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro

Sauce:
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
½ Teaspoons Mustard Seeds
14 Ounce Can Chopped Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
2/3 Cups Water

Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees. Make slits in the potatoes and eggplant.

Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing together in a plate. Carefully stuff the potatoes and eggplants with the spice mixture. Place the stuffed potatoes and eggplants in a greased ovenproof dish.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the mustard seeds for 2 minutes until they begin to sputter, then add the tomatoes, coriander and any leftover stuffing, together with the water. Simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Pour the sauce over the potatoes and Eggplant. Cover and bake for 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes

5 Pounds Russet Potatoes, peeled, cut into quarters, and then sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

16 Ounces Sour Cream, at rom temperature

1 Stick Butter, room temperature

1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt (I know it seems like a lot, but it’s absolutely necessary)

Place potatoes in large stock pot and boil until very tender, about 20 minutes, then drain. Next add sour cream, butter and garlic salt. Using large heavy duty whisk, beat until light and fluffy (you can also use an electric mixer or potato ricer if you would like). Adjust flavor by adding additional garlic salt or pepper if needed.

Potato Basil Frittata

Potato Basil Frittata

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided

4 ted potatoes, cleaned halved and sliced into ¼ inch pieces

8 extra-large eggs

15 ounces ricotta cheese

3/4 pound Gruyere cheese, grated (I used and 8ounce bag of pre-grated Italian blend cheese)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch ovenproof omelet pan over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and fry them until cooked through, turning often, about 10 to 15 minutes. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a small dish in the microwave.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, then stir in the ricotta, Gruyere, melted butter, salt, pepper, and basil. Sprinkle on the flour and baking powder and stir into the egg mixture.Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and place the pan in the center of the oven.

Bake the frittata until it is browned and puffed, 50 minutes to 1 hour. It will be rounded and firm in the middle and a knife inserted in the frittata should come out clean. Serve hot.