There’s something so comforting about a quiet Sunday dinner. The aromas of a pot roast simmering in the slow cooker, something scrumptious grilling on the barbie, perhaps a pie baking in the oven – it all seems to say, “It’s been a great weekend, I’m happy to be home.”

We added these Ancho Chili and Cheddar Stuffed Potatoes to last night’s Sunday dinner. In college, I made stuffed (or twice baked) potatoes all the time, and like my lasagna, they were never the same way twice. These had a bit of a Southwestern twist with the added roasted mild Ancho chilies. A bit of cream and white cheddar made them dreamy.

I’m not much of a recipe follower when it comes to stuffed potatoes, as I tend to just throw ingredients together and taste as I go, but I did my best to put it all together for you. Adjust the flavors to suit your own palate, more cheese is never a bad thing in my book!

Click here for the full recipe:

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Categories:	Cheese • Cooking tips • Veggies	2 Comments
Tags:	ancho chilies • Cheese • Chili Peppers • green onion • potatoes • scallions • side dish • side dishes • stuffed potatoes • twice baked potatoes • white cheddar

Here’s a quick technique of the day! If you have a mandolin (a very handy kitchen tool that I highly recommend), then you can create these beautifully cut potatoes. Also referred to as gaufrette, this cut is a lovely way to present foods in way other than simply slicing.

It’s also fun to do with carrots! Serve them raw with an herb yogurt dipping sauce. Thanks, Melissa, for your lovely photo.

Click the “Gaufrette” graphic below for step by step instructions:

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Technique • Veggies	3 Comments
Tags:	cooking techniques • potatoes • Technique • waffle cut

Photo: Marybeth on Foodista

This was exactly what I was going for: a simple, delicious red potato dish to accompany our Saint Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage dinner. Easy, right? I’ve done it before many times – blind folded and with one arm tied behind my back. I mean, I’m part Irish, for shamrock’s sake! Who can screw this dish up?

Me.

How you ask? Well, in defense of myself, here are my reasons:

1. The searing pain in my sinuses woke me at 2:30 am  – darn cold.
2. While waiting for the drugs to kick in I laid awake thinking of all the things I needed to do at work. Which kept me up until 7 am.
3. Due to lack of sleep (I’m an 8-9 hour a night girl) and stress, my sinus headache turned migraine.
4. My migraine medicine makes me a bit loopy

So, when my friend brought over his new girlfriend I set the potatoes in the steamer, placed them in the pot with a bit of water, and turned the stove on.

And forgot to set a timer.

We cracked open the fabulous bottle of Ridge, filled our glasses (much needed after the day I’d had!) and got to know one another. Around 30 minutes later – far too long for a pot to go on medium-high with an inch of water in it – I smelled smoked.

Craaaaaaaaaaap!!!

I ran to the kitchen, opened the lid and my hair flew back from the blast of smoke that burst forth. “My Le Creuset!” I cried. My friend opened the windows, my cat scurried to smoke-free safety upstairs, and Allison (the new girlfriend) grinned.

“You’re going to do an exposé on the Foodista writer, aren’t you?” I whimpered, tail between my legs.

So I’m outing myself. I’m not perfect. Now you know.

At least the corned beef was good.

Note: That was total fiction. Well, at least the part about Allison grinning at me. She was, in fact, completely sympathetic and the perfect guest. All the rest, unfortunately, remains shamefully true.

Marybeth shows us how it’s done here:

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Holiday • Veggies	2 Comments
Tags:	boiled potatoes • Irish • potatoes • red potatoes • Saint Patrick's Day • side dishes • St. Paddy's Day • St. Patrick's Day

Hasselback potatoes are a Swedish creation, named after the Stockholm restaurant – Restaurant Hasselbacken – that served them back in the 1700s. They are made from whole potatoes that are peeled and sliced, almost through, creating a lovely fan. The tops are dotted with butter, sprinkled with fine bread crumbs (and sometimes Parmesan), and baked, then broiled for added crispness.

When done properly they are creamy on the inside and beautifully crisp on the outside, making for a lovely presentation.

No more boring potatoes!

Hasselback Potatoes

4 medium baking potatoes, peeled
1/3 cup butter, melted and divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unseasoned fine dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425°. Slice each potato crosswise at 1/8-inch intervals, cutting to within 1/4 inch of the bottom.

Arrange potatoes, fan side up, in a buttered 10-inch pie dish. Drizzle 2 tablespoons melted butter evenly over potatoes, and sprinkle with salt.

Bake potatoes at 425° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over potatoes, drizzle with remaining melted butter, and bake 20 more minutes.

Sprinkle cheese over potatoes, baste with butter in pan, and bake 5 more minutes or until potatoes are golden.

Click here for more on Hasselback potatoes.

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Categories:	Veggies	12 Comments
Tags:	Food • foodista • hasselback potatoes • potatoes • side dish

I will admit, I get a little overzealous when making mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I always seem to think that each person is going to eat the equivalent of their arm’s weight. I practically do. Allow me to digress for just a moment to explain how much I really like this tuber.

When I was about four my parents took my brother and I to a steakhouse. I barely touched my steak, but proceeded to eat everyone’s large baked Russet potato. All four. Every bit. I was in heaven. Truly, I would have traded my favorite doll for them. It may have been my first encounter with a dressed up tater, I don’t know, but ever since that night I apparently have “an exaggerated sense of what a normal potato portion should be.” I’ve heard that more than once. Clearly I believe the body:potato ratio is much greater than most people would believe it to be. Whatever. Needless to say, we have a crock-pot full of mashed potatoes leftover.

Amateurs.

They sure did come in handy though, along with the other leftovers, when we assembled this delicious Lamb Shepherd’s Pie.

We didn’t use a recipe for this dish as it was a hodgepodge of things in the fridge. First, we ground up our leftover lamb with my new favorite toy: our KitchenAid food grinder attachment (I’m grinding up everything!). Then, we sautéed that with a bit of red wine, garlic and onions.

In an soufflé dish we started layering: lamb first, then carrots, peas, some of Tracy’s corn pudding (a coarser this time as she added more polenta), some sautéed Chanterelle mushrooms, and topped it all with a healthy layer of mashed potatoes. We finished it by sprinkling the top with some of our favorite new black lava flake and set it in the oven to warm and brown.

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Categories:	Uncategorized	7 Comments
Tags:	carrots • chantarelle • corn pudding • Food • foodista • lamb • lamb shepherds pie • leftovers • mushrooms • peas • potatoes • shepherds pie

You like potato and I like potahto,
You like tomato and I like tomahto,
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto,
Let’s just call the whole thing delish!

Alright, alright, I’ll keep my day job. I know I can’t sing for squat, but my taste buds sure struck a fine cord when they tasted this dish. Tender, buttery new potatoes and sweet little red tomatoes lightly salted and roasted – the perfect side to just about anything: fish, poultry, a big fat juicy steak, or just a simple tossed green salad.

Roasted Potatoes and Tomatoes

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F,
• Rub potatoes with softened butter or olive oil (or a bit of both! Restaurants do it, so can we!),
• Toss in a bowl with salt and fresh cracked pepper to thoroughly coat,
• Place potatoes in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet and roast for about 30 minutes or until softened, turning frequently to brown all sides,
• Add tomatoes about 15 minutes prior to pulling the entire dish out of the oven.

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Categories:	Veggies	6 Comments
Tags:	Food • foodista • potatoes • roasting • side dish • tomatoes

Here in Southern California we often suffer with the cold more indoors than out due to lack of insulation and heating methods that, well, don’t. So a one-dish meal that starts on the stove top and then migrates to the oven pays both heating and eating dividends. This particular dish combines two favorites, pork and scalloped potatoes, with the pork fat standing in for butter and milk plus white wine for cream. Definitely from the what’s-not to-like comfort food playbook.

The usual American style rather lean pork works best as the drippings from the meat will mix with the potatoes underneath and there is no real strategy for degreasing once the ingredients are combined. Thick or thin chops work fine, just plan on cooking longer in the final oven stage if the chops are thick. Another bonus is that the dish can be made ahead up to that point, and cooking time is forgiving as the chops are basically braising rather than roasting. So you shouldn’t end up with the pork radial tire that we all remember so well from camp and college dining halls.

I happened to have some dried tomato so I tossed in a few of those, diced, to add some flavor and color to the dish. You could as easily use fresh or dried mushrooms and leeks could replace the onions. I have made a version of this with port replacing white wine and the mushrooms would go handily with that. Similarly with the seasoning rub, I used a NOMA brand seasoning blend theoretically made for lamb but at our house we like rosemary on pretty much anything.  You could easily substitute thyme or sage and the amount is to your taste rather than critical.

The amounts of the ingredients listed below are pretty arbitrary. Basically you want enough sliced onion and potatoes to fill your dish, leaving room for the chops to sit on top. And you want enough liquid just to peek through the vegetables and keep everything moist.

Ingredients:
Pork chops, one per person, trimmed of fat
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large potato, peeled and sliced very thin.
4-5 dried tomato or sun dried tomatoes
1/2 c milk, fat free
1/4 c dry white wine
1-2 TB  seasoning mix of rosemary, cumin, garlic and black pepper, combined to make a rub OR any favorite seasoning
1 T grape seed or other oil for browning meat

Equipment:
You will need a shallow casserole pan which can go from stove top to oven

Technique:
Preheat oven to 375
Mix spices to make a rub and apply to all sides and edges of chops
Heat oil in casserole until  hot, brown chops quickly on each side to a nice brown color
Remove pan from heat, remove chops temporarily to a plate
Pour off any accumulated fat in the pan and discard, being careful to retain any tasty dripping and browned bits
Pour the wine and the milk into the pan and stir to incorporate the juices and drippings
Mix onions, potatoes and tomato bits together, add to the pan and distribute in an even layer. The level of the liquid should be roughly to the top of the vegetables. If not, add more.
Place the browned chops on top of the vegetables, cover with a fitted top or with aluminum foil
Place in middle of oven, lower heat to 350 degrees
Bake for 20-30 minutes approximately, checking the level of the liquid a few times. Timing will vary based on the thickness of the chops.
When the chops are cooked through and the potatoes are tender, remove the top from the pan and bake for another 5 minutes or so to reduce and thicken the liquid.

Serve 1 chop per person with a side of the potatoes and enjoy!

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Meat & Poultry • Seasoning & Spices • Veggies • wine	Leave a Comment
Tags:	Food • foodista • one dish cooking • pork • pork chops • potatoes • scalloped potatoes

Photo: Gaku

During the cold months when I lived in Japan I loved a nice hot bowl of nikujaga. In jest, I used to call this dish “Mick Jagger.” To me, when my students said “nikujaga” or “Mick Jagger” they both sounded almost the same, so it gave us many belly grabbing laughs.

Japanese Rolling Stones fan student: “I love Micku Jagga!”
English food loving teacher: “Me too, it’s so delicious!”
Japanese Rolling Stones fan student: “What!?”

Nikujaga literally means “meat (niku) potatoes (jaga),” and to most Japanese (as well as this Gaijin) it’s comfort food. It’s a simple dish of thinly sliced beef stewed in sweetened soy sauce with potatoes, shirataki noodles (also known as konnyaku noodles; a low carb, non-wheat noodle), carrots and onions.

In the late 19th century, while studying naval science in England, Japanese naval legend Tōgō Heihachirō was inspired by the hearty, nutritious beef stews of the British Royal Navy. Upon his return to Japan he commissioned the chefs of the Imperial Japanese Navy to create a version to serve their seamen.

And, thus, was born Mick Jagger…I mean, nikujaga <wink>.

Nikujaga

1/2 lb thinly sliced beef loin cut into 1 1/2 inch length pieces
4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 onion, cut into wedges
1/4 lb carrot, cut into bite size chunks
1/2 package shirataki noodles
2 1/2 cups dashi soup (*see below)
2 Tbsp mirin (sweet cooking rice wine)
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp soy sauce

Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a deep pot and quickly saute beef. Add onion, carrot, potato, and shirataki in the pan and saute together. Pour dashi soup stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and skim off foam. Simmer until potatoes are softened. Add sugar and mirin; cover. Simmer for about 5 minutes and add soy sauce. Simmer until the liquid is almost gone.

Makes 4 servings.

*Dashi is a stock that is the base of many Japanese dishes. There are many variations, but a common variety is made from dried kelp and bonito (fish) flakes. Many people nowadays use instant dashi. You can purchase it in Asian (and some non-Aisan) markets as well as on Amazon.com.

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Categories:	Asian • Meat & Poultry	2 Comments
Tags:	Asian • comfort food • Food • foodista • Japanese • meat • nikujaga • potatoes • stew

Unless you have some fancy-schmancy dinner party planned, I find it best to go to the farmer’s market with nary a menu in mind, and let the recently harvested fruits and veggies dictate what I’ll be serving. Coming home with my fresh loot, I spread everything on the counter, take a step back, and look at colors and textures. Then, it all starts to come together.

When food is this fresh I don’t mess around with too many ingredients. I prefer the natural flavors and aromas of the food to reach their full glory all on their own, without much coaxing from me. When I saw the beautiful golden and red beets, tender fingerling potatoes, fragrant fennel, and the deep green and orange of the Japanese pumpkin, Kabocha, I got giddy with grilling glee!

Slowly roasting vegetables releases their natural sugars, creating a delicious caramelization that marry all their glorious earthy flavors into one beautiful dish.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
Use as much or as little of each vegetable, or add your own market picks. The beauty of roasting is there are no rules!

Golden beets
Red beets
Fennel
Red onion
Fingerling potatoes
Kabocha (or acorn squash)

Clean and top the beets and, along with the fingerling potatoes, drizzle with olive oil. Roast whole at 400 degrees until softened, but not completely cooked (about 30 minutes). Remove from the oven and carefully peel the beets, then cut in half. You can leave the fingerlings whole, and slice lengthwise in half before serving, or halve them and continue roasting (both ways are delish!)

Quarter the fennel and red onion lengthwise, and cut the kabocha into 1/2 inch wedges.

Toss all the veggies in a bowl and drizzle enough olive oil to sufficiently coat. Then, add a big splash of balsamic vinegar, a couple hearty pinches of Kosher salt, a few good turns of fresh ground black pepper, and a small sprig of fresh rosemary. Let roast another 30-40 minutes, turning every so often to get an even roast.

Go to your local farmer’s market this weekend and let us know what you created!

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Herbs • Veggies	3 Comments
Tags:	beets • fennel • fingerling potatoes • Food • foodista • kabocha • potatoes • roasted vegetables • roasting • rosemary • vegetables • Veggies

I have a bit of Irish running through my blood so genetically I love potatoes. Baked, gratin, mashed, fried, hash browned, and I will even admit it, Tater Tots.

Tonight we’re barbecuing with our friends and nothing goes better with ribs than a good potato salad (and corn bread and coleslaw, but Irish girl here is on potato duty.) My favorite is a non-mayonnaise-based recipe. Fortunately, it’s also the easiest and quickest since I dilly-dallied at Home Depot this afternoon and lost track of time. But hey, we have a new home and that big orange store sucks me in every weekend, what can I say?

Back to the salad. It contains vinegar, but I would not consider this a German potato salad because its ingredients are much simpler. Here’s all you need:

Red potatoes
Onions (white, yellow, red or scallions all work beautifully)
Parsley (or you could also use cilantro)
Olive oil
Vinegar (preferable cider or distilled white)
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes whole in unsalted water until soft. Drain and chill under cool running water or allow to cool naturally. Give the potatoes a good rough chop. I usually cut them in half, then cut them again into about thirds, depending on their size. Add the chopped onion and parsley – quantity of each is entirely up to you. Give a soft stir, then drizzle in some olive oil to coat. Add the vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir softly to blend the vinegar and seasonings, and keep tasting until you have achieved the desired taste.

Now wasn’t that easy!

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Herbs • Salads • Seasoning & Spices • Veggies	4 Comments
Tags:	Food • foodista • potato salad • potatoes • recipe • recipes • red potatoes • salad