Tag Archives: potato

Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

20 Mar

This is one of my favorite soups.  I haven’t made it for a while, but with the recent cold snap in the weather here, I thought it would be perfect for dinner.  I served it with roast beef and swiss on sourdough melts.  Delicious!

Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
Serves 8 as a side, 4 as a meal
Original recipes here and here

What you need:

1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons bacon bits, optional
2 cans (or 4 cups) chicken broth (I used my Homemade Chicken Broth)
4 cups water
1 pound potatoes, cut in 1/4 inch round slices
2 cups chopped kale or chard (or another leafy green, like salad savoy)
1 cup heavy whipping cream or half and half

How to make it:

In a large pot, break up and brown sausage.  Remove from pot and set aside.  Put onion, garlic, and bacon bits in the pot, cook until they have softened.   Pour in water and chicken broth, then add potatoes.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.  Add sausage, kale and cream or half and half.  Heat through, do not boil.

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Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

20 Mar

I apologize that the pictures doesn’t look more appetizing, but my husband was eager to dig into this!  Neither of us are Irish, but we do like to have corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day.  Best time of year to make it, the ingredients are all cheap at the store!  This is wonderfully easy in the slow cooker, and the taste is amazing!  Of course, you have to somewhat like corned beef and cabbage to fully enjoy it.  The vegetables do get very tender, so make sure that’s what you want.  If you don’t want them as tender, add them about halfway through cooking.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Original recipe here
Serves 6 – 8 

What you need:

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into matchstick pieces
10 baby red potatoes, quartered (I only had baby butter golds, so that’s what I used)
1 onion, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
4 cups water (I had 2 cups of chicken broth that needed to get used, so I used 2 cups chicken broth, 2 cups water)
1 (4 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet
6 ounces beer, optional
1/2 head cabbage, coarsely chopped

How to make it:

Place the carrots, potatoes, and onion into the bottom of a slow cooker.  Pour in the water, and place the brisket on top of the vegetables.  Pour the beer over the brisket.  Sprinkle the brisket with the spices from the packet.

Cover and cook on low setting for 6 – 7 hours.   Stir in the cabbage and cook for 1/2 to 1 hour more.

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Jerusalem Artichoke and Potato Au Gratin

20 Feb

Part of the fun of participating in Bountiful Baskets is that it’s a surprise what will be in the baskets each week, and there is a bit of variety.  And, it’s always more fun when you get something you’ve never seen or heard of before.  This week, the element of surprise was a dozen, small Jerusalem artichokes, sometimes referred to as sunchokes.  Despite having artichokes in the name, they are really nothing like artichokes you normally see.  Instead, they are a tuber, and look similar to other roots, like ginger.  I came across this recipe on the Bountiful Baskets Facebook page, and decided it was probably the best way for us to try these out.  It turned out really good, it was a nice mix of the almost nutty flavor of the sunchokes and potatoes, cheese, and spices.  Thank you to Bountiful Baskets for giving us something new to try!

 

Jerusalem Artichoke and Potato Au Gratin
Based on recipe found here

What you need:

6 Jerusalem artichokes (about 3/4 pound), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices (I used my mandolin slicer)
2 large baking potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
Salt
Black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1/2 cup diced onions
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup dried fine bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Put the sliced Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes in a mixing bowl.  Toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 2 quart casserole dish (I used an 8×8 glass dish). Put half of the artichoke-potato mixture in the pan, spread evenly along the bottom.  Then, sprinkle with 1/4 cup diced onions, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, and all of the flour.  Put in the remaining artichoke-potato mixture, spread evenly.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup diced onions, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1/2 cup cheese. Pour the milk evenly over the whole dish.

In another bowl, mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil with the bread crumbs and parsley. Spread this topping evenly over the mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until the potatoes are tender.

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Oven Baked Potato Chips

7 Feb

 

Yummy, yummy, yummy!  These turned out pretty well.  Some were a little overdone, some were a little underdone, but overall they turned out well.  I used the russet potatoes that I got from Bountiful Baskets this week to make them, and used my mandolin slicer to get them nice and thin.  I had gotten some Beer Battered Alaska Cod from Schwan’s, so decided it be best served with some chips and cole slaw, since I had cabbage to use (post coming on the cole slaw!).

 

Oven Baked Potato Chips
Based on recipe here

What you need:

2.5 pounds potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
Olive oil (I used about 1/4 cup)
Seasoned salt (I used 2 tsp, probably could have used more)

How to make it:

Soak sliced potatoes in a bowl of water for 20 minutes.  Drain and dry potatoes on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Place potatoes in a large bowl.  Pour in olive oil and seasoned salt, toss to coat evenly.

Line 2 baking sheets with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Lay potatoes on baking sheets in a single layer.

Bake both baking sheets of potatoes in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, then rotate the pans top to bottom.  Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until potatoes are browned and crispy.  Allow to cool and serve.

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Crash Hot Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus

3 Feb

 

This dinner was definitely not in the Weekly Meal Plan, but it certainly came together perfectly to use some of the potatoes and asparagus I had gotten from Bountiful Baskets this week.  I had seen these potatoes on Pinterest a while back, but apparently hadn’t pinned it, so I had to search again and luckily found it.  I luckily had fresh rosemary from the Italian veggie themed pack still to use for the potatoes.  I then decided I should make either steak or chicken on the grill since I am trying to get good use out of my new grill.  I decided it would be a good idea to grill the asparagus too, just to avoid another dirty pan and again, utilize the grill.  It all turned out delicious and got rave reviews from the whole family.

 

Crash Hot Potatoes
Based on recipes here and here

What you need:

12 small potatoes, mine were red
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Malt vinegar

How to make it:

Wash potatoes thoroughly.  Add to a large pot and add enough water to just cover potatoes.  Bring water to a boil and cook potatoes until just tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain.

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Grease a baking sheet thoroughly with oil.  Lay out the 12 potatoes.  Slightly mash each potato with a potato masher, turn potato masher 90 degrees and slightly mash each potato again.  Brush each potato with olive oil, then sprinkle on salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and splash each potato with malt vinegar.

 

Grilled Asparagus
Based on recipe here

What you need:

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic vinegar

How to make it:

Place asparagus on skewers.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill on high heat for a few minutes, or until desired tenderness.

Remove from grill and splash with balsamic vinegar.

 

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Kotopoulo Lemonato (Lemon Chicken) and Broccoli Rabe

19 Jan

First, another great recipe from Cyndy at Daily Cynema, Kotopoulo Lemonato.  I love lemon chicken, and this is an AMAZING dish.  And yes, in the picture, that is a whole onion and lemon rinds in the cavity of the chicken.  Trust me, it works. The chicken was moist and flavorful.  My potatoes did get a little crunchy, I probably should have stirred them more, but I like crunchy roasted potatoes.  If they are mushy, then what was the point of roasting them, right?  For this dish, I used the red onion, a yellow onion, 3 lemons, fresh rosemary, and fresh oregano from the Italian themed veggie pack.

For full instructions on how to make this, please visit Daily Cynema: Kotopoulo Lemonato (Lemon Chicken).  She does a great job walking your through making this with great pictures.

I made this at a friend’s house tonight, and she was in charge of a veggie side.  She got the organic basket from Bountiful Baskets this week, and one of the things she got was broccoli rabe (rabe is apparently pronounced like the word “rob”).  I had never heard of this before, but we decided to give it a go in cooking it.  My friend did all the work on this one, following this recipe.  The taste is a mix of a broccoli taste and a leafy vegetable taste like spinach.  It is a tad bitter, but I still really enjoyed it.  I didn’t get a picture of all of it before we ate, my phone was not cooperating, but here is some of it so you can see how it turned out:

This dinner was a great success!

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Sausage & Potato Pie

21 Nov

 

This recipe came from a cookbook I received called Bake Until Bubbly.  My Papou almost always got me a cookbook for Christmas, and after he passed away, this was a cookbook my mom found in his house, and she figured it was most likely meant for me.  It’s a pretty good cookbook, I wish it had pictures of the dishes, but I do like that it’s dishes made more from scratch, not from a lot of processed foods.  For this Sausage & Potato Pie, I end up not following the recipe exactly, but pretty close.

Sausage & Potato Pie

What you need:

2 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced.  I prefer Yukon Gold, but a lot of times use Russet.
1 large egg
1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 lb fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes OR 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley OR 1 Tbsp dried parsley

How to make it:

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Spray a 9 inch deep dish glass pie pan.

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, and cook at a gentle boil until potatoes are soft.  Drain, and return to pot.  Blend egg into potatoes until smooth.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, break up the sausage and cook until browned.  Add onion to the pan and cook until onions are translucent.  Use a slotted spoon and add sausage and onion to potatoes.

Add in mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley, and mix well.  Spoon the mixture into the pie pan, forming a smooth, flat surface on top.  Sprinkle the 1 Tbsp Parmesan over the top.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

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Slow Cooker Potato Soup

8 Oct

Sorry for the short hiatus in posting, it’s been a weird week, so I haven’t gotten as much cooking in and haven’t been in our normal routine.  Anyway, it really cooled off here today (finally), so it was a soup for dinner kind of night.  My husband loves potato soup, I had potatoes I needed to get used up, so potato soup is was.  I originally was going along with this recipe, but forgot to get cream cheese while I was out, plus, my husband isn’t big on bacon in his soup, so I ended up with something a little different.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

8 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup diced onion
6 cups water and 6 chicken bouillon cubes (or use 6 cups chicken broth)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp dried dill weed

Mix water and soup in the slow cooker.  Add in bouillon cubes, potatoes, onion, and dill weed and stir.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours.  If you want a thicker soup, slightly mash the potatoes before serving.

I mashed the potatoes just a little to make it still chunky.  One time I completely mashed the potatoes and it was more like mashed potatoes than soup, so to keep it more soup-like, I like the potatoes less mashed.

*As an alternative to the can of cream of chicken soup, you can use 2 Tbsp melted butter, 2 Tbsp flour, 1/4 tsp salt, and 2 cups of milk, half and half, or light cream.  Be sure to stir that well with the water/broth before adding the other ingredients.

**If you want to keep the chicken out completely, use the above substitute for the cream of chicken soup and use vegetable bouillon instead of chicken bouillon, or six cups of vegetable broth instead of the bouillon and water.

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Mashed Potatoes

10 Sep

We are still trying to get through all the potatoes we have, so with last night’s dinner, I made mashed potatoes.  I used to just make them from a box or a package because I thought making them from scratch took too long.  And, it really is a time-consuming process, so I usually have to plan ahead and start them before anything else.  My favorite potatoes for mashed potatoes are Yukon Gold.  I also really like red potatoes and leave the skins on with those.  But, we have russet potatoes, which make pretty good mashed potatoes too.

What You Need:
– 2 pounds potato of your choice
– 1/2 cup milk
– 1/2 stick of butter

How to Make it:
Wash, peel, and dice the potatoes.  Add them to a large pot and add water to about 1 inch above the potatoes.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat to medium-high and keep at a rolling boil.  It’s important to find the right amount of heat or you will find the water boiling over the sides of your pot.  Continue to boil until potatoes soften, about 20-30 minutes.  Drain water.  Mash the potatoes, then add in the milk and butter.  Stir thoroughly until well blended together.

If you like, you can add in some parsley, and/or salt and pepper.  I try not to go overboard on spices though, I don’t want to over-season things.  I figure salt and pepper can be added after serving to a certain person’s taste.  I serve mashed potatoes with a variety of dishes, and do it this way more often since I am trying to use less pre-packaged foods.

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Steak, Egg, & Potato Burritos

9 Sep

For last night’s dinner, I decided that I would make burritos.  I had large flour tortillas in my freezer from 8/27 Bountiful Baskets.  I also had steak leftover from a couple of nights ago, plus the roasted corn salsa I made.  I had roasted Poblano peppers on the grill last week that had been in my 8/27 Bountiful Baskets Mexican pack.  And, we need to work through the 15 pounds of potatoes we still have.

First, my brother-in-law helped by washing, peeling, and dicing the potatoes, about 2 pounds of russets.  I put some olive oil in a large skillet and started cooking half of the potatoes.  After cooking for a few minutes, I added some diced onion and the Poblano pepper.  I cooked until the potatoes started to soften and brown, then added in the cut pieces of steak.  Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, I scrambled 6 eggs.  I mixed this all together in a bowl and started the process again to use up the other half of the potatoes.  I had to do it in 2 parts because my pans weren’t big enough for all of it at once.

Once the filling was complete, I cleaned the large skillet and added it to medium-low heat.  I placed a tortilla in the pan, added some of the filling toward one side of the tortilla, and sprinkled on Mexican blend cheese.

Fold over the side of the tortilla closest to the filling over the filling.

Next, fold over the top and bottom of the tortilla.

Finally, fold the section with the filling over to complete the burrito.

Brown on that side for a few minutes, then flip the burrito over and brown on the other side for a few minutes.  Remove from pan and serve.  I served mine with roasted corn salsa over it.

Yum!  Since I get 3 dozen of the large tortillas in the tortilla pack from Bountiful Baskets, I’m always playing around with fillings for burritos.

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