Category: CASSEROLES & SIDES

POTATO OMELET MUFFINS

Potato Omelet Muffins
Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes (you could get away with 4, easily)
8 eggs or egg beaters
12 teaspoons bruschetta sauce
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons chives, chopped (you can use dried – I ran out half way through so I added dried for the rest.)
2 slices yogurt-herb cheese or cheese of choice
1 orange pepper, diced
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream (low-fat)
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet, put the butter and half the olive oil. Use remaining oil if needed. I used it then took another tablespoon and added it to the skillet.
Peel potatoes and shred.
Cook for three minutes, orange pepper and scallions. Add chives for one additional minute.
Remove from pan and replace with potatoes. I did three batches so not to overcrowd.
I browned the potatoes because we like them crisp. You can cook until translucent and then finish baking it, in the oven.
While potatoes are cooking, mix milk, eggs, sour cream, bruschetta sauce, and cheese.
Add peppers, scallions and chives to egg mixture.
Put potatoes on the side.
I did it again. I forgot the bruschetta. I had already filled a few muffin inserts so I put a piece of bruschetta on top of each and then poured the rest into the egg mixture. It added a great flavor to this. You could use liquid cayenne (hot pepper sauce) instead but I am not sure how much you would need since I chose not to use it. You can add heat to this if you like your food hot.
Take potatoes and put them on the bottom of each insert.
Using an ice cream scoop or ladle, scoop the mixture into each muffin compartment.
Bake for 30 minutes. I put a sharp knife in the middle of a few, like we do for baked goods, to make sure I did not have soft eggs. They came out dry but barely dry, the way I would want it to be.

GARLIC SMASHERS

6-8 small-medium YUKON potatoes, skin on, quartered

sea salt
white pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 – 1 stick butter, sliced thin
6 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
  • Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Scrub potatoes.
  • Generously spread olive oil on cookie sheet.
  • Group potatoes so they don’t overlap.
  • Sprinkle with lemon juice.
  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
  • Sprinkle minced garlic over potato tops.
  • Slice butter thin and lay randomly along potato tops.
  • Bake 45 minutes.
  • With a potato masher, SMASH each potato.
  • Bake another 30 minutes or until tops are crispy.

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New and Review Potatoes

Old Potato Recipe – New Potato Recipe
Balsamic Roasted Red Potatoes – adapted
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive
2 pounds small red potatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Method:
1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes, onion; toss to combine. Add the thyme, rosemary and nutmeg; toss well. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until potatoes are hot.
2. Transfer to a baking pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are golden and almost tender. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper; toss well. Bake 5-8 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.
These came out beautifully golden brown.
Fully Loaded Potato Muffins
2 baking potatoes
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese
2 oz sour cream
1/2 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (without fish)
1/4 cup Baco Bits
Method:
  • Clean and bake potatoes at 350 degrees for 1 hours.
  • Cut potatoes in half and remove the potato from the skins.
  • Put potato aside.
  • Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  • Chop onion and saute with 1 tablespoon butter until golden brown.
  • Grate the cheese and add 3/4 cup of it to the cold potato along with the sour cream.
  • Add onions and Baco Bits to the potato, with the salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
  • Spoon the potato filling into the muffin tins.
  • Sprinkle the remaining cheese over potatoes.
  • Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
Come on over to My Sweet and Savory and Comfy Cook.

Garlic Smashed Potato Salad – Cooking The Italian Way

potato salad

You know how celebrities always have to be worried that the non-celebrities that they date are only dating them for their VIP status?  Or their money?  Or their looks?
Well.  That’s how I feel about this potato salad.
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I served it to Sophie, my roommate, last summer.  And when she heard I was bringing it to my parents’ house for father’s day this year.  She insisted on coming too.
“I just think it would be nice to spend time with your family!” she exclaimed when I questioned her about her motives.  
Um, yeah.  Sure.  I’ll bet you do, Soph.
potato salad
I’m kind of scared to think what will happen when I serve it to the next guy I date.
Better serve with caution.
Unless I’m absolutely sure that he’s the one I want to marry.
Then I’ll serve with reckless abandon.
potato salad
Garlic Smashed Potato Salad
Serves 5+, adapted from Sunset Magazine
2 1/2 lb potatoes
2 heads garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp white wine
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chives
1. Preheat oven to 400.  Cut garlic heads in half widthwise and wrap tightly in foil.  Bake until garlic is very soft and golden (45-60 minutes).  When garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze cloves into a small bowl.  Add olive oil, wine, salt, and black pepper.  Mash until mixture is smooth.
2. Cut potatoes into quarters or small chunks.  Put in pot of water.  Bring to a boil and then cook until potatoes are fork-tender.  Drain and return to pot.
3. Add garlic mixture and chives to the potatoes.  Let cool and serve.
Happy 4th of July!
Joanne

Asian Style Latke

Taste and Create was started as a food event by Nicole from For the Love of Food. This is the 2nd time I’ve participated in Taste and Create and I don’t plan on stopping soon. I enjoy meeting new bloggers, especially foodies.
The whole purpose of Taste and Create was, and has been, and continues to be to create a community of bloggers who test each others’ recipes and share links. The participants of the event are paired together and try a new recipe from one another’s blog.
My partner this month is Stephanie over at 52 Kitchen Adventures who has some wonderful recipes.  I love anyone who will pair bacon and chocolate together as she did with these cupcakes. Honestly I wanted to make those cupcakes, but I have already made the caramelized chocolate covered bacon and decided to venture deeper into her list and fell in love with the Asian Style Latkes.  I have made my own latkes or potato pancakes for years, but love the flavors that Stephanie’s recipe adds to the mix.
Stephanie wrote, “At my local farmer’s market, there is stand dedicated to Asian produce. I’ve found some interesting vegetables there, and the other week I saw what looked like ginormous white carrots (reminiscent of Bunnicula, the vampire rabbit who sucks the juice out of vegetables). It turned out to be daikon. Daikon literally means “large root” in Japanese, which is pretty accurate. It has a flavor similar to smaller radishes, but is slightly sweet. It’s pretty low in calories and has a high Vitamin C content.” and she could have been writing about my new local farm fresh produce market in my temporary home town.
She found that daikons are used in a dim sum dish called turnip cake which is a pan fried cake of shredded daikon with dried shrimp, mushrooms and Chinese sausage. I agree that the original recipe sounds great, but agree with her recipe changes which resulted  in a latke make of shredded daikon and potato. The Chinese five spice gives the latkes a deliciously savory and sweet flavor.  Hubby loves turnips and asked that next time I include turnips.

 ASIAN LATKES
  • 2 large daikons
  • 6 white potatoes
  • 1 bunch of green onions
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 C breadcrumbs (we used panko)
  • 1 t Chinese five spice
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Olive oil
Grate the daikons and potatoes. Place grated pieces into a clean, dry towel and twist and squeeze out moisture over the sink. Keep squeezing and twisting the towel until no more liquid comes out. Place dry gratings into a large bowl.  I didn’t have anyone around to help with pictures so I offer you Stephanie’s picture for demonstration.
Sliver the green part of the green onions and reserve for garnish. Chop the white part of the green onions and add to the bowl of daikon and potatoes, along with the egg, breadcrumbs, and seasonings. Thoroughly mix together with your hands, then form flattened balls (these can be any size you want, just make sure they are all uniform in size so they cook evenly).
Fill a large sauce pan 1/4″ deep with olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat until very hot (when a piece of bread browns in 10 seconds, it’s ready). Carefully place the latkes into the pan, leaving a couple of inches in between them. Turn them after 7-10 minutes, or when browned on the bottom. Cook another 7-10 minutes, or until both sides are browned. Garnish with green onion slivers and serve with sour cream or applesauce.

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POTATO PANCAKES

POTATO PANCAKES

3+ cups peeled, grated & squeezed* potatoes
1 large bunch green onions, minced or 1 small Vidalia onion, minced
1/2 cup self rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, beaten
4 tablespoons butter, melted

  • Sift together the flour, salt and pepper.
  • Whisk together the buttermilk, egg and butter until smooth.
  • Whisk in the flour mixture until well blended.
  • Fold in the potatoes and onions.
  • Drop onto hot griddle and make your pancakes.
  • Serve with applesauce and sour cream or with the Sauerbraten gravy.

*I use a flour cloth towel as my base. I grate the potatoes on top of it and then bring all the corners together like a knapsack wrapping the potatoes inside. I continue to tighten the turns until I squeezed all the moisture from the potatoes.aprons 3

Paula’s Smashed Potato Pancakes

I had blueberry pancakes, the other day, and they were delicious which brought me to thinking of making June, pancake month at Cooking with Chaya.  Everyone loves pancakes and there are so many variations on the simple pancake.
I am starting with Paula Deen’s Smashed Potato Pancakes.
Smashed Potato Cake Paula Deen About 14 cakes
6 cups cubed (1-inch) Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cups panko, divided I used about one cup of corn meal
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar
1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon not kosher
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup butter was not necessary for us
1/4 cup sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Method:
In a large pot, combine potatoes and add water to cover.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, and simmer 10 to 12 minutes, or until tender.
Drain well and mash.
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, cornmeal, egg, cheese, onion, butter, sour cream, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Form potatoes into 3-inch patties; dredge in remaining panko.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add potato patties, and cook, 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until brown and crisp.
Serve immediately.

CRAB LOUIE with OOMPH!


I bolded the OOMPH ingredients that are
different from my day to day recipe.

CRAB SALAD & HOMEMADE 1000 ISLAND DRESSING
CRAB SALAD
8 ounces Louis Kemp Crab, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/3 cup minced green onion
salt and pepper
mayo (about 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon Frank’s Red Hot Pepper Sauce
Romaine lettuce
Roma tomatoes, sliced
Snap peas, halved
pickled beets, sliced
hard boiled eggs, sliced

  • Wash lettuce, peas and tomatoes. Arrange on plate. Salt and pepper.
  • Mix crab, celery, onion, hot sauce, salt and pepper together until well blended using enough mayonnaise for desired consistency.
  • Place a large scoop of crab salad over the romaine mix.
  • Serve over chopped romaine lettuce, sliced tomatoes and snap peas.
  • Top with dressing.

1000 ISLAND DRESSING
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 heaping tablespoon minced red onion
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

  • In a mini blender blend all ingredients to desired consistency.
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Pizza Casserole: Lovin’ From The Oven

This recipe was originally meant for the slow cooker, but after making it, I realized it would have been a lot easier to simply bake it.  Any crock pot recipe that isn’t easy, that makes you cook two or three things separately, just shouldn’t be a crock pot recipe in my opinion. So that being said, the pictures you are about to see take place in a slow cooker.   You will have to use your imagination.  (Tamy, this would look great in your new white roaster!)

Pizza Casserole: 
1 package egg noodles, cooked
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (a combo of beef and pork would be great)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 small can mushrooms
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
+ your favorite pizza toppings (1 cup ham or pepperoni, green peppers, black olives, etc)
3 cups each shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese (I added some Provolone, too)
Cook the hamburger with the onion.  Combine the meat with the spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, and Italian seasoning. 

For Crockpot: Spray crock with PAM.  Layer the meat sauce, then noodles then pizza toppings then cheese three times.  This completely filled my large crock pot.  Cook on low 3-4 hours.
For Oven: Spray a very large casserole or maybe two 9 X 13 pans with PAM and layer 2 or 3 times like you would in the Crockpot.  Cover with foil and bake 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until cheese is melted and all is heated through.  (Note: you could eat one and freeze one before you baked it)

MEXICAN BEEF TORTILLA CASSEROLE



BEFORE BAKING~~~~~AFTER BAKING

MEXICAN BEEF TORTILLA CASSEROLE
1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
4 ounce can diced green chiles, drained
1 cup milk
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cups grated jack and cheddar cheese mix
Tortilla chips

  • Saute’ beef and onion until well browned. Drain off fat.
  • In a saucepan over a medium heat combine soup, chiles, tomatoes, cheese and milk until well blended, cheese is melted and mixture starts to bubble.
  • Spray a 9×9 baking dish with PURE.
  • Loosely layer tortilla chips in bottom of casserole.
  • Top with meat mixture.
  • Pour cheese mixture over meat mixture.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

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Spicy Chipotle Shrimp Over Sweet Corn Cakes

Welcome to Simple Saturday!

I’ve been participating in a challenge this month, do you think you could eat on a Dollar a Day? (Check out the link for details). I’ve been doing the challenge but with an unfair advantage – I allowed myself to use anything I already had on hand. It’s turned out to be more of an “eat from the pantry and freezer month” than anything else so far.

Here is last night’s yummy, frugal and very simple recipe. It was definitely the Meal of the Week!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WPbjJzRqviA/S7-qngfQFUI/AAAAAAAAGzI/8kg8KfIKdok/s1600/chipotle+shrimp+corn+cakes.jpg

Chipotle Shrimp – 1 pound of shrimp marinated overnight in bottled chipotle sauce (with one teaspoon of cornstarch added). Put shrimp and marinade in large, deep skillet, add a can of diced tomatoes. Simmer on low, stirring occasionally while preparing corn cakes.

Corn Cakes – 2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix, 2/3 cup milk, 2 eggs, one can of sweet creamed corn and 1/2 can regular sweet corn. Mix and prepare just as you would pancakes.

Spoon shrimp and sauce over corn cakes and serve with fruit smoothies. Trust me, it’s a perfect combo, it was delicious – except for the fact that I used shrimp I had in the freezer that had been cleaned and shelled, but it didn’t occur to me that it still had the tails on until dinner was ready. Be sure to take the tails off if you try this, duh!

We have two birthdays at Our Krazy Kitchen this week – be sure to stop by to wish our Tuesday host Min and our Wednesday host Chaya a Happy Birthday!

Have a great weekend 🙂

THE ULTIMATE COMFORT MAC & CHEESE

This started as a recipe I saw in a magazine, but has metamorphosed into a new family favorite that in no way resembles the original germ of an idea.

You start with crispy bacon.
And super sharp cheddar cheese to add to the creamy roux.

Add some pasta.
Then you add more cheese and bacon.
Toss in some ruby red tomatoes for good measure.
Bake it until it’s ooey, gooey, creamy and Enjoy!

COMFORT MAC & CHEESE
12 slices bacon, crisp (retain fat)
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
16 ounces macaroni medium shells
1 small red onion, chopped
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
3 cups shredded super sharp cheddar cheese
Enough slices of cheese to randomly cover top of casserole
4 medium firm hot house tomatoes, chopped

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Chop tomato and onion, set aside.
  • Grate cheese, set aside.
  • Prepare pasta al dente, about 8 minutes in boiling water. Drain well.
  • Fry bacon until crisp, set aside to cool. I use my griddle so I can catch ALL the fat!
  • Transfer bacon grease to skillet and saute’ onion. Using a slotted spoon remove onion and add butter.
  • When butter is melted add flour and make a roux.
  • Gradually add heavy cream and water, stirring to incorporate to a smooth consistency. Cook over medium heat until thickens. Add salt and pepper, adjusting to taste.
  • Crumble 8 strips of bacon, set aside. Crumble the other 4 slices, set aside for topping.
  • Add cheese and stir constantly until well blended.
  • In a large bowl toss onion, tomato and 8 slices crumbled bacon with pasta.
  • Pour cheese sauce over and blend well.
  • Pour into a greased casserole dish.
  • Top randomly with cheese slices and remaining crumbled bacon.
  • Bake 10 minutes until bubbly.
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