Niçoise Salad

If you eat eggs you can add them in.  This is a delicious salad with or without eggs. The dressing is makes everything come together.  Something about mustard and potatoes!

Niçoise Salad

Serves 2 with enough dressing for another time. Or another salad. :)

10 olives 
1 cup green beans, halved
2 cups small potatoes, chunked
3 cups mixed salad leaves
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 small cucumbers, chunked
1 ripe avocado, diced
2 tablespoons capers

dressing:
3 tbsp white wine vinegar 
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp maple syrup
5 tbsp olive oil 
an assortment of fresh herbs, parsley, basil, dill

Toss it all together.

Some Simple Summer Salads

Using that delicious dill dressing, you can add it to your potato salad as a mayonnaise alternative.  It makes for a great salad.  I used the dressing I made from the previous post, found here and added onion.

The night we had the potato salad, I also made some roasted asparagus and tossed it with mini tomatoes, some balsamic, garlic powder, S&P and oil.   It was heavenly! A simple summer salad idea for yah.

SKILLET PEAS and POTATOES

This is a quick meal.  Super quick. Not much chopping involved either. It is meatless, in fact, it is Vegan.  But, more importantly, it is delicious.  How can you go wrong with potatoes?  Certainly if you don't care for coconut and you consume milk, you can replace with milk, just be careful about the burn factor.

This recipe is complete with substitutions.

Disclaimer:  The photo above was taken a little but before it was finished.  Once it was finished, it was like a mob scene.  No chance for photo ops.  Shhh.  I did get to steal some away for my lunch the next day before anyone else even had a taste.

SKILLET PEAS and POTATOES

1 pound small potatoes
1 cup peas
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 can or 1 cup of coconut milk
2 teaspoons Garam Masala*

In a large skillet pan or Dutch oven place your small potatoes or chopped potatoes, add about an inch of water and some salt.  Cover and cook until potatoes get fork tender.  If there is a little water in the pan let it cook out by taking off the lid, if there is still quite a bit, drain and return the potatoes to the pan.  Add in chopped onion and vegetable oil along with the garam masala.  Let the onions cook a little.  Add chopped tomato, peas and a half of a can of coconut milk. Make sure you scrape the bottom to incorporate those brown tasty bits.

*If you are not a fan of Indian food you can replace the spice with one of those spike mixes such as Montreal Steak seasoning or Rosemary garlic.  

Tahini Potato Salad

I love alternatives to mayo.  Sometimes you want something different then the normal potato salad with mayo, this is the ticket.  Its very flavorful and scrumptious.  Experiment with the amounts of lemon juice and dill etc to get it to the flavor you like.

Great for taking on a picnic.  Which, this summer, we have been doing a lot of.  Happiness!  Its been so hot though, the only places we usually go is where there is somewhere to get wet.  Much better that way!

Tahini Potato Salad

5 large potatoes
1/4 cup dill, chopped
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic smashed, then minced
salt and pepper
3 green onions, sliced

Peel and cut potatoes into bite sized portions.  Cook until tender.

In a large bowl combine tahini and lemon juice, stir until it is thoroughly combined.  Add in dill and minced garlic.  Stir in potatoes when still warm.  This will help the fats melt a little and move easily throughout.  Mix in green onions.  Serve warm or chilled.  If you serve it from the refrigerator, give it some time to come to room temperature.  It will taste much better that way.  

Cheesy Mashed Potato Waffles

These are the most amazing waffles I have ever eaten. I have made them three times before but sadly was unable to take a decent picture.  They were consumed so fast and so completely.  But alas, these were made early enough to take a picture.

Cheesy Mashed Potato Waffles

4 cups mashed potatoes
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 eggs plus 1 yolk
2 cups Swiss Cheese or cheddar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper


Fluff up mashed potatoes with a fork to loosen it all up if it has been in your refrigerator.  If you freshly cooked it, then no worries.  Once you have fluffed a little, add in the eggs. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt and pepper.  Combine with mashed potato mix.  Finally add in cheese.

Scoop by 1/3 cup heaps onto waffle iron.

Note:  I found five minutes in the waffle iron was the perfect amount of time for a slightly browned waffle. All the more tastier when it is a little browned.

Potato Bread

Over the holidays I was going to try making an old family (Polish) classic, sauer kraut peirogies. Most people think pierogies, think potatoes and cheese.  But pierogies do come in different varieties of fillings.  Including strawberry, blueberry...  But sauer kraut pierogies actually have a different dough, are stuffed with sauer kraut and then are deep fried. The dough is made with mashed potatoes and flour.

But I digress.  Anyway, I had mashed potato leftovers to use.  Enter potato bread.  With company here, we gobbled it all up. Its always a good treat to have fresh baked bread.  My kids are spoiled, its the norm for them.

Potato Bread

1 1/2 cup mashed potatoes*
1-1/2 cups water
2 packages or 4 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°) for proofing if you do not have instant yeast.
1 cup warm 2% milk (110° to 115°)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

In the microwave heat the milk or in a saucepan.  You want it to be around 110F when you add it to the flour.  But no worries, mix it with the water to cool it down a bit.  A good rule of thumb is that you can stick your finger in the milk/water comfortably for 15 seconds, then it is close enough to 110F.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer, combine flour, yeast**, sugar.  Mix.  Add in salt. Mix water, milk, potatoes and butter.  Add to the flour and combine.

Once it is fully incorporated then you can either add flour or water, depending if it is too moist or too dry.  It is just right when it forms a nice smooth ball.

Place in an oiled bowl and cover.  Let rise for about an hour or until doubled in bulk.  Split dough in half and place in greased loaf pans and let rise again for about 45 minutes.

Place in a 375F oven for 35 to 4o minutes.  Internal temp of bread should be between 190 and 200F.

Dump baked bread out of loaf pans and let cool on a rack. I know it is difficult but it is always best to let it cool before slicing.

*If you dont have mashed potatoes already, then make a little and save the water from boiling the potatoes.  Its especially good if you use that water.

Amazing, smashed avocado with smoked salmon on top.

Corn Chowder with Bold Chipotle Seasoning

Sadly, I do not have a stellar picture of this soup to share with you.  Dark days and the soup disappeared really fast.  Doesn't that say something though.  I would totally make this again.  It was hot, I will say but certainly you can turn down the heat by putting less Chipotle Seasoning in.  If you sub in Chipotle of your own it wont taste the same because the mix has thyme and other.
seasonings in it.  

My Mother tells me and I kind of remember too that it was hard to find corn at the markets and stands after Labor Day.  It had nearly petered out by then or we had frosts that early.  This was one of the last weeks in October that I bought this corn.  It was STELLAR tasting corn too!  It was crisp/tender and tasty! So good!

Corn Chowder

1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 red onion, finely diced
2 ounces butter
2 quarts corn broth
1 tablespoon Bold Chipotle Seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup flour
4 red potatoes, chopped
4 ears of corn

1 cup half and half


Sauté peppers and onion in butter to lightly golden.  Add in flour mixing it up well.  Let the flour paste get a little golden, this is what gives flavor.  Once it has turned golden, add in the corn broth. Then add potatoes, seasonings and bay leaf.  Let it all cook for about forty minutes.  Add in corn and half and half.  Heat it up but do not let it boil again.  Remove bay leaf and serve.

Roasted Autumn Vegetables With Rosemary

I love this kind of dish in the Fall! Comforting autumn vegetables roasted with rosemary.  A-mazing! The house was filled with wonderful aromas.  The thing that really makes this dish pop for me, is the apples and the rosemary.  I loved having a fork with a piece of an apple and a piece of the squash.  Apples and butternut squash go so good together. With the potatoes, a nice chunk of garlic.

Roasted Autumn Vegetables
You can adjust your amounts of vegetables.  I have a huge baking sheet that I like to fill up.

2 cups of chopped butternut squash
5 medium sized red potatoes
3 Granny Smith apples
5 cloves garlic, halved
2 cups of chopped pumpkin
5 carrots, sliced in chunks
2-3 tablespoons rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

In a large bowl, toss the vegetables and apples with rosemary, olive oil and salt.  Roast in a 375F oven until lightly golden.  Stir about 20 minutes in.  The total time is around 40 minutes.  More time if you have a lot of vegetables.

Baked Potato

I do not turn my oven on n the summer if the AC is on.  It's just counter intuitive to me.  We had some cooler days last week- low 70's, windows were open and a nice breeze was blowing.  I decided some baked potatoes would go nicely with the cube steak I had out for dinner.

I don't know what it is about baked potatoes in a restaurant.  They are always so good.  I can not seem to replicate them at home. Enter Alton Brown.  I am definitely a fan of his.  I decided to give his baked potato a try.

Best Home Baked Potato

6 baked potatoes
1/2 cup peanut oil
kosher salt

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Position rack in center of oven.
2.  Place baking sheet under the middle rack to catch drips.

3.  Wash and scrub potatoes.
4.  Prick with a fork in several spots all over the potatoe.
5.  Brush oil on potato.
6.  Sprinkle salt all over potato.
7.  Bake for at least 60 minutes but 90 minutes is even better.
8.  Prick potato with knife to see if it is ready.  It should penetrate the potato easily. Outside of potato should be darker in color as well.

Potatoes and Lentils

I boiled some red potatoes as they were starting to sprout.  I put them in the fridge as I had no use for them at that particular time.  But next day when I was pondering what vegetarian meal I could make for my daughter I decided to use them. I pan fried them and added some Vegetarian "meat".  At the last minute I stirred in a tablespoon of sour cream, garlic powder and salt and pepper.  I place a few slices of Jack cheese over top and then turned off the heat and put on the lid. I loved it.  I made it again with lentils.  Equally yummy in my opinion.
I found this video pretty hysterical. I love the comments they make!

The last time I made lentils I boiled them with Montreal Steak Seasoning in the water. About a tablespoon for a cup of lentils.  My Mom had handed the spice down to me.  Goodness knows how old it is.  If you like the idea I recommend that you use a  little less if your spice is newer and more pungent.  I really liked how it flavored the lentils and plan to do it again real soon.  It was nice to have that jar of lentils to pull from to make her something quick or even to make myself something quick and nutritious.

Tater Puff Casserole

This casserole goes together quite effortlessly.  The hardest thing to do is to sauté the onions and celery.  Well, okay, maybe cleaning up is harder.  I told my 8 year old she could make this the next time.  That time though I think I will make my own condensed cream soup- though I think I will try the celery one. I will do that part for her.  Then she can throw everything together and make the casserole and feel all proud.

TATER PUFF CASSEROLE

1 can Condensed Cream of Chicken (you could make your own, click here for that recipe)
32 ounces tater puffs, somewhat thawed
3 stalks of celery, chopped finely
1 onion, chopped finely
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons half and half
1 tablespoon oil or butter

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease and 9 x 13 casserole dish. Sauté onions and celery in oil/butter until lightly golden.  Reserve a few of the tater puffs for the top of the casserole. Stir together the tater puffs, celery onion mix, garlic powder, pepper, Cream of Chicken and half and half. Place reserved tater puffs over the casserole and then sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes uncovered.

Dum Aloo

Strange (strange because they can be kinda picky)... but after having Indian food in the house for so long now, my children are starting to dig it.  I am doing a happy dance.  I made this dish the other day and they actually ate quite a bit of it.  It was POW!-kinda-flavorful.  Delicious, creamy and kid approved- at least in my house. 

Dum Aloo
Don't know about you but I really like saying the name of the potatoes, why? because I am just goofy like that.  The idea for this dish came from here but really, I changed A LOT.  Since my kids liked it and we liked it of course, I would definitely make it again-  Hopefully, the next time with cilantro.

5 potatoes cut in chunks
1 large onion, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste (if I had some fresh I would have used them)
3 cups cottage cheese (because I had no yogurt)
1  teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 or 2 green cardamom pods
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon Garam Masala powder
1 teaspoon salt
Cilantro – for garnish
 
In a pot, boil potatoes or place in water and heat in microwave. 

While the potatoes are cooking prepare the gravy/curry.  In a deep frying pan heat oil or ghee and add to it: cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick and split-open cardamom pods. Sauté for a couple of minutes. Now, add chopped onions. Sauté for at least 6 to 8 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the remaining spices – turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder and salt. Sauté for a couple of minutes.

Add in cottage cheese, mix throughly.  Add mostly done potatoes to the gravy.  Cover and simmer on low for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally.