you need:
several red potatoes ( I usually assume 2-3 per person I am cooking for)
About 2 tablespoons minced garlic (either fresh or from a jar)
butter or margarine
milk
Wash red potatoes (DUH). Do not peel. Place in pot or dutch oven with boiling water. Boil for a minimum of 15 minutes, then stick fork in a potato. If the potato slides off the fork, it's cooked. I usually cook anywhere from 20-30 minutes. Drain potatoes and either keep in the pot or get a new bowl out.
This is where you get to be creative! I use an electric mixer set on low, and add about 1/2 cup of butter or margarine. When it is more or less mixed in, slowly add milk until mashed potatoes are desired creaminess. Then add minced garlic to taste and mix in. You can also add a little salt and/or pepper if desired. Total prep and cook time is about 40 minutes.
This is a recipe I used to cook all the time, back in the days when I had time. It's easy and quick and yummy, too. You can also substitue the ham and sausages for meat or poultry, or even more vegetables. Hope you enjoy!
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 cans red kidney beans, drained
1/2 cup diced ham (optional)
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
Pinch of dried thyme
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or to taste)
salt and black pepper to taste
red pepper sauce to taste
2 smoked Andouille sauseges browned and sliced into coins (optional)
In a medium sized heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, celary and garlic. Cook the vegetables until soft, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes).
Add the beans, ham, (if using) stock, herbs and spices and simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper sauce and adjust seasonings. With a potato masher, smash the beans so you have a thicker mixture with some whole beans remaining.
Serve over plain white rice topped with Andouille sausage, if that's your thing. :)
Ingredients:
1 Small Golden or Purple Potato
1 ring red onion
2 very thin strips of smoked uncured bakon (can get at whole foods)
1 slice hungarian pepper
1 clove garlic, whole
1 shallot
black pepper
olive oil
Aluminum foil
Direction:
Peel Potato and cut in half, place on a large sheet of aluminum foil.
Inbetween potato halves place onion ring and pepper slice.
Cut garlic and shallot in half and place to fit inbetween potatoes and vegis.
Sprinkle with olive oil and pepper.
Wrap the two potato halves together with 1-3 strips of bacon, they should hold it together loosley. (these should be very thin or it will be more red-neck than elegant).
Wrap in a bubble-gum wrapper shape with aluminum foil, twist and flatten ends so you can easily pick it up in the oven and turn it.
Bake in oven over medium heat for 30-60 minutes, turning a few times.
These can be served with sour cream or hungarian red-pepper spread. You can also prepare ahead of time and put in fridge, then put in the oven before meal.
one knob of butter
1/2 Cup milk, whole fat
2 Tablespoons of flour
2-3 handfuls of cheeses grated or shaved: sharp chedders, parmesan, pecorino
Pasta shaped so it picks up the sause, like elbow or penne
Boil pasta drain and set aside
In a medium pot (uncoated) melt 1 knob of butter over a medium heat, using a fork to mix, sprinkle flour into the butter until you get a sticky paste with no lumps. If you need to keep the butter from burning pick up the pot and hold it at angle over the heat, or remove from heat temporarily. Lower the heat place back on the hob and start adding milk slowly to the roux with a whisk slightly scorching the milk into a frothy mess while the milk thickens. Turn the heat to low and add half fistfuls of grated cheese to taste. Do not add salt until the very end.
stir into pasta and either serve wet or stick it in the oven with cheese on top for later.
this goes well served with sauteed greens with chile vinegar sauce.
If you ever have come home exhausted after work and want real food this is perfect, just prepare it and go take a bath while it cooks. Wash off as many potatoes as you want and cut them into cubes. Then cut up any other vegetable that you want. Typically I add vidalia onions, bell pepper, tomatoes, and corn. Put all of the vegetables in a sauce pan with olive oil,salt and pepper, lemon juice, and rosemary (the lemon and rosemary can be changed to whatever you prefer). Put it in a preheated oven at 375 for about 40min (depending on the size of the vegetables) and go do whatever you want until its done. I recommend checking on it at least once though about half way through just to move the vegies around so they dont stick. You cant make a bigger batch than you want that night and it makes great leftovers.
*If you want to add meat cook it quickly on the stove and you can add it to the mix at the end.
Every year we have a big bonfire on the Cape. This is always a big hit!
2 boxes of pasta
1 jar sun-dried tomatoes
1 jar sun-dried tomato pesto
a big splash of balsamic vinaigrette (we like to make our own)
tons of veggies (red onions, lots of red peppers, scallions, cherry tomatoes, corn)
Cook the pasta and drain. While it's still warm, toss the sun dried tomatoes and the pesto (this is important so it disperses and coats the pasta). After that,put in all the chopped vegetables you like. Finish with the balsamic dressing, toss and refrigerate overnight.
2 cans of peas
1 large onion - finely chopped
3-4 teaspoons oil
salt and pepper
2-4 Tablespoons brown vinegar
1. Heat oil and add onions till soft.
2. Add peas with liquid, salt and pepper and simmer with lid off until liquid reduces and peas are mushy and sloppy.
3. Add brown vinegar and serve.
I was just thinking about making my mom's good pasta salad! It's relatively healthy - lots of nutrients!
Cook whatever type of pasta you like as you normally would. Drain and rinse with cool water.
Add: Chopped tomatoes, black olives, choppedred onion, chopped green pepper, feta cheese. (You could also add, but I don't like chickpeas/garbanzo beans and cucumber). Mix it all up. Make a bottle of Good Seasons Italian dressing and add to taste, then mix.
It's easy and DELISH! It's great to bring for a picinic, etc.
We were omn a camping trip.... long time ago.... when one of the guys made this. I liked it so much that I adapted it for the grill and oven, since I don't camp anymore.
1 lb potatoes
4 tbsp Butter
6 Strips of Bacon cut into pieces
Red Pepper Flakes
Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes, about 1 inch square.
Put 1 tbsp butter on a sheet of foil large enough to hold all of the potatoes.
Put the potatoes on top of the butter.
Put remaining butter on top of the potatoes along with all of the bacon pieces.
Sprinkle lightly with red pepper flakes (careful not to over do it)
Close up the foil and seal it. Set it on the edge of a hot grill or camp fire for about 35 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Serve it hot!
These can also be made in the oven if you put it in a casserole dish and cover it. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
My husbands grandmother gave me this recipe and it's a must at Thanksgiving. I have used both fresh & frozen green beans instead of can and both work really well. Make sure if you use frozen that you cook it first or they will be a little too firm. It may seem like it will be greasy from the bacon fat but it's not. Enjoy!
Green Bean Casserole
2- No. 2 cans French Cut Green Beans
1 Med/ onion cut in rings
8 slices of bacon
1/2 cup slivered almonds
6 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp vinegar
Drain beans put in 1 1/2 quart casserole dish place separated onion
rings over beans, fry bacon, save drippings cut bacon in halves or
quarters and lay over onion rings
Sprinkle almonds over bacon.
Add sugar and vinegar to bacon drippings and heat. Pour over casserole.
cover and marinate several hours or over nite.
Bake 45 min. at 350
Serves 6
Put in 3 cans beans and 10 slices bacon to serve 8 to 10
use 2 qt. dish.
8 red potatoes, skins on
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup lowfat sour cream
1 packet Ranch dressing mix
1 bunch scallions, diced
boil potatoes for 15-20 minutes and drain. run under cold water to cool, then cut in cubes and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
mix all other ingredients in a bowl and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
toss together and serve!
1 container (16 oz.) Sour Cream
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 pkg. (32 oz.) frozen Southern-style hash browns, thawed
1 cup crushed Corn Flakes
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Mix sour cream, cheese, soup in large bowl. Add potatoes; mix well.
SPOON into greased 13x9-inch baking dish.
BAKE 45 minutes. Toss crumbs with butter; sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake an additional 15 minutes.
I love this dish! It is incredibly easy and works for a great side dish with anything, potluck, and even breakfast. Enjoy!!!
I experimented with this a couple of summers ago. It's perfect with grilled fish or chicken. I usually serve it with grilled sea bass. Rarely any leftovers.
2 cans of black beans
1 mango (diced)
1 pear (diced)
1/2 cup of creme of coconut
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/4 cup of yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup of onion
salt & pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, refrigerate and served chilled. Add more creme of coconut if you like it sweeter!
I made this for a picnic in the moutains and everyone seemed to like it. It has a little more depth than the mayo-based potato salads and won't spoil in the sun!
1/4 cup canned chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
4 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons minced white onion
2 tablespoons chopped gerkins or middle eastern pickles (not sweet)
1 tablespoon chives (fresh or dried)
31/4 pounds of 21/2-inch-diameter red-skinned potatoes
Salt & pepper to taste
Whisk first 10 ingredients in large bowl. Cover and let mix for at least 1 hour.
Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 35 minutes. Drain and place potatoes back into pot. Cook over low heat until liquid from potatoes evaporates.
Cut warm potatoes into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Add dressing and toss gently. Let stand at least 1 hour at room temperature. Toss again and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serves 8
I always found the rice too plain and too simple to be really interesting, until the day I discovered the wonderful Risotto. The one I use most often is called Arborio.
The recipe may be used as a base, basically you can add anything you like.
1 glass of Arborio risotto/2 persons
1 glass of white wine
Chicken stock cube (3 or 4 melted in at least 1/2 liter of bouling water)
2 onions
Garlic
Put the onions and garlic to fry in olive oil. When melted, add the glass of risotto and wait for it to absorb some oil. Then pour the glass of wine. When evaporated, cover with the chicken stock.
Lower the fire, it has to cook for at least 20 to 25mn. Add regularly some chicken stock if necessary.
You can add whatever you want to this recipe : chicken meat and mushrooms, aspergus...
Serve with parmesan :-)
It can also be served in large tomatoes (25mn in the oven), as on this picture :
(I didn't think writing a recipe in english would be so hard !!)
3 each red and green bell peppers, havled and seeded
2 yellow squash, sliced
1 ball (16 oz) frsh mozzarella, cut into 12 slices
1/2 C olive oil divided
1 tsp Greek seasoning blend
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 Tbs chopped fresh oregano
Heat grill. Using 2 1/4" round cookie cutter (I used one with a scalloped edge), cut 2 rounds from each pepper and squash slice. Using same cookie cutter, cut mozzarella.
In bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup olive oil and seasoning blend; season with salt and pepper to taste. Add peppers and squash to marinade then grill vegetables for 6 mins. turning once. Divide vegetables and mozzarella among 6 plates, stacking alternately. [red or green bell pepper, mozzarella, squash, mozzarella & red or green bell pepper]
In bowl, whisk vinegar, oregano and remaining olive oil; drizzle over stacks.
Makes 6 servings.
A great way to use up cucumbers and tomatoes from your garden!
3 large thinly sliced cucumbers
1 large tomato
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 c cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh dill
Place first 4 ingredients in a bowl; toss gently to coat. Stir in vinegar and dill. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
Ingredients:
2 yellow Squash
2 Zucchini
1 carrot
4 tablespoons butter
1 onion
1 garlic clove minced
2 cups Ritz cracker crumbs
1 cup shredded cheese
1 can mild green chilis
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Chop squash, zucchini, and carrots into bite size pieces. Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. While vegetables are simmering melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium low heat. Stir in onion and cook until translucent. Then add garlic and cook for another minute. Scrap onion and garlic mixture into a bowl and wipe skillet clean.
4. Melt the last tablespoon of butter into the skillet. Pour 1 cup of the Ritz cracker crumbs into skillet. Cook briefly until golden in color. Scrape the crumbs onto a small plate and reserve them.
5. Drain the vegetable mixture. Mash the vegetables just a bit.
6. In a mixing bowl stir vegetables, cheese, can of green chili, onion mixture and the remaining cracker crumbs. Stir in eggs and salt and pepper mixture to taste
7. Pour mixture into a greased baking dish. Scatter toasted cracker crumbs over top. Bake for 30 minutes.
My favorite green bean recipe of all time ... from Food Network's Giada de Laurentiis:
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan Crisps, recipe follows
Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling water until just crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Drain well; set aside.
Melt the butter and oil in a heavy, large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Add the beans and cook until the juices evaporate and the beans are almost tender, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Stir in the wine and basil. Simmer 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl, and serve.
Parmesan Crisps:
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Pour a heaping tablespoon of Parmesan onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet and lightly pat down. A silicone baking sheet is highly recommended. Repeat with the remaining cheese, spacing the spoonfuls about a 1/2-inch apart.
Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool.
Yield: 8 to 10 crisps
I learned to make this rice from my good friend Mitsuyo, who is a lovely acupuncturist from Japan (educated here) and made this exquisite and simple rice for me when I was sick. It is very good for you: hijiki has more calcium than milk, as do sesame seeds. And it tastes divine. Pair with any meat or tofu and veggies and you have a great meal.
Ingredients (4 servings)
1 cup brown basmati rice (brown rice is good too, if you use white rice reduce cooking time appropriately)
1/4 dried hijiki (find in most Asian stores in the dried seaweed section)
2 tblspoons unulled sesame seeds
sesame oil to taste
1/4 tsp. salt and 3c. water or konbu dashi (prepare by soaking konbu, another dried seaweed, in 3 c. water for 1-2 hours).
Directions:
Bring dashi (or water) and salt to a boil. Add rice, reduce heat to simmer for 40-50min. Meanwhile, add 1 cup boiling water to hijiki and cover. Let stand while rice cooks.
When rice is cooked, take hijiki out of soaking water and rinse, gently squeeze out excess water (you may want to cut it up into smaller pieces if you like). Add hijiki, sesame seeds, and 1-2 tblsp. sesame oil (or olive oil for a milder taste) to rice and mix. You may need to add more salt if necessary.
The hijiki causes the rice to become a bit 'sticky' like that you find in sushi places. It feels very 'gourmet' and tastes it. Enjoy!
(photo coming soon)
2 lb yellow squash (sliced)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded carrots
8oz packaged herb seasoned stuffing
1/2 cup butter (melted)
8ox shredded chedder cheese
Cooked sliced squash and onion in boiling water for 5 min, then drain.
Combine soup and sour cream in a large bowl. Add the carrots and half of the cheese. Add the squash/onions and mix well.
Moisten the dressing with the melted butter.
Spread 1/2 or more of the dressing mixture over the bottom of a 13x9x2 glass baking pan. Spread the squash mixture on top of the dressing. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the squash mixture. Then sprinkle the remaining dressing over the cheese.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 min.
Ingredients
1 or 2 pounds of any type of yellow squash, skinned, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium potato, cut up, peeled if desired (but the peel has most of the nutrition and actually has a good flavor to add)
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan-reggiano cheese
1/4 cup milk, or to taste
Garlic salt to taste
Directions
Boil the squash and potato until soft. Mash. Add cheese, then milk, stir well. Add salt and pepper if desired.
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I've asked my friend Lisa to send me some of her recipes, since I want to learn to cook. I also got her to join Bakespace, but I doubt she is ever going to be very active. So I decided to post her recipe instead of waiting for her to do it.
This dish is a good replacement for mashed potatoes, in my opinion. The parmesan cheese is a wonderful added flavor! I added garlic salt to her original recipe, because, well, I love garlic.
Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
2 1/2 pounds small red potatoes or baby Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup half-and-half or whole milk
8 ounces plain cream cheese or veggie cream cheese, cut into pieces
10 chives or 2 scallions, chopped or snipped with kitchen scissors
Salt and pepper
Boil potatoes until tender, 15 minutes.
When the potatoes are tender, drain them
and return them to the hot pot to let them dry out a bit.
Mash potatoes with half-and-half or milk using a potato masher.
Add in the cream cheese and smash until the cheese melts into the potatoes.
Then add chives and scallions and season with salt and pepper, to your taste.
Easy and delicious dishto accompany any tex-mex meal. Serves 4.
Elements:
1 can black beans
1 onion
1 green bell pepper
2 cups cooked rice (easiest to use a rice cooker with your favorite kind of grain. I never get it right in a saucepan.)
oil to prevent sticking (i prefer virgin olive for health and flavor)
cilantro and garlic to taste
Drain half the liquid from the beans and set aside. Slice onion and chop pepper. If you use fresh garlic or cilantro, prep by mincing them now also. Sautee onions and then add bell peppers with the garlic. Add the beans to warm them. Season to taste. There should be enough salt fromthe liquid reserved in the beans.
Top rice with the beans and vegetables.
Another tasty way to get a non-vegetable eater to eat vegetables. :)
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp dried dillweed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 medium carrots, sliced
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 small yellow summer squash or zucchini, halved lengthwise and then cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
nonstick cooking spray
4 slices of bacon, crisp-cooked, drained, and crumbled.
1. In a small saucepan melt butter or margarine. Remove from heat. Stire in dillweed, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
2. Fold a 36x18 piece of heavy foil in half to make an 18 inch square. Lightly coat with Pam. Place vegetables in center of foil. Drizzle butter mixture over vegetables. Top with crumbled bacon. Bring up opposite edges of foil and seal with a double fold. Fold remaining edges together to completely enclose vegetables, leaving space for steam to build.
3. Grill over medium heat for 30 minutes
Cook Cauliflower until soft. Can either mash it up using a fork or put in a food processor (easier that way). Add garlic, salt and pepper for flavor. It is a very easy recipe and healthy too. The family loves it!
"Bacon, almonds, grapes and raisins give this side dish a delicious twist. I got this recipe from my sister--she got the recipe from allrecipes.com"
Yummy Broccoli Salad
1-2 heads fresh broccoli florets, chopped or pulled apart into small bunches
1/2 lb cooked & crumbled bacon
1/2 c celery
1/2 c green onions
1/2 c seedless red grapes
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c slivered almonds
1 c mayo or miracle whip
1 Tbs white wine vinegar
1/4 c sugar
Combine all veggie/fruit ingredients.
Whisk mayo, vinegar & sugar in a bowl. Mix into broccoli mixture.
This dish better if its sits in the fridge a couple of hours to get the flavors to meld together.
4 cans of yellow hominy (regular size can)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 small can green chiles
¾ stick margarine or butter
Boil hominy in saucepan until all water is gone. Add other ingredients, saving some cheese for top of casserole. Place in oven at 350 for 15 minutes.
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
1 ½ sticks margarine
2 cups milk
Put above ingredients in large pot. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
4-5 Tbsp, flour (maybe more!)
1/4 tsp. pepper
Mix above ingredients well; add to corn mixture. Whip with a spoon until thick. Add more flour if it's too watery! (I like mine runny!)
1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 green bell pepper, seeded
1 small onion
8 cherry tomatoes
3 1/2 oz mushrooms
Seasoned Oil:
6 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove crushed or minced garlic
1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs or herbes de Provence
1. Cut bell pepper into 1 inch pieces
2. peel onion and cut into wedges, leaving the root end just intact to help keep wedges together
3. Thread the bell peppers, onion wedges, tomatoes, and mushrooms onto skewers, alternating the colors of bell peppers.
4. Mix together all seasoned oil ingredients in a small bowl. Brush the mixture liberally over kabobs until well coated.
5. Broil kabobs over medium hot grill for 10-15 minutes, brusing the vegetables with more oil and turning skewers frequently.