Food Photo of the Day ~ Spicy Baked Potato

Fully loaded and another way to use up a variety of leftovers. Leftover Chilli con Carne, freshly grated carrots, smothered with sour cream, sprinkled with sharp cheddar cheese, crunchy and crisp fried onions and pickled hot pepper rings top this humbly baked spud for a feverishly satisfying weekday meal. Jacket potatoes... baked potatoes are so easy to dress up and create a multi layer meal.

Hope everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend! - JD  

Food Photo of the Day ~ Potato Salad

Potato salad the dependable summer side dish that goes with just about everything. When you have leftover homemade potato salad and leftover mini taco bowls; together,  they are the perfect way to get creative for lunch; just scoop potato salad into the taco bowl top with grated vegetables and chopped lettuce and you have a deliciously cool summer time lunch. Simple!     

Hope everyone is having an okay week. - JD 

Potato Salad with Bacon

I have made this potato salad before however not with bacon and after finding a package of bacon in the freezer I decided to use it up. Combining it with a package of mini potatoes I had on hand and a few simple ingredients. This salad is a nice departure from leafy salads and a great way to use up some lingering bits from your freezer, fridge and pantry.        

Potato Salad with Bacon

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1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons grainy mustard

1 teaspoon vinegar

4 teaspoons white sugar

1/4 teaspoon paprika

3 green onion, sliced, optional

2 carrots, grated

salt and pepper to taste

1 bag multi-coloured mini baby potatoes

1 package of bacon, chopped and cooked

Place the mini potatoes into a large stockpot, cover with enough water. Bring the water with the potatoes to a boil and continue to boil until the potatoes until just tender. Carefully drain the water and set the potatoes aside to cool.

Open the package of bacon and place all slices on a clean cutting board. Roughly chop the bacon into bits. Heat the frying pan over medium high; add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp and chewy, or to your liking. Remove the cooked bacon bits, from the frying pan, to a plate lined with paper towel (kitchen towel) to drain.

In a large bowl stir to combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, grainy mustard, vinegar, sugar, paprika, green onion, if using, shredded carrots, salt and pepper. 

Once the mini potatoes are cooled cut them in half and place into a large bowl. Add the cooked bacon bits then add the mayonnaise mixture. Toss to coat. Cover and allow to rest in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving. When serving sprinkle with dried onions, if you have any.   

Notes: Try... red onion, peas, corn, red pepper in addition to all the other ingredients or whatever you have on hand in your pantry to pull this salad together.
  

Potato and Watercress Soup

We made this lovely soup. The recipe is fairly easy, if you can mind chopping the watercress, and even the kidlets helped out. My daughter added a bit more pepper, at her brother's request, which made this soup more peppery in flavour than expected. Regardless, it was quite flavourful.

 
Potato and Watercress Soup

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2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
1 onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 and 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 and 1/2 cups milk
1 and 1/2 pounds watercress, semi chopped with stems remove
watercress leaves for garnish

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the potato and onion and stir to coat in the oil. Add the salt and pepper. Reduce to medium heat. Cover and heat for 5 minutes. Occasionally stirring to prevent the potatoes and onions from sticking and the pan browning too much. Do not panic a little browning is fine... call it seasoned flavour. 

Pour chicken stock and the milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the watercress and simmer, uncovered, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until watercress is just cooked.

In small batches, transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and purée until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, season to taste. Ladle into individual bowls or place in refrigerator if not serving immediately. I used a handheld blender therefore no transferring required. I removed the pot from the burner and when finished blending returned the pot back to the burner. 

You can serve each serving with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired and garnish with a bit of watercress leaves. 

Today is Food Revolution Day. I signed the petition, have you? Feeling much better today just in time for the long weekend. Enjoy the long weekend everyone! - JD 

Potato Pancakes

Potato pancakes or Latkes, are one of my favourites. Breakfast, lunch or dinner. There are so many ways to add flavour and spice to these reliable carbohydrates. Super easy and delicious when served with sour cream. With Latkes anything goes.  

Potato Pancakes 

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6 medium large potatoes, washed and grated with the skins on

1 small onion, grated
a dash or two of Hy's seasoning salt (no MSG added) 
about 1 tablespoon flour in replace of Mazo Meal 

2 eggs, beaten

Notes: You may peel the potatoes if you like however I quite enjoy adding the skins, it's more rustic. Try adding curry powder or other seasonings like chili powder to add more spice. If halving the recipe, the amount of onion should remain the same.   

Place all the grated potato into a large mixing bowl.

Add the grated onion. Stir to combine.

Add the seasoning salt, or whatever spices you may like and flour. Stir to combine.

Then add the eggs. Give it another good stir to throughly combine the eggs.

Over medium high heat, place a small amount of vegetable oil in a fry pan. Swirl around to coat the bottom of the pan. Allow the oil to warm up. 

Then drop by spoonfuls in to the heated fry pan. Turn when brown on one side allowing the other side to brow. Just like you do when cooking breakfast pancakes. When both sides are nicely browned remove from frypan and place on a serving dish. Repeat until all the potato mixture has been used up and you have plenty potatoes pancakes to share. Serve with sour cream or salsa. 

Notes: I made about 25 - 30 latkes... depends on the size of the spoonfuls you drop into the frypan.  

Again, super easy that your kids can help with the prep work or to add some of their culinary flare to the mix. Although if cooking a parent/adult supervision is recommended.

Have a great weekend everyone! - JD    

Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped potatoes were a dish that my mum made very often and quite possibly because it was one of her favourite dishes. I believe her recipe was a simple no fuss one. A layer of thinly sliced potatoes, then a sprinkle of diced onion, add some milk, sprinkle a bit of flour, dot with butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Repeat until all the potatoes and onion were used up. Bake in the oven until tender. Plain jane and simple. Which is the jest... or gist of the recipe, depends on how you look at it. 

The scalloped potatoes I make do have a bit more going for them. Which is fine because quite honestly one does feel the need to conjure up something once in awhile. This recipe is still easy. Just a bit of slicing and dicing which is always therapeutic. Having a food processor makes this even more easy and then you can just watch it all unfold before your eyes. Which can be therapeutic as well.  

Scalloped Potatoes

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1 small onion, finely diced

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of paprika

1 tablespoon of fresh chives

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper

2 1/2 cups milk

6 - 11 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (approx 6 cups)

some butter for dabbing

Heat oven to 350ºF. Then grease the bottom and sides of a 2 quart casserole baking dish. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine the flour, paprika, chives, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium large saucepan over medium heat. once melted add the onion and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Stirring occasionally, until tender.

Stir in the flour mixture (flour, paprika, chives, salt and pepper) Cook stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly, remove from heat.

Stir in the milk. Place the saucepan back on the heat and heat until boiling, again stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. 

Spread the potatoes into the prepared casserole dish. Pour sauce over the potatoes. Cut a few small pieces of butter to sprinkle over the potatoes. Shake a bit more paprika, if you like,  over the top. 

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for about an hour or until potatoes are tender. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving as to allow the sauce to thicken.

In total I baked the potatoes for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. 

*Notes: You may add whatever seasonings you would like. Try adding curry powder to the flour mixture for something completely different. Fresh garlic and cheese. Add ham or bacon. 

Very tender melt in your mouth savoury side dish that is a perfect however if served with a salad could easily pass as the main.  

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We did! - JD 

Soup's On!

And how did the White Cheddar Mashed Potato soup, from the Get Cooking cookbook, fair? ...Great! The recipe was easy and what made it even more easy was the fact that I already had some leftover roasted potatoes from Sunday's dinner so I used them. I also added chopped bacon after I had sautéed the onions for the required time. Letting the bacon cook firm but not crispy. I dressed it with a dash of freshly cracked pepper, crushed red chilies and shards of grated white cheddar cheese. It was a very substantial soup that went well with the delicate Basa fish. 

If you would like the recipe for this soup just go to the recipes or cookbooks section located on the right hand side of my blog. 

Enjoy! - JW  

Maple Bacon Potato Chips

Nowadays, if it does not have maple or bacon never mind maple and bacon then it just isn't right. Put maple in or on anything and most, if not all Canadians will be happy. I pour maple syrup over just about anything edible. The smokier the better. I thought ketchup potato chips were the bomb... well next to curry potato chips of course. However these had me at MAPLE!  

Have a good weekend everyone! - JW     

Deeper 'n' Ever Pie

And here it is. In all it's cheesy glory the Deeper'n'Ever pie. This definitely cured any unvittled eye shrink one might have had. Due to the size and depth and the fact that I made it earlier in the day I first warmed the pie in a preheated 350º oven for about 1 hour. I tested it with a metal chopstick to make sure it was heated all the way through. Once that was accomplished I placed a generous amount of grated old cheddar cheese on top. Waited until the cheese had bubbled then removed the dish from the oven and served straight away. The Deeper'n'Ever pie was tasty and saw Dibbuns and non-Dibbuns go for seconds and thirds. This is an easy recipe because essentially it is just layers of mashed vegetables. Also if you bake it straight away. However if you choose to do it the way I did by making it in the morning and baking it later it may be a bit of a process. I can assure you that all the effort is worth it! My son was very pleased with the effort and a full round table discussion regarding Brian Jacques Redwall was plenty.        

The top crisped up and the cheese bubbly with nestle layers of potato, carrot and turnip. 

Piping hot and disappearing fast!

Hope you all have a great weekend! - JW 

The REDWALL Cookbook

This is my son's cookbook. And I could not be more pleased when he asked for a cookbook for Christmas. However I sense an ulterior culinary motive here and he has succeeded.  He knows I  like to review all cookbooks regardless if it is based on a book or a movie, outdated or old, tongue and cheek, new or vintage. My cookbook collection is extensive and he happily has added one of his along the sidelines.  

All recipes are based on the Brian Jacques Redwall series. Something that my son reads religiously. This cookbook is fun and enjoyable for any Dibbuns at heart. Even if you have not read the Redwall series you can still get a sense of the characters and storyline. Culinary and literary tales combine amongst the recipes which are divided into the four seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. 

Tonight I am serving Mole's Favourite Deeper'n'Ever Turnip'n'Tater'n'Beetroot Pie. Which recipe was handpicked by my son. I will serve this with English bangers and a spinach salad. Another day I will make the Loamhedge Legacy Nutbread.  

Mole's Favourite Deeper'n'Ever Turnip'n'Tater'n'Beetroot Pie

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1 pound (3medium) potatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 pound (4 medium) carrots, peeled and chopped

1/2 pound turnips or rutabaga, peeled and chopped

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

1 cup (2 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese or any hard cheese

Crisp green salad, for serving  (optional)

Pickled beets, for serving (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with water and add a pinch of salt. Place the carrots and turnips or rutabaga in another saucepan, cover with water and add a pinch of salt. Boil all the vegetables until soft, 10 - 15 minutes.

2. Drain the vegetables separately, then return them to their pans and add half the butter to each pan. Mash the vegetables until they are smooth and season with salt and pepper. 

3. In a deep casserole dish, spread the alternating layers of mashed vegetables, starting with the carrot mixture and finishing with a layer of potato. Roughen the top with a fork.

4. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake on the top shelf until the cheese is bubbling, about 15 minutes. 

5. Serve with a crisp green salad and pickled beets if desired.

Here was my effort in the kitchen this morning. Although I did have a bit of help. My husband decided to peel and chop the potatoes and turnip before dashing off to work.    

This was the best kitchen workout. Peel, chop, boil, cook, and mash. 

 First a layer of the carrot mixture goes on the bottom of the dish.

 Then a layer of potato. Keep alternating until you finish with a layer of potato on top.

   

Finished. The grated cheddar cheese still needs to be placed on top however since I am baking this later I will add it then. Will post a picture tomorrow in all it's melted cheesy glory. - JW

Chicken Vegetable Stew

Sometimes I can get a complete craving for a recipe. Plotting and deciding exactly how everything will come together. Stew is one of those mystical one pot wonders that comfort all especially when the temperature drop. It was absolutely divine to sit down with a bowl and the let the savoury herbs unfold in front of you. 

Chicken Stew

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3 chicken breasts, diced 

5-6 potatoes, cubed

2 parsnips, peeled and chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup red wine

2 x 796ml tins of diced tomatoes
3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon rosemary

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

salt and pepper to taste

* You can change the vegetables, add different seasonings, adjust the seasonings or herbs according to taste, and omit the wine and add beer. * 

First, place a bit of olive oil a the stock pot. Turn the burner on to medium heat. Add the chicken. Stir. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Continue sautéing the chicken. When the chicken has slightly browned add the onions. Stir and fry the onion for about 1 -2 minutes. Add the carrots, parsnips, and potatoes. Fry for a few minutes longer or until slightly tender. Add the cumin, rosemary, thyme and paprika. Pour the red wine in and add the tinned tomatoes. Stir everything around. Pop the bay leaves in. Bring to a boil and then let everything simmer for about 2 hours. Serve it with some naan bread or a slice of french baguette.

Enjoy! - JW 

Weekend Dinner

Saturday night I made baked/jacket potatoes topped with season diced chicken smothered in a cheesy beer sauce. Pure comfort made simple. 

Make your bake/jacket potatoes how you normal do. While the potatoes are baking you can cook and season two chicken breasts in a pan. Dice when finished cooking. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Take the potatoes and cut them length wise, making sure not the cut all the way through. Open the potatoes and place them in a row. Top with the seasoned chicken. 

In a sauce pan add a good pat of butter and let it melt. When the butter has melted add about a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. Add about 2 teaspoons of mustard. Then add about 8 teaspoons plus one for the pot of Guinness. Stir to combined. Add about 160 grams of extra strong old cheese. Letting the cheese melt. While this is happening turn the oven on to broil. Once the cheese has melted and bubbling and the sauce has thickened, pour it over the chicken and potatoes. Then place in the oven under the broil until the sauce is bubbling, things are getting crisp and there is a slight browning of the potatoes and chicken. Ensuring the sauce is still a bit runny. Serve immediately. 

This recipe is for 4 potatoes so adjust your sauce measurements according to the number of potatoes you are making. - JW  

Veggie Strudel

I am just plowing through that 10 pound bag of potatoes. A veggie strudel I have made before using chickpeas instead of potatoes. I managed to pre-boil the potatoes and chop the veggies which saved me a bit of time. You may be thinking cheddar cheese and curry? They are actually very quite tasty together. Don't let this delicious combination fool you. Give it a try. The recipe goes as follows...

5 potatoes - boiled with the skins and chopped
1 onion - chopped
1-2 tablespoon of no salt butter or low sodium margarine
3 teaspoons of curry powder
1 carrot - chopped
1/2 cup of peas  *frozen peas will do nicely too*
3/4 cup low sodium organic chicken or vegetable stock
juice of half a lemon
1 cup cheddar cheese - grated
pinch of salt
pepper
10 sheets of phyllo pastry 
melted butter


1) Pre-heat oven to 350º. Line a baking try with parchment paper. Making sure that the parchment paper goes a bit up the sides. To catch any runny liquid. 

2) Boil the potatoes in their skins until done. Firm so that a fork can pierce. When the potatoes are done, drain and rinse under cold water. Set them aside. 

3) Melt the butter in a hot pan. Add the onions and cook until slightly transparent. Then add the curry powder. Stir. Coating all of the onion bits. Cook for a few more minutes.

4 Add the chopped carrot and peas. Stir. Cooking until veggies are slightly soft. Then add the chicken stock. Stir and let the liquid reduce a bit. Remove from heat. If you are concerned about the liquid or as I like to call it gravy being to runny. Just take a bit of cornstarch in a small bowl and mix it with a bit of water. Then add that to the veggie mixture and stir. The liquid should thicken up a bit. 

5) Chop the potatoes and place them into a large mixing bowl. Pour the curried veggies over the chopped potatoes. Stir. Mixing well. Then add the grated cheddar cheese and the the freshly squeezed lemon juice. 

6) On a clean surface place one phyllo pastry sheet. Narrow edge towards you. Brush with butter than place another sheet of phyllo pastry on top, brush that one with butter and repeat this, layering all 10 phyllo pastry sheets. Brushing each with melted butter or margarine. Then spread the veggie mixture about an inch or two from the narrow edge. Not spreading the veggie filling completely to either ends. Once all the filling has been placed roll once then tuck in the sides all the way down the length of the prepared sheets of phyllo pastry. Then continue to gently roll until you have reached the other end. Place on a parchment paper lined baking tray. Brush with melted butter or margarine. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Checking after 20 minutes. Serve with a green leafy salad.

You can change this dish up by adding different veggies to suit your taste. You can omit the curry powder if you wish and add other herbs to season. 
Have a good weekend everyone! - JW   

Curried Potato Salad

For some reason this week it's all about the curry powder and potatoes. Not that I am   complaining! It started with the potato kedgeree and will end with a potato strudel. Last night I made a curried potato salad. My plan was to use the recipe from the cookbook I reviewed yesterday, The Nobel Spud. However when I get reading any recipe my mind starts bubbling with ways to tweak it. Until I finally say... "well this is what I am going to do." That's exactly what I have done here. This is my recipe:

7 medium potatoes - boiled with their skins on

half a red onion - peeled and chopped

half a white/yellow onion - peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter or low-sodium margarine 

2 teaspoons curry powder

celery - 2 stalks chopped

1 cup or half of a 600 gram tub of plain low fat organic yoghurt

1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

pinch of salt

pepper 

chopped watercress - optional

3 chopped hard-boiled eggs - optional

1) Boil the potatoes with their skins on and cook until firm. A fork should be able to pierce the potato not slide through it... you want them cooked but not over cooked. When the potatoes are done. Drain and rinse with cold water. This stops them from cooking any further.

2) Chop the onions. Add the butter to a hot pan and melt. Once the butter has melted add the onions. Fry until almost transparent. Then add the curry powder. Stir and mix well. Cook for another few minutes longer. Then remove from heat.

3) Chop the celery. Then chop the boiled potatoes.

4) In a large bowl combined the potatoes, celery and curried onions and mix gently. Making sure not to break the potatoes up too much. Then add the yoghurt, mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Gently mix together. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. Letting the flavour set.

I would luv to add watercress, unfortunately watercress is very hard to find here. Using a low fat yoghurt reduces the fat content. You can also omit the curry powder if you don't fancy it. You then may want to add some garlic, chives or dill to flavour the potato salad. You can also try adding chopped apples, chicken, dried cranberries... the possibilities are almost endless. There was some salad left over so I will be having that for lunch today. - JW   

The Noble Spud

We have all eaten a potato or two. We know that potatoes are versatile and pretty inexpensive. As great as a multi recipe cookbook can be, having one that focuses purely on one major subject matter, like the potato, can have it's advantages. When you buy an over abundance of one particular item. In my case a 10 pound bag of potatoes. One such cookbook as The Noble Spud by Judy Wells and Rick Johnson, 1985; first edition, pp.[8] 160, Penguin had me knighting every potato left, right and centre. I am about two thirds done that bag of potatoes with a curried potato salad and a potato strudel to go. This week this cookbook has been the cookbook of choice. 

In this book we get a history of the potato... who would have thought throughout it's early history it received such a hot and cold reception. Further into the introduction one can learn about the different varieties. North America has 4 different types of potatoes and the U.K. has mainly 4 different types of potatoes too. Vital Statistics, Nutrition, Storage, Methods of Cooking and Freeze supply helpful hints on how to maximize the potato. There are full page colour photographs every so often. Other chapters include: Soups and Salads, Main Courses, Side Dishes, Snacks and Others. The Index and Kitchen Metrics at the the back of the book provide a quick reference to kitchen know how. There are classic potato recipes and some to upgrade your taste of the potato circa 1985. Well this is 2012 and the humble potato no matter how you slice it is still going strong.    

Here is the Irish Apple Potato Pie recipe I made from the cookbook. The pie had a very unique texture and tasted alright. I followed the recipe to the letter and found that there were somethings about it I would change. I had to free form the top and bottom potato bits due to that fact that the potatoes were sticky making it hard to roll out like dough. Next time, I would place the potatoes in a pie plate to form "a pie shape" rather then let it stand alone on a baking tray as suggested. I found it hard to cut into pie pieces and had to resort to using a spoon to dish out the pie. Making it seem more like a pudding or crumble. - JW 

Potato Kedgeree

On the weekend I made potato kedgeree for brunch. Normally kedgeree is made with fish and rice. The fresh lemon zest and juice gave it a lot of punch, a very summery zing which was good. The curry flavour was mild. I omitted the fresh sprigs of mint. And I really wish I had fresh watercress to add that finishing touch to the dish instead. To save time I boiled the potatoes and eggs the night before. The recipe came from a cookbook that I will be reviewing tomorrow. I will share the recipe with you all now. 
It goes as follows: 

Potatoes - 5 medium, boiled in their skins
Butter - 2 tablespoons (25 ml) 
Onion - 1, peeled and finely chopped
Mild curry powder - 2 teaspoons (10 ml)
Zucchini - 1, sliced
Eggs - 4, hard-boiled
Peas - 1 cup (250 ml), cooked  ... I used frozen 
Plain yoghurt - 1 cup (250 ml)
Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon (5 ml) 
Grated lemon peel - 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml)
Salt - 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) 
Sprigs of mint

1. Peel the cooked potatoes and chop coarsely.

2. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. When the foam subsides, add the chopped onions and curry powder and fry gently for about 5 minutes

3. Add the chopped potatoes and fry for another 5 minutes, stirring to combine. Stir in the sliced zucchini and continue cooking for 5 minutes

4. Peel the eggs and cut into halves. Add the eggs, peas, yoghurt, lemon juice, grated lemon peel, salt and pepper to the pan. Combine carefully so that the ingredients are not mashed together. Heat through but do not overcook.

5. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with sprigs of mint.  

This is how is how I served the kedgeree, with two slices of bacon and tomato. Sausages, whether veggie or not, would do nicely too. - JW