Thursdays are for Cooking….
Well, here we are at Thursday again, and the weather in my kingdom is too warm and too humid, and we need rain. That means I’ll have to go out on my front steps and holler ‘Send rain!’ at the sky gods.
Favorite winter dishes include scalloped potatoes with ham, with a really thick cheese sauce; a chicken casserole made with condensed potato soup, leftover chicken, some frozen vegs and a box of dressing; and (finally) hash browns with chopped onions and bits of cooked sausage thrown in to the mix.
Potatoes, as a food object, can provide just as much high nutrient value as a variety of other stuff. Someone once told me that you can live a very healthy life on potatoes and buttermilk. I pointed out that it would get boring after a while, unless there is nothing else.
If the late blight fungus hadn’t invaded the Irish soil, the Irish might not have migrated to America and become bakers, cops and teamsters, and whatever else was available in the USA at the time.
Potatoes are also an inexpensive staple food, as are corn and squash. Ah, acorn squash, baked with lots of butter, pepper and salt! Gimme some!
But this is a free-for-all post, so anything that will fill you up, including potatoes, and make you happy is okay.
Category: Economy
Ex, I always look forward to your menu selections! Anything with taters in it is good for me! I love scalloped taters with a nice thick cheese sauce in it. My dear departed mother-in-law used to make the best taters I ever tasted! I love a southern girls cooking!!!
I am waiting for the temps to drop a bit and stay there, and I will make a bodacious pan full of ham and scalloped potatoes. Also looking forward to acorn squash and if I can get a turkey breast split at the bone for me, I will take that home and roast half of it slowly, and freeze the other half.
PH, your acorn and summer squash is good, but even better when you add a little brown sugar 😉
I like it both with and without the brown sugar. Depends a lot on the other dishes.
Nothing to do with taters, but my two raised gardens have been doing nicely.
Been pulling out green beans, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes. They have all started going a bit crazy, jalapeños and cayennes are being picked (jalapeños are being dehydrated and ground for chili cookin’ this winter) and the cukes are doing nicely and soon to be turned into canned pickles and bread & butters.
Got a good canning recipe for salsa (medium or hot), Ex-PH2? I need one.
Only thing not doing real well so far are green & red peppers. Been hearing from others that theirs aren’t doing well either. Not much for blossoms & taking a long time to get to picking size.
For canning salsa, if there are chilis at the store, use them instead of fighting the poor growth rate of your own.
Sometimes the farmers markets will have something good, but more frequently, a local store will have better prices on the same thing.
I’d just stick to the standard canning procedures for veggies and fruits. The 3rd edition of ‘Stocking Up’, which covers everything in preserving foods, is still being published.
As far as recipes for salsa a concerned, you do that “to taste”, meaning your level of “heat”. I like it mild, no jalapenos, and I’m happy with tomato paste, tomato sauce and some chunky diced seasoned tomatoes, a little chili powder and cumin, and herbs like garlic and oregano. I will sometimes add cracked black pepper to make it spicy, but jalapenos make it too “hot” for me. Also, it somehow seems better when it’s freshly made than when it’s canned or jarred. Must be something in that.
We’ve had too many irregular rain periods here to have good gardening weather this year, but the farmers markets seem to be thriving. It’s great in one place and not so great in another.
At least you have a garden! We can’t grow a darn thing since the chemtrails started…they have killed the soil I guess?
Try dumping lawn clippings on your garden, desert, and you can compost a lot of things, including shredded newspapers and leaves from the yard.
I haven’t put fertilizer on my lawn in 13 years. It looks like green velvet because I leave the grass clippings where they fall, and mulch the fallen leaves in autumn so that they’ll decay into the soil.
Way back when I wasn’t too lazy to can, I found a recipe for salsa in a canning cookbook. I’d have to make around 100 pints a year because we kept running out, everyone but me loved it! 5lbs ripe tomatoes(approx 8 cups)
3 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped chili peppers
1 cup cider vinegar(labeled 5% acidity
3.5 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in a pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until desired thickness. Process in boiling water canner for 15 minutes. Makes 6 pints
I usually double the amount of peppers and cook it for at least an hour. Easy recipe, I may have to go make a batch now!
Sautéed Asparagus and Shallots
Ingredients
1 pound asparagus, sliced diagonally 1 inch long
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 Tbs unsalted butter
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook for one minute. Add asparagus, and cook five minutes, tossing with shallots. Season with salt and pepper, serve warm.
That sounds good. Serve with ham???
Yes. And with anything asparagus pairs with.
Asparagus spears are great on the grill, too. I drizzle on olive oil, S&P, and have some Parm cheese on standby. Grill ’em up (perpendicular to the grate, of course) to a nice golden brown, remove and plate, adding the Parm cheese while still hot.
I would “like” this.
One of the things recently ordered that I’ve finally gotten around to trying this week is some aged Monterey Jack cheese. This isn’t the stuff you normally get in a grocery store, and not something you would probably want to eat on a cracker.
I got it to test as a substitute for grated Parmesan on spaghetti, and it worked out really well. It’s sort of like regular Monterey Jack with the flavor dial turned up to the “10” setting.
Please tell me you don’t buy the parm cheese in the cardboard tube in the spaghetti aisle! If so, try a block of parm from the deli and grate fresh yourself- you’ll never buy that tube crap again.
Exactly, but if you live BFE, it’s not like you can run down to the deli and pick up a hunk of ungrated Parmesan. You can order a hunk of Parmesan online, but an interesting alternative is to order the dry aged Monterey Jack. A crude comparison might be like the difference between eating bologna and eating summer sausage.
Ah, location issues. I can relate. Belay my last, then. You have improvised, adapted, and overcame.
That being said, the Kraft parm in the green tube still sucks.
we refer to that crap as “stinky feet cheese”.. for obvious reasons..
Ah, potatoes; the root of my waist problems. How do I love thee, let me count the ways. All of you in your glory, the Sweet, The Irish, The Idaho, The Russet, The Golden, The Reds, bowing to your tastiness and versatility in preparation. Bring me your tater salads of all nationalities, your mashed, your whipped (yes there is a difference), baked, fried, hashed browned, scalloped, cheesed, buttered, salted and peppered, stewed, candied, pied, boiled with green beans with bacon drippings, cassarolled, sauteed with ‘shrooms & onion, gravied, laying next to beef pork, or chicken. Did I miss any? Please pass the butter.
Fully loaded Idaho baked with bacon bits… wasn’t forgotten, but does deserve its own mention.
Taters? what’s taters precious????
Holiday potatoes.
4 Medium – Large Yukon Gold potatoes
1 Sweet Potato
Kerry Gold Butter
Milk
Skin and dice the yukon golds and the sweet potato.
Boil water with 1/4 stick of butter and salt and pepper added.
Once boiling, add potatoes and wait until a knife can cut one of diced potatoes without resistance.
Drain water.
Mash and mix potatoes until they are a solidish orange (doesn’t have to be perfect).
Mix in more butter and add milk to get the consistency you want.
Serve with more butter melted on top.
Definitely served with ham. Sometimes I do had some ham juice to it, or make a ham based milk gravy to serve over it.
Options. Just saying.
I am so waiting for fall to get here.
My mother used to make twice-baked potatoes, which is just baked ’em, scoop out the inner stuff, mix it with butter, salt & pepper, then spoon it back into the skin, but she never stirred from that simple way to do it.
I have juiced it up with leftover bacon, cheese, chives, a little bit of thyme, butter, cream instead of milk, and maybe even some minced ham. Then rebake for about 15 minutes at 350F. And of course, ham goes with it, always.
Sounds tasty. I bet after eating one you know you’re full!
I can’t wait for cooler weather so my oven and I can be on speaking terms, for now it just sits there mocking me.
My stove oven is getting a minor overhaul in September before REAL cooking weather sets in. Just a new ignitor, but it’s 20 years old and practically an antique by now.
Lazy Ass Mashed Potatos* (LAMPS)
Ingredients:
• 5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
• 3/4 cups Butter
• 1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1/2 cup (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
• 1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper
Instructions
Cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.
Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.
Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash. Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.
Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.
Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.
*Lazy because peeling is not required.
Okay, since I’m not feeding 20 Marines from the Aviation Group over by the railroad tracks, can I cut that in half and get the same results?
Also, can any of it be frozen for future use??? Or does that inflict a moisture issue on it that compromises the flavor???
I could put that on the top layer of shepherd’s pie….
Yes to all of the above (wrap tightly with Saran and foil to freeze), and if some crumbled bacon and sliced green onion fell in, well, that would be a shame. Forgot to mention, the consistency your looking for is well blended, but not creamy smooth. Small lumps and bits of skin give this a “country” feel; after all, it is Lazy.
Oh, yeah!
I’ve been getting more and more into cast iron cooking- tossed out all my old non-stick stuff. As a serious amateur, though, I’d be happy to hear suggestions in future on what’s PARTICULARLY good out of cast iron. I know you can make almost anything with it, but some things seem better than others.
Pan fried chicken rocks in cast iron. Get a splatter screen to cover the skillet- you will thank me for this later. Many recipes out there, good luck.
Corn bread!homemade, or Jiffy, if you’re in a hurry. I usually add some honey, sometimes bits of cooked bacon, or jalapenos… get oven up to temp, mix your cornbread, but get cast iron skillet SCREAMING hot… leave it in the oven as it comes to temp, or heat it on the stovetop. I lube it with bacon grease, either the stuff I save any time I cook bacon, or fresh, from the bacon cooked for addition to the bread. When it’s good and hot, add batter quickly, and get it into the oven. Follow your directions for time / temp, and as soon as it’s done, take it out, cover skillet with large plate / cookie sheet, and invert to get it out of the pan (leaving it in the pan can sometimes burn the cornbread, since it holds heat so well)
I’ve been having good luck with a Lodge cast-iron griddle, and use it almost every day. I don’t use it for eggs, but it’s great for bacon, hash browns, grilled onions, etc. A nice thing is also being able to cook a lot of things on it all at once. Too, it’s about the best thing going for grilled cheese sandwiches short of a panini press.
So far, I’ve found one of the tricks to using the griddle, and keeping it seasoned, is to keep it clean. An easy way to do this, if stuff gets stuck on it, is to scrub it with a brush and plain-water-only followed by a wipe-down with a couple of paper towels. It also helps if you have a fairly robust spatula to work with.
Just about any oil, short of maybe Pennzoil 10-30, also seems to work well on it…
Thanks for the great tips. Lotta stuff to try. Oddly enough, was thinking of corn bread and have bought the stuff for the basics. Will try the grilled cheese and fried chicken as well.
For cleaning/seasoning, I’ve had good luck with a Perry-like method in the past. I get the griddle to about 220, though first. I find everything comes off easier with the heat and some hot water.
Cast iron is great for making frittatas.
Cook the fillings first.
Then pour the seasoned, beaten eggs over the filling, put the lid on and let it sit for a moment, then shut off the burner completely.
The cast iron should hold enough heat to cook the eggs thoroughly.
Fillings can be anything you like. The beaten eggs don’t necessarily need milk added, but if you fix scrambled eggs that way, it’s fine.
Make a small individual frittata first, then move to a larger size to cut into portions if other people want it, too.
3 or 4 Russet Potatoes.
Smear with melted butter all over skin.
Set in crock pot – no broth or liquid.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over them.
Go low for about 4 – 5 hours.
Enjoy plain or with whatever toppings you want!
Yum!!!!
My only potato joke…..
There are two potatoes walking down the street. Which one is the prostitute?
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The one that has a label on it that reads..I DA HO!
Bad Skyjumper! Bad, bad, BAD Skyjumper!
This is about cookin’, not about hookin’!
Rumor has it that you haven’t lived until you’ve had Carol Shipley’s Possum Shish Kabobs and finished off with some Rubarb Pie.
The pie crust is made with real Crisco, not that fake stuff.
Well, on one of my foraging trips, I found real salt pork at Walmart, and sitting right next to it on the shelf were two different brands of hog jowl bacon, one sliced, the other not sliced.
If you make pasta carbonara the Italian way, you’re supposed to use hog jowl bacon instead of regular bacon. The flavor is much better. On my next foraging journey, I will get these things (and more salt pork for the Brussels sprouts) and do the due diligence to find out if this works for me.
I usually save bacon grease for other cookery. Never have used that veggie shortening for anything.
Possum shish kabobs, huh?