Cheesy chive potatoes

5 Large yukon gold potatoes diced into 1" pieces

1/2 medium white onion chopped

3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

2 tbsp minced chives

1 tsp seasoned salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 tbsp butter

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

crumbled bacon to taste

Preheat oven to 450. Coat a baking medium to small size baking dish with non stick cooking spray. Combine the first 6 ingredients and then top with butter. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Remove lid and top with Mozzarella & cheddar cheese. Put back in oven under the broiler on low until cheese bubbles. Crumble bacon on top & serve. For extra flavor combine ranch dressing seasoning with sour cream.

Brown butter Gnocchi with spinach and pine nuts

• 1 16 oz package gnocchi
  
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (10-ounce) package fresh spinach, torn
• 1/4 tspn salt
• 1/4 tspn freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook gnocchi according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Heat butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts to pan; cook 3 minutes or until butter and nuts are lightly browned, stirring constantly. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds. Turn of heat. Add gnocchi and spinach to pan and wilt spinach, stirring constantly. Stir in salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

It is very important to watch this meal as you cook. If you let the garlic go too long it will burn. If you burn the garlic the meal is ruined.

My husbands favorite breakfast potatoes

4 white potatoes quartered and sliced very thin
1/2 yellow onion fine diced
1 clove garlic fine diced
1.5 tbsp rosemary chopped
1 SMALL pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 slice bacon

The key to making these potatoes right is to make sure to put everything in the right order. A very common mistake is for people to throw things in all at once and burn the onions and garlic. In a large skillet add olive oil and butter over medium heat. Toss in potatoes and leave them alone. The key here is to let them start to brown. Turn them a few times until they are a light brown. Add in the onions and rosemary and toss it all to coat. Make a well in the center of the potatoes and add in your slice of bacon. Once the potatoes are brown and the onions are clear toss in the garlic, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Reduce to low and toss a few more times. Remove the bacon before you serve this is simply there for flavor, I usually toss it in the pan with the other bacon I'm cooking to let it fry up properly.

I used to cook my bacon and then make the potatoes in the same pan but I found that any remnant pieces burned and it was also too much of a bacon flavor. The one slice of bacon gives it just a hint of smokey pork fat goodness.

Crash Hot Potatoes

This was my final recipe from Pioneer Woman. I think my husband wants to buy her diamonds just to thank her for all the great food she taught me to make. Tonight I made CRASH! HOT POTATOES. They were fucking awesome. The only problem I see with this recipe is that if you have any extra potatoes after boiling them IT IS IMPOSSIBLE not to stand there and dump salt on them, eat them and then be full by dinner time!

The recipe her way was:
New potatoes
Kosher salt
Pepper
Rosemary
Olive oil

Shannons recipe is new potatoes
Kosher salt
Pepper
Rosemary
Olive oil
BUTTER
and fresh chopped chives

Preheat oven to 450. Boil potatoes until fork tender. Cover sheet pan with olive oil. Place potatoes about 3 inches apart on pan. Take potato masher and gently press down. I found it worked better to hold a fork over the top of the masher to prevent the potatoes from coming out the top and breaking apart. After that I topped each potato with about 1 tsp of unsalted butter. Then I seasoned to taste with salt and pepper and used about a tsp of finely chopped rosemary. Bake for 20-25 minutes until potatoes begin to brown. Serve with chopped chives THEN DIE OF CRUNCHY GOODNESS!

Creamy herbed potatoes

Earlier in the week I discovered Pioneer Woman Cooks. While browsing her archives I had about 15 photo related orgasms. Finally I decided to try out some of her stuff. I made 3 of her things and this is the first.

Creamy herbed potatoes. They killed me y'all. They were so good and the only problem I could see was the fact that she didn't put a warning about how you shouldn't eat it all while it is cooking or you won't have dinner.

I followed her recipe almost exact except I added one clove of shredded garlic. If I had it all to do again I would probably lower the amount of sage I put in because I think I actually did about 2 tsp instead of 1 tsp.

Pioneer Woman's recipe is as follows

PW’s Creamy Herbed Potatoes

4 to 5 russet potatoes
1 stick (1/4 pound) butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
8 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk (half & half works, too)
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
1 teaspoon finely chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped sage

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice potatoes very thinly.
Add butter to a large skillet over medium low heat, When melted, add diced onion. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add cream cheese to the pan and stir to melt.
Pour in cream and milk, stirring to combine.
Season with plenty of salt and pepper, then add chopped herbs.
Place potatoes in a buttered baking dish. Pour contents of skillet over the top.
Top with Parmesan cheese and bake for 45 minutes, or until bubby and…bubby. Allow potatoes to sit 15 minutes before serving.

I PERSONALLY LIKED IT WITH THE ONE CLOVE OF GARLIC! I used a mandolin to cut the potatoes, which she also does. I think you could do this with a knife but it would be harder. You can get a cheap functional mandolin for about $30.00 at Williams Sonoma or even Walmart.

Steak fries and gravy

I was watching TV the other day and saw someone dunking a fry into gravy.  I got a craving and went to work in the kitchen.  I made it for my husband and a friend who came to dinner.  They both sopped up almost all their gravy with their fries and then started dunking in their steak.  I guess when I got up to get the baby his friend, who had run out of things to dip actually finished his gravy by drinking it.  This is a super quick cook.  Nothing fancy, nothing special, just a quick way to satisfy a craving.

4 large russet potatoes halved and quartered

3 cups vegetable oil

4 cups water

4 beef bouillon cubes

1/2 tsp pepper

3 tbsp unsalted butter

3 tbsp flour

salt

For potatoes

Preheat oven to 400.  Place cut up fries on large cookie sheet.  Lightly coat with oil (reserve remaining oil for frying).  Bake for 15 minutes turning once with a spatula to loosen the potatoes.  Remove potatoes and set aside.  Heat remaining oil in large pan over medium heat (the oil will ripple when it is ready). You can test on potato first, you want the oil to look like it boils softly when you put it in, not bubble and pop out of the pan.  Working in batches of about 10 place fries in oil and turn frequently.  Remove when fries are a golden brown.  Place on paper towels to dry and immediately salt to your taste.

For gravy

Bring water and bouillon to a boil.  Add pepper and boil about 10 minutes.  Pour broth into heat safe container and add butter to pan. Reduce heat to medium. When butter melts whisk in flour. Whisk until golden color.  Turn heat to high and pour broth back in whisking continuously.  Bring gravy to a boil to allow flour to bind and thicken.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low and allow gravy to simmer and thicken.  Pour and serve.

A bite perhaps- Bacon potato bites

I'm going to do this one in steps these are great little party bites or side dishes.

4 Large white potatoes washed
1 pound medium cheddar cheese shredded
1 cup sour cream
5 slices bacon
1.5 tbsp ranch seasoning of your choice (ie hidden valley)
salt
vegetable oil

1. Wash potatoes
2. Place in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 5 mintues
3. Preheat oven to 400
4. Start frying bacon
5. Shred cheese
6. Mix sour cream and ranch and place in fridge to combine
7. Remove potatoes and allow to cool to touch
8. Remove bacon and place on paper towels to dry completly
   
9. Slice aprx 3/4 of an inch thick discarding round ends
10. Brush baking sheet with oil and lay potatoes in single layer
11. Sprinkle with salt
    
12. Brush tops with oil
13. Bake for 12 minutes
14. Flip potatoes when bottom is golden brown and bake for 12 minutes
15. Crumble dried crisp bacon
16. Place small portion of cheese on each potato and bake for 1 minute or long enough to melt (reserving some cheese for topping)
    
17. Remove from oven and place on serving plate
18. Put sour cream in plastic bag and cut off tip
19. Pipe generous portion of sour cream onto each potato
    
20. Top with desired bacon and more cheese

For added flavor add chopped chives or green onions. If you don't like the ranch flavor I suggest adding chopped up chives to your sour cream in place of ranch powder. You can not substitute the sour cream for regular ranch dressing it is not thick enough to stand up to the heat and it will separate and turn clear and nasty. The sour cream will hold form all night. For faster cook you can also fry the potatoes. This also works well on thin sliced potatoes fried into chips, they will last longer for a party and stay crisper.

PRINTABLE VERSION
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Lemon Gnocchi with Spinach and Peas

Servings: 4

This is a great, flavorful dish that is so easy to make it's unbelievable! And it only takes about 20 minutes!

To give credit where credit is due, I got this from Gourmet's website but wanted to share it with you because even though I am not a fan of peas, they fit very well into this dish. The sweetness of the peas counteracts the tartness of the lemon and the saltiness of the sauce.

1 cup frozen baby peas (not thawed)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes, adjust for your level of heat.
1 garlic clove, smashed
3 cups packed baby spinach (3 oz)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1 /2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 lb dried gnocchi (preferably De Cecco)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

In a large pot, add gnocchi to boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) and cook until al dente (5-8 minutes). Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain gnocchi.

In a 12-in heavy skillet, simmer peas with cream, red-pepper flakes, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until tender, about 5 minutes. 1/4 tsp of dried red pepper flakes gives a pretty decent amount of heat to this dish (not spicy, but just enough to leave your tongue tingling) so I would reduce it if you are not a fan of spicier foods.

Add spinach to the pea mixture and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until wilted. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice. The cream and lemon juice will react and form a thick sauce.

Add gnocchi and the cheese to the pan with the sauce, if needed add some of the reserved cooking water and stir to coat. Thin sauce with additional cooking water if necessary.

As a quick note, if you are making this for yourself or planning on having leftovers, I would add 1-2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid to the container with the leftovers. This dish reheats in a pan over medium heat (10 minutes) and the extra liquid keeps it from drying out while it is being reheated.

I haven't tried it yet (so don't hold me to it..unless it does actually taste good) but I could picture this dish tasting great with some cooked and sliced sweet Italian sausage thrown into the mix...next time!

Roasted chicken with bacon brandy sauce, asparagus & mashed potatoes

Tonight I revisited this recipe. However this time I made it with a roasted chicken, asparagus and I added shallots to the sauce.

Bacon Brandy sauce
1/4 package bacon sliced into 1/2 pieces
1 package mushrooms chopped up
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp pepper
5 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 shallot chopped

In large sauté pan sauté bacon until crisp over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and shallots into bacon grease and sauté until brown. Remove from heat and pour in brandy, light on fire. Wait for flame to die down and place back on heat. Reduce heat to medium low. Pour in cream, stock and garlic, pepper and garlic powder and simmer until thickened. Serve over steaming hot bowl of mashed potatoes.

Roasted Chicken
4 chicken thighs
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp salt
1.5 tbsp pepper
1 tsp red pepper flake
2 tsp ranch seasoning
3 tsp chicken & rib rub**

Preheat oven to 400. Season chicken on both sides. Pour stock into baking dish. Place chicken in baking dish skin side down. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Flip and bake for another 20 minutes skin side up. Uncover and broil on low for 10 minutes to crisp skin.

** Mine had salt, sugar, black pepper, paprika, nutmeg, sage, cayenne and crushed red pepper.

Roasted asparagus
1 bundle asparagus
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic sliced
1/4 shallot sliced
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

Drizzle olive oil over asparagus and cover with garlic, shallot, salt & pepper. Roast uncovered on cookie sheet for about 30 minutes or until desired doneness.

**Tip I like to roast my asparagus on foil. That way if it is done before my chicken I can pull it out and wrap the foil around it to keep the heat in. Also this saves you from cleaning a dish.

Mashed Potoatoes
5-6 medium white potatoes or yukon gold
3 cloves garlic sliced
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp pepper

Boil potatoes until done. Drain and place on low heat for 1 minute to allow water to vaporize out. Add butter, salt and pepper and half of cream. Mash potatoes, add more cream if necessary. Keep on low heat until serving.

Your bacon should look like this before cooking. It will cut up easier if still cold.

This is the point you want to add your brandy

How it looks before thickening up

Finished product. Cook this for company everyone will think your awesome. I like to put a little extra of the sauce on the plate to dunk the chicken in.

HOME MADE POTATO CHIPS & BAKED BBQ CHICKEN

First of all I reused the Baja Chipotle marinade from last nights dinner as the base of this meal since I still had half a bottle left and I had planned ahead to buy chicken at the store so I had two meals plus two lunches for my husband all for about $15.00. Four meals for $15.00 is awesome huh?

Home made potato chips

3 White potatoes sliced thin
Vegetable oil
2 Tbsp Seasoning salt
dash cayenne pepper
dash garlic powder


Preheat oil over medium high in frying pan. Mix all spices together in bowl. Place potatoes one at a time in the hot oil. They should sink then float up. Allow to darken on both sides. Pull out of oil and dust with spices. Place on paper towels to drain. I serve with sour cream mixed with a little ranch seasoning.

Baked BBQ chicken

4 chicken thighs bone in skin on
1/2 bottle Lawry's Baja Chipotle marinade
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp poultry seasoning
1 Tbsp McCormicks Grill Mates Spicy Montreal Seasoning

Combine all ingredients in large plastic bag and marinate for at least 5 hours. Preheat oven to 375. Spray Pyrex baking dish with nonstick spray and add chicken skin side up. Pour remaining marinade over chicken, cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Turn and bake for 20 minutes. Turn and remove tin foil and bake for 15 more minutes skin side up. Serve and enjoy.