Roasting a Whole Chicken and Potato Patties

I've mentioned that I roast a whole chicken on a week night and you can to.  Give up the boneless skinless chicken breast wrapped in plastic thing.  It is too expensive and just plain frivolous. 


I work a long day and come home tired. I can roast a whole chicken quickly by cutting that little baby in half.  Cuts roasting time and produces a very nice product.  See this link for instructions.
http://dinnerattheosbornes.blogspot.com/2010/11/cooking-whole-chicken.html

I intentionally wrap up half of it and put it away in the fridge.  I've been taking classes some nights.  It will be nice to come home from Yoga with this in my warming drawer.  

On another note, I've been making these Potato Patties inspired by Melissa D'Arabian's Crispy Potato Cake.  I've changed it only slightly, so the credit is all hers.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/crispy-potato-cake-recipe/index.html

I use my omelet pan.  1 T. olive oil and 1 T. butter.  Less than Melissa.  Get the skillet screaming hot and lay the grated potatoes (3 medium russets, peeled and grated) into the pan and press it down.  At this point, I press a little fresh parsley into it.  Salt and pepper.  Reduce heat to medium.  Cook until brown on the bottom.  I check it by lifting up an edge and peaking. 

I flip it over by laying a plate over top and turning both plate and skillet over.  Actually husband helps with this procedure.  The the patty gets slipped back into the pan brown side up and back onto medium heat until brown on both sides.

Now into the warming drawer with you both while I make the vegetable.

I made a little gravy with the liquid off the chicken while I was waiting.  

A feast for two for two days.  Remember that left overs are a your friend. 

http://dinnerattheosbornes.blogspot.com/2010/11/cooking-whole-chicken.html

Thanksgiving Potatoes

My parents and grandparents were married until one of them died. I think my parents liked each other and truly enjoyed each other's company. But I'm not sure that was true for maternal grandparents who went through huge struggles and grew through it. I think they grew in different directions and at end of life were not happy with each other. I hope for happiness for everyone. Just saying, on that. But, for the young ones, it created a very secure and stable life for the old ones to stay together. My sister and I talk about that we are secure today partly because of the security our parents built for us at a personal price to themselves.

But I married into a family that suffered a divorce prior to my entry. For the young ones, there are pressures from many sides around the holidays. Their significant others have multiple people wanting them for the holidays too.  This is different from the way I grew up.  They need to meet multiple obligations to the older ones around the holidays. How can we not be part of the pressure for them?

Husband and I had a careful talk. Our plan is to be as much support and comfort to the young ones for the holidays with traditions that build upon the past and look toward the future. We'll plan several holiday events. The first one is this Sunday. It will be a table full. These are people we like. I want a good meal for them and a pleasant memory. We've been sick with 2 viruses over the last month. We seem to go from hard time to hard time but here is the beginning of the Holiday season, 2010. Time to get moving.

So there is a Butterball defrosting in the fridge. Nothing fancy, but that's how I do it. I'm making lists, like I do, planning it out and looking forward to Sunday.

I make the potatoes 1 or 2 days in advance.  No fun mashing the potatoes at the last minute and I plan to have fun.  According to my notes, I started making this in 1997.  Trust me.  Nothing fancy, but makes time for the fun stuff, pies and other favorites.

Make-Ahead Potatoes
10 large Russets, peeled and quartered
1 C. sour cream
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, brought to room temp
6 T. butter,at room temp,  divided
2T. dried minced onion
1 t. salt
paprika

Place potatoes in large pan with enough water to cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook until they stick easily with a fork.  20 - 25 minutes.  Drain and return to the pan.  Add sour cream and cream cheese, 4T. butter, onion and salt.  Mix with a hand mixer until smooth and incorporated.  Spread into a large casserole dish.  Melt remaining 2T. butter; drizzle over top.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready.  Let stand 30 minutes on the counter after taking from the fridge.  Then, bake covered for 350 degrees for 40 minutes and uncovered for 20 minutes.  12 servings or so.
 
More to come.
 
Remember to plan for the future.

Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I've been working on a recipe for Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  This is not my mother's mashed potatoes, which in Paula Deen style, were so very rich with butter and cream.  They aren't perfectly creaming and smooth, either, in Martha Stewart style.  I have no problems with a few lumps in mashed potatoes.  Actually prefer it.


This started yesterday.  I roasted the garlic.  It's worth it because of the extra flavor and doesn't take that much time, but I do all my cooking after dark, so planning is necessary.  The total truth is that I don't like raw garlic in some things and sauted garlic is easy to burn. 


http://dinnerattheosbornes.blogspot.com/2010/09/roast-garlic-in-preparation-for-roast.html

Somewhere around 2 to 2 1/4 pound of yukon gold potatoes.  I'm going to say this many.

Peel them.  I use a paring knife and cut against my thumb.  What most people call a potato peeler, I use to peel carrots.  One of these days, I'll get around to another blog post about peeling.  I did lots of it at an early age.  My mother and grandmother picked and canned or froze produce all summer long.  I spent many a summer afternoon belly-up to the sink, peeling and slicing things, so let's just say I have a couple opinions about that. 

Cut each peeled potato in half, unless they are big.  Then, cut them in quarters.  Put them in a large sauce pan or small stew pot and cover with water.  I add about a good teaspoon of salt and start heating them.  At a slow steady boil, cook them until they stick easily with a fork.  

Place a big colander into the sink.  Turn on the cold water.  Carefully pour the pot, water and potatoes, into the colander.  I'm not sure why I do the cold water thing.  I'm not usually prone to old wife's tales, but it makes good sense to me that it is not good for the plumbing to pour boiling water into it.  On the other hand, maybe it's just fine.  That's just how I do it. 

Return the cooked potatoes to the same pot.  Add 1 T. butter, 2 T. olive oil and 1/2 cup  Tillamook Sour Cream.  You can substitute other good commercial sour cream if you don't live in the Pacific Northwest.  1/2 t. of salt or more if you like it.  Actually, I like a little more.   1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper. 

Mash with a potato masher.  The one on the right is just like the one my Mom had, I think.  I bought it at a garage sale.  But the one on the left is my favorite to actually use. 

Another option includes a food mill, which actually works pretty well for this type of thing.  They are functional, cheap, easy to find.  They go easily in the dishwasher.  I believe I bought this thing at the Goodwill on 78th just east of 99 highway. 

I like my masher, but I've also used my nice little Black & Decker hand mixer to mash potatoes many times.  So there is another option. 

  

Put the roasted garlic from the night before on the cutting board and give it a good chop. 

http://dinnerattheosbornes.blogspot.com/2010/09/roast-garlic-in-preparation-for-roast.html

Add it to the potatoes and mix with a big spoon.   

Actually, I've been thinking that this would be good with more garlic.  Next time, I may roast more, so don't be scared of this amount of garlic.  It is a really happy thing. 

Remember to trust me.

Potato and Ham Soup

I've discovered something very interesting.  I can use a 10 pound sack of potatoes.  I didn't know that.  I've always bought my produce a week at a time. 

But a while back, I bought a 10 pound sack of potatoes at the produce market and have been happily making potatoes ever since. 
http://dinnerattheosbornes.blogspot.com/2010/02/twice-baked-potatoes.html

They've been living in my garage frig next to the beer.  Wonder what else I can do.

Anyway, I'm on a real soup kick, seeking comfort and pleasure and giving it when I can.  We were sick with the flu a while back.  For a couple days we ate canned soup.  My husband said, "Your soup is always better.  I wish we could have that, but of course you are sick."  And he looks over at me wistfully.  

My mother put soup in quart canning jars and froze them.  I remember being very happy to come home from school and find a frozen canning jar in the sink filled with chili or split pea soup or chicken and noodles or potato soup and knowing that and corn bread with be on the dinner table.  Those were happy nights.  Dad was happy.  We were happy.  Mom wasn't stressed out.  Dad would come along and give her a pat on the bottom when he thought we didn't see.  

As I mentioned I'm on a soup kick.  I've got two packages of ham from a previous ham dinner in my freezer and fresh chives from my greenhouse, so perfect!

Potato and Ham Soup
3 T. butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, finely diced
1 T. flour
2 cups milk
1 t. chicken bouilon granules. 
1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1 c. 1/2 & 1/2
4 medium russets, baked, skins removed and mashed
2 cups diced ham, 
1 t. salt. 
Fresh chives, chopped

Bake the potatoes until they stick easily with a fork, as you would for a baked potato. Melt butter in a large soup pot and add vegetables, cooking until slightly cooked,  just a few minutes.  Add the flour and stir to make a paste.  Add the milk, bouilon, broth, 1/2 & 1/2.  Stir well. Keep warm but don't boil.  Remove the skins from the potatoes and mash them with a potato masher.  Add them to the soup.  Add the ham and salt.  Now carefully bring the soup to a slow simmer.  Stir regularly to make sure it doesn't stick on the bottom.  Continue cooking on low and stirring until the vegetables are cooked to a desired softness.  5 - 10 minutes.

And now a little bit about baking potatoes.  Baking in the oven produces a very different baked potato than the microwave.  I much prefer oven baked, but it takes more time.  I have oven cooked them the night before, then microwaved the cooked potatoes to heat them.  That works fine. 

If you plan to eat them as bake potatoes, rubbing the skins in shortening then rolling them in good sea salt is gives an awesome texture and feel.  For this, though, naked potato is fine.  Bake at 400 degress until they stick easily.  About an hour.  The skin starts to separate from the meat.  The meat takes on a browned appearance just inside the skin. 

Peel away that papery dry skin to reveal the purpose of all this and go for it.  Mash away.

Remember to smile.

Twice Baked Potatoes

I'm really in to local food these days.  Winter is the hardest time.  And yes, I need to go back to canning when farm direct food is available again.  But for now, I'm buying at locally owned produce markets.  There are two in my area.  I like two things about them.  First, they aren't a chain grocery store. In one case, the owner is there most of the time.  And two, they sell only produce.  Not sure why I like that but I do.  Free market system at it's best, I guess. 

It was on one of these trips that a 10 lb sack of russet potatoes jumped in my cart.  I can't actualy tell you what I was thinking.  Russets are not a long lasting potatoes.  They start to sprout fairly quickly. I want Yukon gold or purple skinned potatoes for roasting.  Russets are best for baking, which is the beginning of the Twice Baked Potato story.   

And what food story do I tell that doesn't start with my Mother?  So anyway, my mother made a wonderful and delicious twice baked potatoe.  Three kinds of cheese (Jack, Cheddar, and Cottage Cheese) plus sour cream and butter.  How could it have been bad?  When I was a young adult, I made a version which had bacon.  I can't find either of these recipes and I suppose it is for the best. 

I'm looking for vegetable dishes that Husband the Carnivore/Wolf will enjoy, so the Russets are going toward operation Twice Baked Potato.  My mission, to invent a veggie filled twice baked potato without the use of too much butter fat that Husband eats and enjoys.  When I am inventing recipes I keep a sort of diary where I record what I do.  It changes over time as I figure it out.  I have the record and can write a clear recipe that others coulf follow. 

Twice Baked Potatoes

4 small russets

2 T. olive oil

1 large head brocolli, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

9 crimini or white mushrooms, chopped

1/4 c. white wine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

1/2 t. dry oregano

1 Roma tomato, chopped (optional)

1/4 c. sour cream (low fat is okay)

1/4 c. parmesan cheese, shredded

Start by baking the potatoes in a microwave or oven until they stick easily with a knife.  Set them aside to cool a bit.  To a skillet, add the oil then the brocolli and pepper.  Cook on medium heat, stirring for a few minutes.  Add the mushrooms, wine, garlic and seasonings.  Continue cooking as the vegetables soften and the liquid reduces.

Add the tomato now, also if desired.  By the way, garlic burns easily in a skillet and I don't like burned garlic, so I tend to add it late in the game.

Now cut the potatoes as you would a baked potato and with a spoon scoop the potato out of the center leaving enough so that the skin stays intact and you create a little boat.  I break the potato up with my spoon but don't mash it.  I like the chunks.  Add the sour cream and parmesan cheese and fill the boats with the mixture.  Put them on a baking sheet and put them in a 350 degree oven until they are very hot throughout - about 20 mintues.    

Leftovers make a good lunch. Remember to eat your vegetables. 

Roasted potatoes

In my house, most of the things we like best are fairly simple.  But, we live in a culture where bigger is better and more is the new good.  That has gotten us into trouble as a country and a culture and a people.  A couple years ago, I committed to cooking more local food and being a good kitchen roll model to those around me.   I hope to teach the young ones around me what I believe about food and experience and life.  I've done this completely imperfectly, but I keep trying.  Eat local, eat in season.

I've been making roasted potatoes and Husband likes them.  They make a good side dish when you have the time.  They take an hour.  .

 Roasted potatoes

This is 10 2 - 3" yellow skinned potatoes, peeled and cubed, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1 t. salt, 1/8 t. pepper, and 2 to 3 garlic cloves minced. Toss it in a bowl well enough to coat the potatoes in the olive oil and distribute the rest of the ingredients throughout. Turn it onto a foil covered cookie sheet or roasting pan. It goes into a very hot, 425 degree oven.

It needs to get checked every 10 minutes or so. Turn the potatoes by geting under them with a spatula or other flat tool. Here, I'm using my bamboo stir fry tool. Just make sure that the potatoes aren't sticking, which they are likely to do because of the hight heat.

 Each time, you turn them they get a little browner.  The goal is crispy brown on the outside and cooked, yummy-soft on the inside.  Of course, I get to nibble each time I check on them.  Cooks privilege.  As I've mentioned, it's been taking about an hour.

Move them to a platter to serve as a side dish.  (If you haven't poked holes in the foil, the pan is still clean.  :) 

I made them the night Mom was here and we had Beef Bourguignon.  See December 27.  We ate the stew over the potatoes.  Check back for the Elk Hash blog.  The potato part of that dish is these potatoes. 

Remember to have fun and relax.

My husband is a Carnivore

My husband eats meat. Period. I try to keep his need for meat satisfied while slipping other things he needs. Tonight we are having what I call Savory Sausage and Potato Skillet. I think this is an original recipe. Most of the things I make started off with me seeing a recipe I wanted to try, then modifying it over time until I got to something original, but there was a starting point.


I had one of those smoke beef sausages and no real plan how to cook it. My husband likes this product, but I wanted to do something a bit more like a meal. Here is what I came up with.


Savory Sausage and Potato Skillet

2 T. Olive Oil
1/4 t minced garlic
5 cups chopped or finely sliced small red potatoes
14 oz smoked beef sausage ring, sliced
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
2 t. Italian seasoning

Add olive oil, garlic, and potatoes to a large skillet. Stir and toss to coat potatoes. Cover and cook on medium low for 15 - 20 minutes or unitl potatoes are nearly cooked. Stir a few times to make sure they don't stick. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on medium for additional 5 minutes.