Potato Gratin

Potato Gratin (From Every Day Food, Martha Stewart)

1 clove garlic, smashed
butter, room temperature, for baking dish
about 6 medium sized Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced very thin**
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
salt and fresh ground pepper
ground nutmeg

**Potatoes are slices easily using a mandoline, the slicing blade on a food processor, the slicing side of a box grater..or some good ol' patience and some good knife skills!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Rub an 8"x8" baking dish with garlic and then the butter, layer potatoes in dish, overlapping slightly.

In a medium saucepan, combine cream 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg; bring to a simmer. Pour enough of the cream mixture into the dish just enough to cover the potatoes. Cover the dish with foil.

Bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Remove the foil and continue to bake for another 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly.

Let rest 15 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Baked Potato Skins

It's football Sunday and it's a fine time for usual bar food to enjoy with a good game. I love Sundays this time of year!

Potato Skins (serves 2-3) (from Simply Recipes)

7 smaller Russet Potatoes

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Canola Oil

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

6 strips of bacon

Light sour cream

green onions for garnish

Scrub the potatoes clean and allow to dry. Rub the skins with olive oil and bake on a foil lined baking sheet at 400 degrees for approximately one hour. The skins should give slightly when pressed to confirm the potatoes are baked.

Allow to cool until handling is safe. Slice the potatoes open lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out the insides of the potatoes , leaving about a quarter inch potato on the skins. Using the canola oil, brush the insides and outsides of the skins and sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and black pepper. Meanwhile, dice the bacon and cook until browned.

Increase the oven's temperature to 425 degrees and bake skin side up for 10 minutes, then flip the potatoes over and bake flesh side up for 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and sprinkle each individual potato skin with cheddar cheese and cooked bacon. Place the baking sheet in the oven one final time until the cheese has melted.

Remove and transfer to a plate, garnish with chopped green onions and serve with sour cream.

Potato Leek Kielbasa Soup

Potato Leek soup has always been a favorite in this house and now it has gotten even better with the addition of kielbasa.

Leek, Potato and Kielbasa Soup (Recipe from Gourmet Magazine via Food Network Website)

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, lightly crushed (we like a lot of fennel so I use about a Tbsp. or more) 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups sliced leeks, white part only, rinsed and drained

5 cups chicken stock
2 lbs small red potatoes, peeled and largely diced

1 pound kielbasa, diced

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup thinly sliced arugula, optional

1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper, for garnish, optional

Directions

In a small skillet toast the fennel seed over moderate heat until very fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.

In a large saucepan melt the butter and cook the leek until very soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in stock and potatoes and bring to boil. Simmer the soup until the potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the toasted fennel, kielbasa, cream and salt and pepper, to taste.

Before serving stir in the arugula. Garnish with red bell pepper.

Thai Corn Chowder

As we near the end of summer we begin to reap the rewards of all the hard work our local farmers do. Fresh local produce is one of the best things of late summer in Minnesota (besides the state fair of course.) To celebrate this I wanted to use as much of this as I possibly could. This soup does just that.

I have never tried fresh corn, cut from the cob, uncooked. I did and it is sweet, like it could be better this way than cooked. Then I came to my senses, but try it sometime, I bet you'll like it. The basil and mint came from my own garden, which now is huge. This is a great way to start putting your hard work out there to your benefit. Plus the jalapeno and ginger add a very nice kick!

Thai Corn Chowder (from the Food Network Kitchen)

4 ears corn
2 cups diced red-skinned potatoes (about 12 ounces)
3/4 cup chopped scallions
2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, smashed
8 black peppercorns
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into thirds
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt
1 red jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk-light
8 fresh basil leaves
8 fresh mint leaves
4 radishes, thinly sliced (I omitted this for fear of radishes in soup, use if you like)
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1/2 lime, plus lime wedges for garnish
1 tomato, seeded and diced

Cut off the corn kernels; set aside. Combine the cobs, 1 cup potatoes, 1/2 cup scallions, 1 tablespoon ginger, the garlic, peppercorns and 5 cups water in a pot. Smash the lemongrass, if using, and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.

About 10 minutes before the broth is finished, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a separate pot. Add the remaining 1 cup potatoes, season with salt and cook until slightly soft, 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon ginger and the jalapeno; cook 1 minute. Add the corn kernels; cook until the vegetables are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

Strain the broth, pressing out as much liquid as possible; discard the solids. Add 2 cups of the strained broth to the potatoes and corn; bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the coconut milk, basil and mint; season with salt. Stir until simmering. Remove from the heat and add the radishes (if using,) cilantro and lime juice. Top with diced tomato and the remaining 1/4 cup scallions and serve with lime wedges.

Penzeys Rubbed Ribs

I wanted to make my first blog entry to really represent summer to me. Today was a beautiful late summer day in MN and I was ready to fire the grill up again. Today for dinner I am preparing BBQ Pork Ribs, red skinned mashed potatoes. Everyone has their own interpretation as to what a decent rib rub is and their version of mashed potatoes, but I am going to show you mine.

Earlier this season I, admittedly, was scared of ribs. There are endless ways to make them-which one was the right way? did I have the right tools? did I have the right meat? Then I thought to myself and realized...it's just meat, if it doesn't turn out, it doesn't turn out! so what, maybe a little disappointing, but you'll be ok!

I went to my trusty Penzey spices and selected the BBQ 3000 and grabbed a rack of ribs and went to work. That's all I literally needed.

BBQ Ribs (A Penzeys Recipe)

serves 2-3

2-3lbs Pork back ribs

Penzeys BBQ 3000 seasoning

Red-Skinned Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

serves 3

2 lbs red potatoes

3 Tbsp. Butter (or margarine, or lite, whichever you choose)

1/4 c. sour cream (lite, lean, fat free, whichever you choose)

2 tsp. Dried Garlic

about 1/2 cup cream or milk

salt and pepper

Directions:

First remove the membrane thing along the bone side of the ribs. It's a very thin membrane, and a good grip should let you remove it somewhat easily. I've always heard you are supposed to remove it, I think it's to let the rub get up in the underside?! But it's something you should just do.

Get your BBQ 3000 (or whatever dry rub you'd like) and rub those ribs that you have on your cutting board. Generally use 2-3 tsp per pound of ribs that you are preparing. Really rub that seasoning on, and if you can, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour or so.

Preheat the oven to about 230 degrees and place ribs meat side up on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake like this for about 4 hours. After this finish on the grill. Place ribs over indirect heat for another 45 minutes or so. If you'd like to baste your ribs with a BBQ sauce, do this towards the end so the sugars in the sauce do not burn.

Meanwhile towards the end of this process, wash the potatoes thoroughly. Leave the skin on, and cut them down to fairly even size pieces, not too small and not too big (or they'll take forever to cook.) Place potatoes in a large pot and fill with cold water so the potatoes are covered by about an inch or two. Season the water generously with salt.

Once the potatoes have come to a boil, keep the heat on for about 15 minutes and test a potato chunk. If it crushes easily with a fork, the potatoes are ready. Drain the potatoes really well and return to pot, keeping the heat on low. This will really help rid any extra water from the pan. Place butter, garlic, sour cream, and warmed milk/heavy cream in the pot also and go to town with your potato masher. Really get in there mash them up! Once that is complete-taste test. Adjust the salt and pepper to how you like them.

Now all we are missing is some corn on the cob-Enjoy!