Crusty Puffed Potatoes

This is the simplest recipe I've ever seen, so simple and so unbelievably delicious that I'm pretty stunned I'd never tried it before. I'm strongly considering never cooking potatoes any other way.

Here's what you need:

- Some potatoes (recipe calls for small red ones, but I imagine most any kind will do)
- Some coarse salt (very important!)
- Some olive oil

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Cut the potatoes into small pieces (it's nice to make them vary in shape - they should all be in the general vicinity of one square inch or so, a little bigger is fine), and rub them down really well with olive oil.

Lay them out, skin side down, on a baking sheet - though if you have a rack, even better - and (now this is the most important part) sprinkle the cut sides generously with the salt. Let stand for 10 minutes or so, and then pop them in the oven for 20 minutes; increase the temperature to 500 degrees and cook for about 5 minutes more, or until puffy and golden.

These are pretty much the best potatoes you'll eat, puffy and golden and delicious. I kind of want them right now.

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Pierogi Lazy-Man Style

It's cold and rainy outside.  I had a hankering for lots and lots of starch.  Where can you get both of these in mass quantities?  Potatoes and pasta.  To make everything even less healthy toss in some butter, shredded cheddar cheese, and sour cream.  Now you are talking.

How to make ghetto pierogi:

Ingredients:

Half a pound of dried lasagna noodles

2-3 lbs of red potatoes, washed and quartered with the skin left on.

Sour Cream

1 stick of butter

1-2 White Onions, cut into rings

1.5 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Milk

How To:

Put the taters in a pot with enough cold salted water to cover.  Bring to a boil, and let 'em rip for about 10-15 minutes, or at least until you can easily poke 'em with a fork.

While the potatoes are cooking, boil some water and cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions.  Drain and cool off to the side or under cold water.

Pre-heat oven to 350˚

In a large sauce-pan over Med/Med-low heat melt the entire stick of butter, then add the onions and saute until they are limp (can't hold their shape).

Once the potatoes are done, drain them and then MASH!  I use a big old spoon, you could use an immersion blender or food processor, however you want to do it.  Add all of the shredded cheddar cheese, a half-cup of sour cream or some milk.  Add some pepper and salt.  Taste.  Does it taste good? Yeah, awesome, keep on going.  If not, what does it need?  Bacon? Sure, why not.  Throw some chopped bacon in or chives, it's your mashed potatoes.

Time to make the monstrosity.  Put a little bit of the butter and onion mix on the bottom of a greased pan, so that it will be non-stick.  Add a layer of lasagna noodles (probably 3).  Dump some mashed potatoes on top, spread around with gigantic wooden spoon.  layer some more onions and butter.  Repeat!  The top layer should be lasagna noodles covered by more butter and onions.  You could also spread some more cheese on top if you want or bread crumbs, but I like to keep it simple with onion and butter.

Bake for 30 minutes!

Let cool a bit, then cut big slices and serve with pan-fried kielbasa, saurkraut and mustard.

MMMMMM, starchy cold-weather food.

I also like to take the ghetto-pierogi and fry in more butter after it has been cooked to make it extra crispy, but that is just me.

Potato Salad?

I was perusing NYtimes.com (a common work day ritual) when I found what looks to be a delicious recipe for potato salad, with goat cheese. Here is the link and I will copy the recipe below). Personally, I LOVE potatoes and most things made with them. A personal favorite is potato salad and I am curious if anyone who reads this blog might want to share their favorite potato salad recipe? Thanks so much!

You can use Yukon golds, fingerlings or red bliss potatoes for this warm, creamy salad. The goat cheese melts into the dressing when you toss it with the hot potatoes.

Warm Potato Salad With Goat Cheese

For the dressing:

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small or medium garlic clove, minced or pureed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or for a low-fat dressing use 1/4 cup low-fat yogurt or buttermilk and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:

1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold, fingerling or red bliss potatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped red onion (to taste), rinsed with cold water and drained
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 ounces soft goat cheese
2 to 3 sage leaves, cut in thin slivers (optional)

1. Make the dressing. Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, and garlic. Whisk in the olive oil or the yogurt and olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings, Set aside.

2. Scrub the potatoes and cut into 3/4-inch dice if large. If using fingerlings cut in 3/4 inch slices. Steam above 1 inch of boiling water until tender but not mushy, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and toss while hot in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste, the onions, parsley, goat cheese, and the dressing. Sprinkle the sage over the top and serve.

Yield: Serves 6

Advance preparation: You can make the dressing several hours before making the salad.

Buttermilk Potato Bread

Made this for Jessica's birthday party, and it seemed to be of at least moderate popularity. I love it, and it goes great with brie, salad, or really, any meal of your choosing.

3/4 C freshly cooked potatoes, mashed (but not too much - it's awesome to find potato chunks in the bread)
1 stick butter
2 C room-temperature buttermilk
2 packages (1 1/2 T) active dry yeast
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 T sugar
2 1/2 tsp salt
6 1/4 C flour

While the potatoes are still warm, stir in the butter. Add the buttermilk, yeast, eggs, sugar, and salt and mix well. Then add in the flour very gradually, until you get a dough that's moist but not sticky. It takes a fair amount of mixing and kneading to get it to the right consistency, but press on - it'll get there.

Knead the dough about 10 minutes, then transfer into an oiled bowl and turn one to cover; cover with plastic wrap and let sit 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size. Punch it down, not too hard, divide in two, then lay (seam-side down) in two greased bread pans. Let sit another hour (it will again almost double in size), then brush the tops of the loaves with a beaten egg with a pinch of salt in it.

Bake in a 375 oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the bottom of the pans sound hollow when tapped. Let cool for 1/2 hr, then cut and serve!

Broiled fresh sardines with a simple potato salad

Ok, I am going to give it a try... This Monday (a joyful day off work) I was passing by my favorite fish supplier in the Bay Area. Actually, I have never found such a good fish store anywhere, so this store deserves my subjective "Best Ever" award. Yes, I am talking about Tokyo Fish Market on San Pablo Ave. They had fresh and wiggling sardines so I decided to grab a pound (did I mention how I love the fact that the staff there cleans, scales and cuts the fish for you for free?). I was too lazy to fire up the grill and decided to use the convenience of having an oven. A similar recipe in one of Gordon Ramsay's shows provided the inspiration.

Here it comes: very simple and tasty broiled sardines  with an even simpler potato salad:

To serve 2 you will need:

4 fresh sardines (or more if you really love them), cleaned, scaled, boned and cut in half like a butterfly

6 potatoes (I had Yukon Gold)

4 tbsp Creme fraiche  (Bret, forgive me for the missing accents)

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp chives

olive oil

salt & pepper

lemon wedges

Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Drain and crush lightly with the back of a fork. Let cool. Add the creme fraiche, lemon juice and snipped chives. Season well with salt and pepper and set aside. If you don't want to spend money on creme fraiche, you could use sour cream, mixed with a tablespoon or two of heavy cream. Using sour cream alone would make the salad too tangy. Nothing compares to good old-fashioned creme fraiche though. 

Heat the broiler (set it to something like "very hot"). Lay the sardines skin-side up on a baking sheet brushed with olive oil. Broil for 4-5 minutes, turn them over and cook for another 3 minutes or so. The cooking time will depend entirely on your oven. My Wedgewood is from the 1930s and heats up like a nuclear plant. Remove the sardines from the baking sheet and season well.

Arrange the potato salad in a pretty pile on a plate (if you want to be fancy, you can place it on some lettuce leaves). The hot sardines go on top of the salad. Make sure to drizzle this dish with some freshly made dressing (lemon juice + some water + olive oil + salt & pepper). The water in the dressing is Gordon Ramsay's idea and I have actually come to like it. It makes the whole thing lighter while still preserving the flavors.

Serve the salad and fish with some lemon wedges.