Sweet Potato Latkes

After eating the same thing for dinner three nights in a row, I really needed a change. Since I've been trying to use up what is in my pantry, and Ron has been working the last three nights, I ended up making very simple cheese and jalapeño quesadillas with rice and beans for myself for the past few nights. Very yummy, but even quesadillas get old after having the same kind three days in a row, I suppose.

So for this dinner I needed something vastly different using ingredients I had in the pantry. I had a few sweet potatoes that I really wanted to use, and so after searching through some of my favorite blogs for ideas, I came upon these sweet potato latkes on Eat, Live, Run. Just a few staple ingredients, a little mixing together, a little frying, and bam, done. I don't generally like to fry things in my kitchen, but because you only need a little bit of oil for these, that wasn't a problem. I ate them with a little bit of pure maple syrup on top and they were so satisfying! I guess you probably would normally serve these as breakfast or as a side dish to a meal, but since it was just me, I decided to just make these my main dish and eat a simple salad on the side. I will definitely be making these again! I also would love to experiment with these a bit too- I'm thinking chipotle sweet potato latkes... And I also really need to make traditional potato latkes sometime as well.

Sweet Potato Latkes

Makes about 8 latkes

Inredients:

2 small to medium sweet potatoes, peeled and shredded

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Canola oil, for frying

Maple syrup, optional

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the shredded potatoes, eggs, flour, salt and cinnamon. 

2. Add about a tbsp of canola oil to a large skillet, and heat over medium-high heat.  When hot, using wet hands, form your latkes, and place in skillet.  (This will probably take you two batches- four latkes per batch). Fry about 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown.  Repeat with remaining latkes.

3. Serve warm. Drizzle with maple syrup if desired!

Source: Eat, Live, Run

Scalloped Potatoes

The arrival of fall always sparks my cravings for comfort food, and one of the foods I think of when I think "comfort" are potatoes- mashed, twice-baked, roasted, scalloped... you name it.  Scalloped potatoes are something I have never made myself- I've only made the boxed version... and while I do love them from a box (I guess I'd count that as one of my guilty pleasures), I decided it was about time to try making a homemade version.  I decided to go with Julia Child's classic recipe for Gratin Dauphinois.  Honestly I was a bit skeptical of the recipe because I wasn't sure whether all the potatoes would cook through and be tender, and there was such little sauce that it differed greatly from the boxed mix that I am so fond of, but I should have known better than to doubt the master.  This dish was wonderful- the potatoes were tender, but not mushy, the sauce was minimal, but the flavor of the cheese was infused throughout.  Definitely recommended!

Scalloped Potatoes

Gratin Dauphinois

from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Ingredients:

2 lbs. boiling potatoes ( I used Yukon golds)

1/2 clove unpeeled garlic

4 tbsp butter, divided 

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 cup (4 ounces) Swiss cheese, grated

1 cup boiling milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Peel the potatoes, slice them 1/8-inch thick, and place them in a large bowl of cold water until ready to use.

3. Rub the garlic on an oven-proof baking dish (10-inches in diameter, and 2-inches deep), and then butter the inside of the dish with 1 tbsp of the butter.

4. Drain the potatoes, and dry them thoroughly in a towel.  

5. Cut the remaining 3 tbsp of butter into small pieces.

6. Spread half of the potatoes in the baking dish.  Top evenly with half the salt, pepper, cheese, and butter.  Spread the remaining half of the potatoes on top, and top evenly with the remaining salt, pepper, cheese, and butter.

7. Pour the boiling milk over the potatoes.

8. Place the potatoes in the oven, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the top is browned.

Notes:

• I made this in a 10-inch pie dish, about 2 inches deep as the recipe specifies, but because my boyfriend and I thought the best part of the dish was the browned and cheesy top, I may make this in a larger baking dish next time so that there is more surface area.
• I was going to buy regular Swiss cheese for the potatoes when a smoked baby Swiss caught my eye instead, and I just had to buy it.  It was fabulous!  Pretty much any good melting cheese would work in this recipe I assume- Swiss, cheddar, Gouda, smoked Gouda! .... whatever your heart desires, and whatever cheese calls out to you from the cheese case!
• Julia Child calls for the baking dish to be placed over heat on the stove after you've poured the boiling milk over the potatoes, and heat until simmering, but I skipped this step, and don't feel it's necessary.  My potatoes cooked perfectly just with cooking them in the oven.

New England Clam Chowder

One of my main goals during my vacation was to eat as much seafood as possible.  I love it, but I don't buy it very often due to it's price.  Even though I live in Connecticut, where you'd assume seafood would be abundant, it's still often outside my limited price range.  I could certainly buy it more often, but then I'd be making ramen noodle soup more often as well.  In Chincoteague, as it's right on the water, there is much more locally caught seafood to buy and eat, and the prices were generally much better!  I absolutely achieved my goal, and one of the ways I did that was to make the chowder twice, buying mounds of clams from Gary Howard seafood.  This is a very clammy clam chowder so if you like clams, you'll like this!  It's a thin, not creamy chowder, so if you are looking for something with a creamy consistency, this is not the recipe I'd personally choose for that (although I would like to try pureeing some of the potatoes in this chowder to see what it does for the thickness), but it's super-delicious.  It's great in larger servings for a main course, or as a first course to a meal, especially one loaded with more seafood.

New England Clam Chowder

from The Gourmet Cookbook

Serves 4

Ingredients:

36 hard-shelled clams (less than 2 inches wide), such as littlenecks, scrubbed well

1 1/2 cups cold water

2 medium boiling potatoes

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 bacon slices, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup half-and-half

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Put the clams, and the cold water in a large pot, and place over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil.  When it starts to boil, cover with the lid, and steam for 5 to 8 minutes until the clams open.  Check after 5 minutes, and begin removing any that have opening.  If any are still closed, allow them to steam longer.  Discard any that haven't opened after 8 minutes.  Strain and reserve the cooking liquid (there will be some fine grit, so use a fine-mesh sieve, or line a sieve with cheesecloth to strain out the grit).

2. When the clams can be handled, remove them from their shells, and roughly chop.

3. Peel the potatoes, and dice them into 1/4-inch pieces.

4. Place a large saucepan over medium heat, and add the butter. 

5. When the butter is melted, add the bacon, and cook until golden, about 4 to 5 minutes.

6. Add the onion, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

7. Add the potatoes, and reserved cooking liquid, and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, 5-10 minutes.

8. Add the clams, half-and-half, and pepper to taste, and cook about 1 minute until heated through.  Do not let the chowder boil.  

9. Add the parsley.

Notes:

• As I mentioned earlier, I'd love to puree some of the potatoes once they're cooked as it should give the finished soup a thicker consistency. 
• If you'd like, you can use salt pork instead of bacon, but the bacon lends a nice smokiness to the chowder.
• It is very easy at the end for the half-and-half to separate a bit.  Mine did in fact, but it will not affect the taste or consistency if this happens a little bit, it's more a visual thing.

Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad

Potato salad is one of those quintessentially summer foods- one that time and time again makes an appearance at cookouts, summer parties, and as a side dish to summer grilling staples- steak, barbecued chicken, ribs, etc.  Now while I love the standard potato salad, it can be a bit heavy, and also doesn't take well to sitting out in the hot sun.  So here's a different take on potato salad- one that doesn't include mayonnaise and has roasted, rather than boiled potatoes.  It's basically just roasted potatoes, with an herb salad on top, and it is different and delicious, and very versatile as you can pretty much use whatever combination of herbs you like..... and it uses fingerling potatoes which are just so darned cute!  Yes, I admit that I am a sucker for cute foods.... and cute packaging.... and fingerling potatoes may be one of the cutest foods out there!  Ya know what's also cute?  My animals!

Anywho..... here's the recipe :)

Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad

from Bon Appetit, June 2010

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 tbsp plus 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing

1 1/2 pounds 1-inch-diameter fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves

2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves

1 1/2 tbsp Banyuls vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 tbsp coarse-grained Dijon mustard

2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, chopped*

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in bottom-third position.

2. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.

3. Place the halved potatoes in a bowl, with 2 tbsp of olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss together so that potatoes are coated.

4. Arrange the potatoes cut side down on the baking sheet, and roast for about 23 minutes, until they are browned on the cut side.  Turn the potatoes over, and roast until done, about 12 minutes.  Potatoes should be crisp, golden, and tender. Season the potatoes to taste with salt and pepper.

5.  In a small bowl, combine green onions, parsley, tarragon, vinegar, mustard, and 2 tsp of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

6. Transfer the roasted potatoes to a serving dish.  Top with the herb salad, and the eggs.

* For hard-boiled eggs, place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with about an inch of water.  Bring the water to a boil, and when it begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit for 11 minutes.  Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water.  Drain and peel!

Notes:

• I love the original combination of herbs in this dish, but you can really use any combination you like- chives and basil come to mind as some alternates.  If you've never had tarragon, it does have a licoricey flavor that some may not like- although, my boyfriend does not like licorice, and he liked the tarragon in this dish. (I never pointed out the flavor either, so maybe he likes licorice and doesn't know it!)
• If you don't like eggs feel free to leave them out.
• While the fingerling potatoes were excellent in this, any roasted potato would work, just cut them into 1/2 inch wedges and you should be good to go.

A Memorial Day Meal: Part Deux

Here is the promised second half of my Memorial Day feast... the side dishes.

Spicy Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

Russet potatoes (1- however many you want, but 1 potato per person is a good idea)

Olive oil

Salt

Garlic Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut potatoes into wedges.  I'd recommend cutting into 6-8 wedges per potato depending on their size.

3. Toss the wedges in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, add a sprinkling of the salt and the other spices, and mix together to coat the potatoes.  I didn't measure these, and it's really up to your individual taste- like them spicy?  Add more cayenne.  Like them garlicky?  Add more garlic powder!  For a rough guide, I'd say for 4 potatoes you can use about 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.

4. Place potatoes on a baking pan, in a single layer.

5. Cook about 40 minutes, flipping the wedges once.

Tomato, Cucumber and Feta Salad


Ingredients:
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes (quartered if cherry, halved if grape)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 medium shallot, minced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, toss together tomatoes, salt and sugar.  Let sit for about 30 minutes.  Put the tomatoes in a salad spinner, and spin for about 1 minute, to remove seeds and juice.  Stir the tomatoes around several times while spinning.  If you don't have a salad spinner, place the tomatoes in a bowl, cover securely with plastic wrap, and shake gently to loosen seeds, and release liquid.  Strain the liquid from the tomatoes through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup.
2. In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the reserved tomato liquid, garlic, oregano, shallot, and red wine vinegar, and heat on medium.  Simmer about 6-8 minutes, until the mixture is reduced.  Remove from the heat, pour into a small bowl, and let cook to room temperature.  When cooled, whisk in the olive oil, and season to taste with the black pepper.
3. Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, feta, parsley and dressing in a medium bowl.  Toss to combine.

Source: Annie's Eats, originally from Cook's Illustrated

Notes:

• I used grape tomatoes in my salad, halving them.  It may take a bit of extra work to get the liquid and seeds to release from these, so you may have to toss the tomatoes around a bit more and squeeze them gently to release their seeds and a little more liquid.  I actually only got about 1/4 cup of tomato liquid for my dressing, but it still turned out perfectly fine, so don't fret if the same happens to you.

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

Makes about 8 biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, placing over rack in upper middle position.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir in cheese.  Pour 1 1/4 cup of the cream in, and stir together for about 30 seconds, or until it forms into dough.

4. Remove dough to a lightly floured surface.  Leave behind any dry pieces of flour in the bowl.  If there is extra flour in the bowl, combine with the remaining 1/4 cup of cream, in tbsp increments, until moistened.  When moistened, add them to the rest of the dough.  Knead for about 30 seconds, by hand, until the dough is smooth.

5. To make biscuit rounds, flatten the dough into a 1-inch thick circle.  Use a round biscuit cutter to make bisuits, and place them on baking sheet.  Reform circle with leftover dough, and cut more biscuits.  This will make about 8 biscuits.  You can also make biscuit wedges by placing the dough in an 8 inch cake pan, and flattening evenly.  Remove dough and place on lightly floured surface, and cut into 8 wedges.

6. Bake biscuits for 15-18 minutes.

Source: cooklikeachampionblog.com, originally adapted from Baking Illustrated

Notes:

• When making my biscuits, I didn't have any remaining flour in my bowl, so I ended up only using 1 1/4 cups of cream, so you may not need to do this step either. 
• I ended up doing wedges because I realized as I was making these that I don't have a biscuit cutter.  I'm sure I could have used something else to make a circle shape, but wedges are cool, so that's what I went with.  I loved the cake pan trick, because it made a perfect circle with no effort, and so it was super easy to make equal sized wedges.
• You can make these into regular biscuits by just omitting the cheddar cheese, the amount of the other ingredients remains the same- but why wouldn't you want cheese?!?!?!?  I also think that adding bacon or scallions would be awesome in these biscuits.
• Using diced cheese, rather than grated cheese, was an awesome idea- it gives you these little pockets of wonderful cheesy goodness.  I have to say these are the best biscuits I have ever made- although I still have yet to try duplicating Red Lobster's biscuits...

Jicama Slaw

I absolutely love trying new foods- especially vegetables/fruits.  My ideal weekly trip to the grocery store would involve buying something I've never tried before every single time.  I'm putting that into practice starting this week, and so my excursion to the store today lead me straight to jicama.  For those of you who who have not consulted the all-knowing wikipedia and have never had a jicama (aka Mexican turnip), this is a sweet and starchy tuberous root, with a crisp texture that is somewhat like a less-sweet apple combined with that of raw green beans. (I guess I can't argue with that, although it reminded me of something else that I can't quite place my finger on yet.)  I thought the best way to experience this to start would be in a really simple preparation, and I found one in Great Food Fast, which as you may have noticed is one of my goto cookbooks.  In it jicama is paired with just a few ingredients, and is super simple to put together, especially if you have a mandoline or something that can julienne your jicama for you, rather than doing it by hand.

Jicama Slaw
Serves 4


Ingredients:
1 medium jicama (1-1 1/2 pounds), peeled and julienned
1/2 small red onion, or about 1/3 med-large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice (from 1-2 limes)
Coarse salt and pepper

Directions:
1.  Combine jicama, onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper.  Toss and serve, or refrigerate until serving.
2. Yep, it's that easy :)

Source: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Notes:

• The recipe says to serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 6 hours.  What happens after 6 hours?  I don't know, but I'll find out soon because I didn't eat this all, and I plan to have some tomorrow.  I'll let you know the results of this daring experiment soon!
• The onion is kind of strong in this, but I love red onion.  Just beware though that it can have an adverse effect on your breath.  Consider this your warning.
• I enjoyed this simple preparation of jicama, but next time I'm ready for more- traditionally it is paired with chili powder, so I think I'll incorporate that into my next jicama outing.