For dinner last night I wanted to make potatoes au gratin. My mom made these occasionally while I was growing up, but I had never made it myself. So I called for the recipe. There isn't one. So I used my best judgement and threw it together.
I sliced 4 large potatoes. I'd place one potato (sliced) down, add some salt and pepper, add a few dots of butter, a handful of cheddar cheese, and light drizzle of heavy cream. Repeat until all potatoes are used. I topped it off with a lot of cheese. Put it in the oven for about 50 minutes to an hour at 350.
The result: probably one of the most fattening foods you can possibly eat... but worth every calorie. The whole meal I proclaimed my love for potatoes and made my husband jealous, it was worth it though.
The beauty of cooking without a recipe is you can do whatever you want! Tweaking it to you and your family's preferences. I added a shallot to my casserole. It added a nice flavor without totally repulsing my onion-phobic husband. You can change the vegetable, the cheese, the seasonings to whatever you heart desires.
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Mashed Potatoes p. 339
I'm not sure why its taken me this long to try Mark Bittman's mashed potatoes. Maybe because its such a simple thing.
Last week I made pot roast for the first time. It just seemed natural to make mashed potatoes to go with it.
Start off by boiling your potatoes. When done, drain. Melt butter and warm milk in the drained pot, then add your potatoes back for mashing. At this point I veered from the recipe. I just added milk, butter, cheese, and salt to it satisfied my taste buds. I don't think you could mess mashed potatoes up. Unless you over salt them.
Last week I made pot roast for the first time. It just seemed natural to make mashed potatoes to go with it.
Start off by boiling your potatoes. When done, drain. Melt butter and warm milk in the drained pot, then add your potatoes back for mashing. At this point I veered from the recipe. I just added milk, butter, cheese, and salt to it satisfied my taste buds. I don't think you could mess mashed potatoes up. Unless you over salt them.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Roasted Vegetables p. 241
Ingredients: any kind of veggies (I used sweet potatoes and regular potatoes), olive oil, salt, pepper.
Most home cooks have probably already cooked this or at least something similar. Chop up your veggies, put them on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven. Simple as that.
My mom would put the veggies in a plastic bag with olive oil and whatever spices she felt like and then shake. This is a great method of coating the veggies with oil to prevent sticking. Plus it added more flavor. The basics of roasting your veggies is heating your oven to 425 degrees and cooking anywhere between 15- 60 minutes depending on the veggies you choose.
Served with corn on the cob (with cheese!) and pork tenderloin topped with five minute drizzle sauce.
Most home cooks have probably already cooked this or at least something similar. Chop up your veggies, put them on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven. Simple as that.
My mom would put the veggies in a plastic bag with olive oil and whatever spices she felt like and then shake. This is a great method of coating the veggies with oil to prevent sticking. Plus it added more flavor. The basics of roasting your veggies is heating your oven to 425 degrees and cooking anywhere between 15- 60 minutes depending on the veggies you choose.
Served with corn on the cob (with cheese!) and pork tenderloin topped with five minute drizzle sauce.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Braised Potatoes p. 343
Ingredients: potatoes, EVOO, onion, stock, salt and pepper, parsley.
The book, How to Cook Everything, offers ten different ways to braise potatoes. This time around I went with the basic recipe. To be honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with the results, but then again, my potatoes were over cooked and mushy. Bryan liked them, but he also said he could live off only potatoes.
First heat your oil, and then toss in your potatoes for a few minutes stirring so they don’t stick to the pan. Then toss in your minced onion, let them cook for a couple of minutes til they are soft. Then you add in some stock and water if necessary (you want to make sure your potatoes are covered by the liquids). I put on the top and lowered the heat to cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. I think I cooked about 20-25 minutes, which is what the book said, but like I said earlier, mine were mushy, so you’ll want to check the tenderness every so often.
The consistency and taste was like stew, but without any variety. Some of the other options look more appealing and I’ll try them in the future.
Served with Salmon Roasted in butter.
The book, How to Cook Everything, offers ten different ways to braise potatoes. This time around I went with the basic recipe. To be honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with the results, but then again, my potatoes were over cooked and mushy. Bryan liked them, but he also said he could live off only potatoes.
First heat your oil, and then toss in your potatoes for a few minutes stirring so they don’t stick to the pan. Then toss in your minced onion, let them cook for a couple of minutes til they are soft. Then you add in some stock and water if necessary (you want to make sure your potatoes are covered by the liquids). I put on the top and lowered the heat to cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. I think I cooked about 20-25 minutes, which is what the book said, but like I said earlier, mine were mushy, so you’ll want to check the tenderness every so often.
The consistency and taste was like stew, but without any variety. Some of the other options look more appealing and I’ll try them in the future.
Served with Salmon Roasted in butter.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Baked Potato p. 336
Ingredients: potato, salt and pepper
Everyone knows how to bake a potato, but its in the book and so therefore I must cook and post. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure what temperature and for how long to cook… so basically I didn’t know how to cook a baked potato, and referred to the book. But that’s what its here for. To help people like me, who don’t even know how to bake a potato.
Here’s how you do it. Take your potato, wash it real good, cook for 425 for an hour. Done.
We topped our potatoes with butter, season salt, and fresh cheddar cheese. I thought about adding some fresh salsa I had on hand, but decided that would go with my Steak au Poivre.
Mark Bittman does offer a list of various topping to put on a baked potato if you want to sauce it up. But I’m not going to tell you what they are, buy the book.
Everyone knows how to bake a potato, but its in the book and so therefore I must cook and post. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure what temperature and for how long to cook… so basically I didn’t know how to cook a baked potato, and referred to the book. But that’s what its here for. To help people like me, who don’t even know how to bake a potato.
Here’s how you do it. Take your potato, wash it real good, cook for 425 for an hour. Done.
We topped our potatoes with butter, season salt, and fresh cheddar cheese. I thought about adding some fresh salsa I had on hand, but decided that would go with my Steak au Poivre.
Mark Bittman does offer a list of various topping to put on a baked potato if you want to sauce it up. But I’m not going to tell you what they are, buy the book.
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