Let the Food Speak for Itself

I don't have much to say in my post tonight. I could probably come up with some funny or witty little story to throw in here but I won't. This is what we had for dinner tonight and it was great which is why it's in my blog in the first place. ; ) The scalloped potato recipe is my favorite, I haven't made it in a while, so I made it tonight to go with our barbecue chicken and roasted broccoli. So try it, you'll like it. And that's about all I've got to say. ; P

PS: If you're reading this and you have a blog, you know you have posts like this too. And if you don't, you know you want to sometimes. : )

Scalloped Potatoes

5-6 red potatoes, washed and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 a large onion, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
1 Tbsp italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or blend of cheeses
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. In a dutch oven or other heavy pan melt 2 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook 3-4 minutes until the onion cooks down a little. Add the garlic and italian seasoning and cook about a minute. Next add the chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper. Place the sliced potatoes into the pan, cover and let simmer about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are slightly tender. Top with the cheese and place the pan into the oven for about 15 minutes. Let sit 10 min before serving.

Low Country Boil

You can't really get more simple or more rustic than this dish. Traditionally, a low country boil is done outside on a hot summer day, in a huge pot over a burner. Once everything is done, the water is drained and the contents of the pot are poured out onto a large table covered in newspaper where everyone serves themselves. I never really liked that part of it because all I could think about was the ink from the newspaper getting on my food. But anyway, I love the simplicity and unpretentiousness of this dish. The key to this dish is really the timing. You have to know just when to add all the ingredients to ensure everything is done at the same time. Unfortunately I overcooked the potatoes a little tonight and they came out sort of mushy. My husband and I still enjoyed it though. While this is normally a dish for a large crowd, I made it on a somewhat smaller scale and it's still a great meal for 2.

Low Country Boil

-5-6 medium red potatoes, quartered (you could also use small red potatoes and leave them whole. It actually works better with the smaller ones.)
-4-6 small ears of corn
-1 lb cleaned, deveined shrimp with tails
-2 links Cajun smoked sausage, sliced diagonally
-2 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning
-1/4 cup salt

softened butter, sliced lemons, and Cajun Spice mix for serving

Begin by boiling 8 qts of water in a stock pot. Add the salt and Old Bay seasoning. Add potatoes and cook for about 10-12 min. Next, add the sausage and corn on the cob. Cook about 7 minutes and then add the shrimp. Boil another 3-5 min just until the shrimp are pink and heated through. Drain water and pour the contents of the pot onto a platter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and 2 Tbsp Cajun Spice Mix or additional Old Bay seasoning. Serve with lemon wedges and softened butter.

Garlic Fries and Greek Dressing

Since the new year has started, I've been trying to find some healthier recipes online. I ran across this one by Ellie Krieger today on the Food Network website. I make roasted potatoes all the time, usually with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder or italian seasoning. But this recipe calls for minced garlic. So I decided to make these fries tonight to go with the chicken and green beans I was already making. These are definitely better than my regular roasted potatoes. The slightly crunchy bits of garlic are a nice surprise when you bite into the fries.

Garlic "Fries"

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 large baking potatoes, 12 ounces each
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves (I used 1 tsp dried parsley since I didn't have fresh on hand.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat the garlic and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Strain the garlic from the oil with a small mesh strainer. Set both garlic and oil aside.

Cut the potatoes into 1/4-inch sticks. In a large bowl, toss the oil, potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the potatoes onto it in a single layer. Bake until golden and crisp, about 35 minutes.

Remove potatoes from the tray with a metal spatula. Toss with parsley, reserved garlic, and additional salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

I also had some greek dressing in the fridge that I made the other day. I found the recipe in a cookbook I received for Christmas, Christmas with Paula Deen. I thought it would be great as a marinade for chicken breasts also. I marinated the chicken for about an hour in the dressing and then pan seared it for a few minutes in a skillet with some olive oil. Then I finished cooking it in the oven for about 15 minutes. It turned out so good!! I highly recommend this dressing for a salad or as a marinade. It was delicious both ways.

Greek Salad Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp sugar (I added a bit more because the lemon juice was a little too acidic)

Place all ingredients in a pint jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. Store in the refrigerator. When ready to use, allow the dressing to come to room temperature and shake well. Makes a little more than 1 cup.

Let's just call it "Chicken Elly"

On my quest to avoid the grocery store until the end of the week, I pulled out my last two boneless skinless chicken breasts to defrost this morning. I had no idea what I wanted to do with them but I was determined to use what I had on hand. I figured I'd come up with something fabulous by dinner time. While I was at work today, I remembered hearing a buzz about a chicken recipe on Elly's blog. A lot of people had made it from a cooking board that I frequent. In fact, so many people have made it, it's being called "chicken Elly". So I looked it up and decided that's what I'd make tonight. It was really easy using basic ingredients that I always have on hand. I followed it exactly except for the fact that I used chicken breasts and she made this with leg quarters. I also used skin on red potatoes. It was great! So Elly, how does it feel to be famous? ; )

How I made it:
(I'm copying this straight from Elly's post) : )

First, peel and quarter (or eighth) the potatoes (I use 2 small or medium russets). Then, add some extra virgin olive oil and the juice of half a lemon to a baking dish. Add the potatoes and the chicken leg quarters to the baking dish, and turn them around to coat them with the EVOO (sorry) and lemon juice. Then, add salt, pepper and dried oregano to the chicken and potatoes. Flip them, and salt, pepper & oregano the other sides. Add about 1/3 cup of chicken broth to the pan (so it just covers the bottom of the pan, about 1/4" or so standing). Squeeze the rest of the lemon over the whole thing. Bake it for about an hour at 400*. Check on it 1-2 times to add chicken broth as necessary or baste the chicken with the juices.

My Garlic Mashed Potatoes

One of the simplest but most comforting foods is mashed potatoes! But not just plain ole mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes. I made up this recipe a couple years ago and they are the only mashed potatoes I ever make now. It's also one of my husband's favorite side dishes. A word of caution about this recipe though...I don't really measure anything. The measurents are my estimation on how much of each thing I actually put in. I mostly go by look and taste. We had these potatoes tonight along with barbecue chicken breasts and green beans. It was a wonderful meal.

My Garlic Mashed Potatoes

4-5 medium red potatoes, washed and cut into cubes, skin on
1/4-1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1-1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until fork tender. Drain water off and place potatoes in a bowl. Add milk, butter, lemon juice, and garlic powder. Mash potatoes with a potato masher or a mixer to remove any lumps. Add grated parmesan cheese and parsley and stir into the potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Burgers and Fries

Tonight I decided to put a healthy spin on traditional burgers and fries. So I made turkey burgers and baked sweet potato fries. The turkey burger recipe is a basic recipe I got from one of the ladies on a cooking board I frequent. They turned out very tasty!

Delicious Turkey Burgers

Entrée-Turkey

3 lbs. ground turkey

¼ c seasoned breadcrumbs

¼ c finely diced onion

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

¼ c chopped fresh parsley

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 t salt

¼ t pepper

• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into 12 patties.
• Cook patties in a medium skillet over medium, turning once, until heated through.

* I actually halved this recipe and made 4 larger patties instead of 6 smaller ones.



Sweet Potato Fries with Basil Salt
5 sweet potatoes, cut into about 1 by 5-inch "fries"
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the sweet potato "fries" on a foil-lined baking sheet and toss with the olive oil. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile combine the basil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.

When the sweet potato fries come out of the oven, sprinkle with the basil salt. Serve with the garlic mayonnaise alongside for dipping.

*The recipe calls for a garlic mayonnaise dipping sauce which I didn't make since we aren't really fans of mayo. Instead I sprinkled the potatoes with a little garlic powder for extra flavor.

Giada's recipe-foodnetwork.com http://tinyurl.com/2j9e75