Ah, funeral potatoes. The classic potato casserole served by the Church Ladies at funerals for generations. The classic potato casserole that may have unwittingly caused a few funerals in the process. Not today, Funeral Potatoes. Not today.

Last year when I pulled out the ol’ funeral potato recipe for our Easter dinner (hint: funeral potatoes are really good with ham), I decided to live dangerously and CHANGE THE RECIPE. I used the recipe that my grandma always used and, while delicious, is more fat than potato and, while delicious, makes you feel awful after eating.

I didn’t change any of the ingredients, I just changed the proportions. And guess what? Just as delicious. I’m using the modified-still-not-healthy-but-at-least-not-a-murder-weapon version from now on!

 

I am SUPER excited about today’s post. First off, I get to brag about one of my very lovely food blogging friends. Second, I get to share an AMAZING recipe with you. Third, I get to do a giveaway. So much goodness in one place!

Aimée Wimbush-Bourque is a friend I met through blogging that I am beyond grateful to know. She is lovely and talented and I am lucky to have her as one of my people. Her blog Simple Bites is wonderful and she is truly an inspiration to me. The woman pretty much makes everything from scratch. When you grow up on a homestead AND you’re a professional chef you tend to do that sort of thing. I know I will never be an “Aimée” myself, but one can always dream…and at least I try!

Aimée just published Brown Eggs and Jam Jars and I am so happy to share this beautiful cookbook with you today! (Congratulations, Aimée!) My friend Allison came over this morning and we made a couple of Aimée’s recipes from the book. It was such a lovely morning, spending time with a friend making recipes written by another friend. I’m feeling all aglow with cheesy friend-i-ness!

Today I get to share Aimée’s recipe for Crispy Rosemary Roast Potatoes with you. Holy HANNAH, people. So good. Allison and I basically ate the entire batch. (We won’t talk about how many potatoes that was!) The technique for cooking the potatoes coupled with a cornmeal coating made for truly perfect roast potatoes. Perfect and dangerous. I wasn’t kidding when I said Allison and I ate an ENTIRE BATCH. At 10:30 in the morning, mind you. SO GOOD.

Anyway, Aimée’s book is filled with similarly wonderful recipes and I highly recommend you buy the book immediately! Right after you enter today’s giveaway, of course!

We are giving away a copy of Aimée’s beautiful book to one lucky, randomly-selected winner! Simply leave a comment telling us your favorite thing to make from scratch and you’re entered! Aimée is all about going homemade, so I think chatting about our favorite from-scratch recipes is the perfect way to celebrate her book launch! So, to recap, to enter the giveaway please leave a comment telling us your favorite thing to cook/make/bake from scratch by Midnight PT on Wednesday 3/11/15.  Prize needs to be shipped to a U.S. or Canadian address.

And with that I give you Aimée’s recipe for some of the best potatoes you’ll ever eat. Enjoy!

OTHER RECIPES YOU MAY LIKE:

• Leftover Boiled Potato Problem Solved
• Roasted Garlic and Fingerling Potatoes
• Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes

EQUIPMENT I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:

• Wusthof Classic Chef’s Knife
• Olive Oil Cruet
• Cuisinart Classic Stainless Saucepan
• OXO Good Grips Mixing Bowl Set with Handles
• Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Skillet

I’ve done a few recipe roundups for Cosmo featuring chips of all kinds. While digging around the web looking for chip recipes, I discovered a tip that I had never known before – you can use the microwave to make chips!

I couldn’t believe it. No matter how many blog posts or articles I read about the technique, I just didn’t think the microwave would actually work for making chips. Of course I had to give it a try and, I am here to attest, that this trick works beautifully! You don’t even have to use oil, making these chips healthier than the traditionally fried (or even baked!) variety.

The chips come out really light and crispy. My family loved them, especially Nate and Cate. Nate couldn’t believe they were homemade, let alone cooked in the microwave! You can pretty much use whatever kind of potatoes you like, and you can even use other vegetables, too. I saw plenty of microwave chip recipes out there using foods like sweet potatoes. I haven’t tried anything but potatoes myself, but I think I might have to!

A quick note on the preparation: while you can slice the potato with a sharp knife, I would highly recommend using a mandoline slicer so that your potatoes are all the same thickness. Plus, a mandoline is just plain faster. (If you’re looking for a mandoline, my friend Angie gave me the Chef’n Sleekslice handheld mandoline  as a gift and it’s awesome. It’s easy to use, works great and takes up a lot less cabinet space than the bigger mandolines you normally see. I highly recommend it!)

One more quick note: the process is a little time consuming. It takes a few batches to cook one potato but, while it takes a little time, the process is incredibly easy. Just have a book or a podcast handy while you are cooking!

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A side dish that I grew up with were these delicious potatoes…cooked in cream and seasoned simply with salt and pepper. There’s something about the flavor of cream and potatoes paired with pepper that just takes me back in time.

I realized a few weeks ago that I’ve never actually made these tasty taters myself. Which is crazy because they are easy to throw together and OH SO GOOD.

And, yes, they are devilishly delicious. I mean, it’s pretty much straight up cream with some potatoes thrown in for good measure. But the peels are healthy, so there ya go!

 

My CSA has had Yukon Gold potatoes recently. Before we get to today’s recipe, let us first ponder on just how delicious Yukon Gold potatoes are. Mmmmmmm…

In an effort to mix things up with all the soft foods I’ve had to eat lately, I wanted to do something a little different with this week’s batch of potatoes.

I don’t know about you, but I love twice-baked potatoes. But, honestly, scooping the hot baked potato out of its skin is one of my least favorite kitchen tasks. The potatoes are always super hot and I invariably break some of the skins. As I was eating mashed Yukon Gold potatoes with the skins mixed in the other day, I had a revelation…as cute as twice-baked potatoes are, if you just mash the skins in with the potato and make a casserole out of it, it would be easier to prepare and probably taste just as good.

And so the twice-baked potato casserole was born! A bit easier to prepare than its classic counterpart and easier to serve to a crowd. And, the casserole version did taste just as good. Hypothesis proven correct! Enjoy!

 

When I discovered my next Newman’s Own “Own It” recipe challenge with Martha’s Circle involved utilizing one of their salad dressings, I immediately knew what I was going to make. Back when I was first married and still learning how to cook, Nate’s Gram Maynard was the one to teach me how to make potato salad. I loved her potato salad. Simple and classic, it always hit the spot. Not too sweet and not filled with too many surprises. (I’m not a big fan of surprises in potato salad.)

Gram had a trick, one that I have never forgotten and have always used since. Once the potatoes are cooked and cut, instead of using vinegar, she would toss the potatoes in Italian dressing. You get your vinegar in there, along with a bunch of built-in seasonings. It’s a genius idea that I absolutely love.

Since I needed to also add a “twist” to my potato salad recipe, I decided to go for a healthy twist. In fact, I went for three healthy twists on this classic!

1. Replace the bulk of the mayonnaise with fat-free yogurt…less fat and the health benefits of yogurt to boot!
2. Leave the skins on the potatoes…that’s where are all the vitamins are!
3. Throw in some cauliflower…easily hidden, most people won’t even know it’s there (Nate didn’t notice after eating a whole serving) and this nutrient-packed veggie adds an additional healthy kick to the salad.

And guess what? This healthier version of the classic potato salad tastes just like…potato salad! Go figure. Seriously, it tasted just like the much less-healthy version I used to make. These twists are here to stay!

P.S. Part of my participation in this project with Martha’s Circle was my recipe featured in a Newman’s Own advertorial in Everyday Food (kind of like the last recipe I did with them, which appeared in Martha Stewart Living).

CHECK. IT. OUT. My name, blog, recipe and photo are on the inside front cover of the July issue of Everyday Food! Somebody pinch me! Get out there and get a copy for your scrapbook! 😉

I know that leftover boiled potatoes is not a frequent problem for most of us. It isn’t for me. But I’m writing this post anyway because I’m feeling all proud and stuff. Occasionally I end up with leftover boiled red potatoes sitting in my fridge. We always have them with Swedish Meatballs (whether homemade or from the Ikea freezer section), and I almost always end up cooking more than we end up eating.

We had Swedish meatballs last weekend (the Ikea variety) and have had about 8 boiled red potatoes sadly sitting in our refrigerator ever since. They just wanted to be eaten, but I honestly didn’t have anything to eat them with!

Then today a lightbulb finally went off in my head. Home fries! I quickly cut the cold, boiled potatoes up into chunks and within minutes we had perfectly cooked home fries. Anna and I ate them alongside french toast made with stale bread. I was feeling quite resourceful…and our bellies were very happy! Plus, they cooked so fast. It was fabulous!

One more thing…I know most of you are still waiting for Spring to arrive, and I feel a tinge of guilt whenever I mention my CSA, but I just have to say this: the red potatoes we receive from our CSA taste way better than the ones I used to by at the store. Another 10 points for joining a CSA!

OTHER RECIPES YOU MAY LIKE:

• Crispy Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
• Roasted Garlic and Fingerling Potatoes
• Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes

EQUIPMENT I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:

• Cuisinart 12-Inch Skillet with Glass Lid
• Wusthof Classic Chef’s Knife
• Olive Oil Cruet

I have two yummy recipes to share with you today! One involves chocolate, the other cheese. Hey, I never said they were healthy recipes. Yummy, people, yummy. Carnation recently sent me a $50 gift card for groceries and some free Evaporated Milk to try in a few recipes. The “mission” was to use evaporated milk in one of my own recipes that calls for milk, and to try out a recipe of theirs. I accepted the mission and proceeded to choose the least healthiest recipes possible…and enjoyed every second of it. (Ironic since one of Carnation’s selling points is that there is more nutritional value per ounce in evaporated milk versus regular milk. So much for that!)

First, I tried Carnation’s recipe for Fudge (recipe below). I’ve gotta say, it’s good. And it was EASY. I followed the recipe verbatim…but next time I make it, I’m going to use a higher quality chocolate. Regardless, it was a nice, simple recipe and tasted good.

For my own recipe, I used evaporated milk in Twice Baked Potatoes (recipe below). The mashed potato filling was mighty fine…Cate couldn’t keep her fingers out of the bowl. And I know that cheese has nothing to do with evaporated milk…but that part was pretty darn good too.

So, there you have it! Mission complete. In case you are wondering what evaporated milk is, it is fresh milk that has been carefully cooked to remove half the water content, upping the protein and calcium content per serving, and creating a creamier texture. Click here if you want to read more about it.

And now, the recipes!