Friday, March 16, 2012

'You Should Write A Blog!'

I am not a writer. I've always hated writing, so do not look for clever stories here. What you will find are my favorite recipes. All the foods I love to cook. Everything from ribs to ice cream. From my kitchen to yours. Every week I will take humble ingredients (very humble. I'm out of work.) and show you how to elevate them to great culinary heights. This week I'll share two recipes for potatoes.

MASHED POTATO w/ PORCINI

2 lbs potatoes (I love Yukons) washed and scrubbed
2 cloves garlic minced
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup whole milk
1 sm pkg dried porcini
herbs, salt, pepper to taste

1. Scrub the potatoes and cut into quarters. I leave the skins. They're full of nutrients. Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender.

2. Rehydrate the porcini in water for 30 mins. Remove the porcini and save the liquid.

3. In a pot melt the butter and sweat the minced garlic for 5 mins. Then add the porcini. Cook another 5 mins. Drain the cooked potatoes and add them to the butter and mushroom mix. Slowly mash them with 1/3 cup of reserved porcini liquid and the milk until you reach the desired consistency.

4. Add salt, pepper and herbs to taste.

5. EAT!

These potatoes are delicious by themselves or as a hearty earthy side to any roast.

POTATO PANCAKE

3-4 cups of leftover mashed potato (porcini mashed rules here)
1/3 cup flour
1 lg egg
1/2 small onion chopped
1/2 tspn baking powder
salt, pepper
vegetable oil

1. Gently sautee your onions on low heat in a non stick pan. Remove the onion with a slotted spoon and put them in a large mixing bowl.

2. To the onions add the potatoes, flour, egg, salt and pepper and mix into a batter. You want this batter to be thick!

3. In a nonstick pan heat 5 tblspns of vegetable oil and spoon in the potato batter. Just like you're making pancakes. Cook at medium heat for 3 mins on each side until golden and puffy.

4. Drain on paper towels and enjoy.

May these recipes bring joy to  your table and not hurt your wallet too much.

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