Tag: food

Potato recipe

So the Lint Project is going along.  Eating mashed potatoes every day has been easier than meditating every day, but I’ve been doing my best to do both.  It occurs to me, that someone might want my mashed potato recipe, so here it is, in all its glory. This is adapted from Cooks Illustrated.

Boil three pounds of skin-on potatoes (of similar size, if possible) in salted water until they are soft.  I check to see if they are soft by fishing out a larger candidate with a spoon, and poking it with a toothpick.  If the toothpick goes all the way through, they are done.

Drain the potatoes in a colander.  Put your potato boiling pot on the counter and get out your ricer.
An aside:  I used to always roll my eyes at mashed potato recipe instructions including references to using a ricer.  I had a potato masher, and why should I spend 20-plus dollars on a rather large kitchen gadget that only did one thing?  Then I made a few batches of for-public consumption mashed potatoes that had bits of unmashed potatoes in them.  And the next thing I knew I was forking over $20-plus dollars for a rather large kitchen gadget that only does one thing.  And let me tell you, that was money well spent.

That said, if you cook your potatoes well and mash enthusiastically, you will be fine.
 

Now before you start the peeling process, get out a stick of butter.  Yes, that’s half a cup. Yes, you are putting that entire stick in the recipe.  Don’t argue with me, here I know what I’m doing.  Get out a small pan and melt the butter (a low setting is best) while you are peeling the potatoes.

To peel the still-hot potatoes, take a fork, stab a potato and use your paring knife to slip off the peel.  Throw the naked potatoes in the ricer, and press, or throw them in the pot, ready for mashing.
 

When you’ve pulled all the skins off (if the potatoes are small and there are many, they will cool down enough so you don’t have to use the fork after awhile) and riced or mashed, pour in your half cup of now-melted butter. You ricer people, now is the time for you to get out your masher and mash in all that delicious butter. Take one cup of cream and pour about one half of cup of the cream in and mash some more.  Add cream a little at a time, until the potatoes reach your favorite consistency.   For me, that’s at about 1/2 cup of cream, but you might like more.  Mash in some salt, not too much, and you are done.

For this project, because I don’t really want to eat a TON of potatoes every day, I portion them into 1/2 cup servings using the smallest jelly jars you can buy in the canning section.  Then I store them in the refrigerator. But first I serve myself up a bowl of delicious, hot, homemade mashed potatoes.

To sum up:

3 lbs potatoes, boiled, peeled and riced/mashed
1/2 cup butter melted and mashed in
1/2 cup to 1 cup cream, mashed in
Salt.

Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Potatoes. Sometimes, they are what’s for dinner.


I remembered that I never finished harvesting the German Butterball potatoes last fall and dug up a pound of them.  They were in great shape, just muddier than if I had pulled them out of the ground last September.  I roasted them up and, man, were they good.  They were so good, I just had a double helping and called that dinner.

Transcendent Donut Experience

I head about this donut shop, something about quality ingredients, good donut, etc.  I like a good donut, so I wandered over.
The interior was industrial, spare and hip.
 
A statement.
 
More hipness.

Here’s the donut in question.

The verdict.  A-mazing.  Here’s how it usually works with me and donuts.  “I wish I had a donut.” I say to myself.  Then, being gainfully employed and mobile, I get myself one.  Sometimes I get them from the grocery store bakery case, sometimes from an official donut shop.  I eat the donut and it leaves me feeling a bit empty.  It was okay in the moment, but the moment has passed, leaving me with a bit of grease and a few coins shorter in my wallet.

Here’s what happened with this donut.  I paid my money, sat down and bit into it.  And it was chewy and substantial and burst with flavor.  The donut was a substance in and of itself, not just a carrier for the toppings. And the toppings!  The chocolate was rich, the coconut was toasted perfectly.  The whole experience was exactly what I’m looking for when I’m in the mood for a donut.  At $2.50, this donut wasn’t cheap, but I’ll take one of these over three of the standard donut, any day.

Sourdough pancakes


I bought a sourdough starter with hopes of making my own whole wheat sourdough bread.  And other products.  Here’s my first attempt at pancakes.  I neglected to take any photos of the final product.  They were thinner than I would have liked, which is something that I can fix next time. They were a rainbow of brown hues, due to the fact that cooking pancakes in a cast iron pan involves a range of temperatures from “a bit too cold, still” to “darn it, this pan is much too hot.” 

Making pita bread/chips

I’m off to the Rose Festival Parade tomorrow, and I’m bringing along Hummus and Pita Bread. I’m making my own pita bread from my new favorite cookbook Make the Bread, Buy the Butter.    It’s so exciting!

Pita balls ready to roll.
 

Pita balls rolled and ready for the very hot pizza stone (pita stone?)

Finished pitas.  I think my stone was hot enough that I needn’t have baked them for very long.  In the recipe, she recommends eight minutes.  My first batch, baked for that long, were nearly burnt. I  kept reducing the time baked, but they all went from dough, passed quickly through bread and into chip form.  The author mentions she can’t get hers to puff, but all of mine did. I’ll try again next time with very little cooking time and see what results they give.  These were very, very good.

Found it!

In my essay about Mrs. Brown I reference a stir fry recipe.  I still have it, it was in one of my memory boxes.
 

Are you hungry for stir-fry, made in the style of 4-H circa 1985? Here’s the recipe:

You need:

  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (if you have it)
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1/3 c. water
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2/3 cup carrots, sliced thin
  • 2/3 cup celery, sliced thin
  • 2 cups broccoli, separated into flowerets; cut the stems into think slices
  • 1/3 cup onions, sliced thin
  • 1 cup bean sprouts (or use canned green beans) [Here I must interject and say, no, do not use canned green beans as they are nasty]

Equipment

  • large skillet with lid
  • knife
  • cutting board
  • measuring cups (nested and liquid)
  • measuring spoons
  • wooden spoons

Note: you can use frozen vegetables in this recipe too.  Be sure they are defrosted. Then dry them with a paper towel to prevent splattering.

1. Mix cornstarch, ginger, garlic powder, soy sauce and water in a glass measuring cup and set aside
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan with a lid
3. When the oil is hot, add the dry carrots, onions and the celery
4. Cook for one minute, stirring occasionally
5. Then add the broccoli and cook for 2 minutes. Stir constantly.  The broccoli will turn bright green.
6. Add the liquid and continue cooking for 1 minute or until it’s bubbly.
7. Then add the bean sprouts, reduce the heat, cover the pan and cook for 2 more minutes
8. Don’t get your face over the pan when you take off the lid.  Steam will rise up and could burn you.
9. If you want, serve over rice.  Makes four servings.

Yes! I boiled them!

Thanks to my new cookbook Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese I made bagels.  When I told people I was going to/had made bagels every single person asked me, “Are you going to/Did you boil them?” And yes I did.  Here’s proof.
 
I have to say that making the bagels was incredibly fun.  It was a bit labor intensive, but well worth the time.
 
I love my new cookbook!