Baked Potatoes

The classic baked potato. It’s just so good dripping in butter and loaded with other tasty toppings. Luckily, its pretty easy to cook, too.

Wash potatoes and remove any ‘eyes’ or spoiled spots with a paring knife. Poke multiple holes in the potato with a fork. If you forget this step, they will explode in the oven. Ask me how I know … Bake at 400* for 40 minutes. Just set them right on the rack.

After 40 minutes, open the oven and give each potato a little squeeze. If they are still hard, they need to cook more. When they feel soft, they are ready to go. I try to get potatoes of the same size so they all cook at about the same time. More often than not, I have a random small potato that is ready first and a random big one that takes forever to cook. For the monster baked potatoes that we like, it could take up to 1 1/2 hours to cook thoroughly.

A word about foil: You could wrap your potatoes in foil. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. When wrapped in foil, potatoes can stay hot for.ev.er. If I have multiple things to go in the oven, I wrap the potatoes in foil and cook them first. They will stay hot outside of the oven while I cook everything else. However, the foil prevents the skin from getting nice and crispy so there is a trade-off.

Toppings:

The best thing about eating a baked potato is that you can top a baked potato with just about anything, including:

• Butter
• Sour cream
• Bacon
• Green onions or chives
• Cheese, typically cheddar, but any kind really
• Steamed broccoli with melted cheese
• Chili with melted cheese
• Leftover pork roast and BBQ sauce (this would also be good on a baked sweet potato)
• Salsa – people do this and swear by it. Not my thing, but you may like it
• Leftover sautéed mushrooms or, better yet, leftover stuffed mushrooms
• Homemade queso dip
• Creamed spinach (if you have fresh spinach that is about to go bad, wash it. Sautee it in butter with a little bit of onion. Add cream, milk, parm, cream cheese or any combination thereof. Done. Pour oven baked potato.)
• Leftover spinach-artichoke dip. Recipe here.

Twice Baked

If you are in the mood for twice baked, you are half-way there. Bake your potatoes, like above. When they are done, you need to move quickly. Don’t cool the potatoes, just hold them in your hand with a pot holder. Split the potato in half and scoop out the insides with a cereal spoon. Leave about 1/4″ of potato in the shell so it still has some structure and doesn’t fall apart.

I typically place a stick of butter in a bowl and then dump the scooped potato in the bowl as I go. When all my potatoes are scooped, I place the shells on a cookie sheet. Add sour cream, salt, pepper, and more butter to the bowl and mash the part that you scooped out. Basically, you are making mashed potatoes.

I use an ice cream scooper to re-fill the shells with the mashed potato mixture and then I cover each with shredded cheese. I typically use my hand to press the cheese into the mashed potatoes so it all stay together.

At this point, you can cook for 20 minutes or so at 350* or you can freeze. Frankly, you may as well make extra and do both!

Potato Skins

Potato skins are similar to twice-baked. You still split and scoop baked potatoes but then it takes a turn. You make the mashed potatoes, but you don’t need them. Typically, I have a kid just eat them right then and there.

Instead, you take the shells and dip them into a shallow bowl of melted butter. Place on a cookie sheet scoop side facing up. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 400* for 6 minutes. Remove from oven, flip over with tongs, sprinkle with more salt and bake another 6 minutes or so.

Remove from oven. At this point, you can cool and put in fridge or freezer until you are ready to use. When you want to eat them, defrost, fill with cheese and bake until melted. You could also do from frozen, but they might require a few minutes in the oven without cheese, followed by a few more minutes with cheese. So, so good.

Mashed Potatoes

My mashed potato recipe is pretty basic. Peel and cut your potatoes into similarly-sized chunks. Boil until you can easily pierce with a fork. Drain and add:

• Butter (lots, and then more!)
• Salt (potatoes can handle a lot of salt!)
• Dairy (I rotate between sour cream and cream cheese depending on which I have on hand)

After draining the potatoes, I dump everything back into the pot with the above ingredients and let it sit on the counter covered for a few. Once things have melted, I mash with a potato masher and taste. If you can’t taste the butter, add more. Adjust the salt, if needed.

While mashed potatoes are fine on their own, they are also fantastic on top of shepard’s pie (recipe coming soon) or as a base for chicken a la king. Think outside of the (potato) bag.

Potato Soup

My potato soup recipe is made from the above mashed potatoes. You can see it here.

Garlic Potatoes

Traditionally, garlic potatoes are wrapped in fold twice thrown on the BBQ. While that’s convenient, we stopped doing that because we could never time everything to be ready at the same time. This recipe is an ‘eyeball’ recipe. You can make more or less, depending on how many people you are feeding or how many potatoes you have, and ‘eyeball’ everything.

• Brown, Russet potatoes, diced into 1- to 2-inch chunks
• onions, diced (I just use whatever leftover bit of onion I have in the fridge)
• butter — ALOT! — I use about 8 TB (1 stick) for a 13 x 9 pan potatoes
• oregano (you can sub Italian seasoning)
• garlic powder, sprinkle liberally
• salt or Lawrey’s seasoning salt (I don’t overdo it here. I add more after its done cooking)
• black pepper

Place in a glass pan, cover tightly with foil, and bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Carefully remove foil, stir, and bake for 15-30 more minutes, until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.

I have also made this recipe without onions. I cooked just the potatoes and then added pre-cooked bacon and shredded cheese for the last several minutes. Seriously good stuff! Mix equal amounts of sour cream and Ranch dressing to drizzle on top!

Homemade Fries

While I cant re-create McD’s fries, I make a mean homemade potato ‘wedge.’ The key is to soak them.

Peel your potatoes, placing each in a bowl of cold water as you go on to peel the next. When all are peeled, dump water and get fresh, cold water. Slice each potato in half lengthwise, and then cut each half into 3 or 4 more lengthwise pieces, placing all slices in water as you go on to the next potato. Drain water and get fresh, cold water again. Let everything sit in the water for 30 minutes. This helps remove the starch.

Drain the water and pat potato slices dry on paper towel. The better you dry, the crispier the potatoes. When you are done, drizzle oil (any) and sprinkle with garlic powder and garlic SALT. Toss with tongs.

Bake on parchment-covered cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 400*. Remove from oven, flip each potato slice. Bake 10 more minutes or until done. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Breakfast Potatoes

Got leftover baked potatoes? Dice them up and throw them in a frying pan with some butter, diced onions, diced green peppers or those mini sweet peppers. Add some garlic powder, black pepper, Lawrey’s seasoning, and onion powder. Stir to coat everything in melted butter and then leave it alone. Let the potatoes crisp up on one side. They are technically already cooked so this is done when everything is warmed through and the potatoes are crispy.

Fantastic with a fried egg on top or you can throw leftover roast or corned beef in the pan and call it a hash. YUM!

Parsley Potatoes

I make these potatoes when I want something simple and fairly light. I typically boil small, red potatoes until a fork pierces easily. Drain and back in the warm pot with some butter, salt, and a little bit of dried parsley. That’s it. Done.

Spud Tip

Potatoes do not freeze well on their own. They will typically turn black and become inedible. HOWEVER, if you add a fat to them — butter, milk, cheese, cream cheese, you get the picture — they do great. So, baked potatoes won’t freeze well, but twice baked potatoes that are stuffed with rich, creamy, buttery mashed potatoes and covered in cheese do great. Likewise, potato skins, that are dipped in melted butter will survive until your next craving hits.

The Steamer Basket

You can buy a metal steamer basket for a few bucks at Walmart, Target, or Amazon. It fits in most pots. Just fill your pot with water until it reaches the bottom of the holes and use a tight-fitting lid.

Cauliflower

• cauliflower, steamed until desired doneness
• coconut oil or butter (for some reason I prefer coconut oil with cauliflower)
• sprinkle of Italian breadcrumbs
• sprinkle of parmesan cheese

You can also use a potato masher at this point and make our version of cauliflower rice – yum!!

Broccoli

• broccoli, steamed until desired doneness
• coconut oil or butter
• lemon-pepper seasoning
• you could add cheese here, too

California Blend

The trick to this is to layer the hardest veggies (carrots) at the bottom of the steamer, then cauliflower with the quickest cooking (broccoli) on top.

• carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli, steamed until desired doneness
• butter

When Are My Veggies Done?

Boil your veggies with a tight-fitting lid on high. It will spit and get noisy. Ignore it. Start testing after a few minutes with a fork. When the fork goes in easily, its done.

That’s it. xoxo

Southwest Pasta Salad

This is a dump-and-go recipe that is best the next day. This is also a good recipe to take to a potluck when it’s hot out – no mayo to get yucky!

• 1 box pasta, cooked (typically, I use bowties but any shape works here)
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can corn, rinsed – or frozen
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, typically cherry or grape tomatoes
• zest from a lime or two

Dressing:

• 6 TB lime juice, fresh or bottled
• 1/4 white vinegar
• 3 tsp garlic cloves, minced (I just use from the jar)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 cup veg oil
• 1 squeeze tube cilantro

Mix everything together and let sit a few hours, preferably overnight.

Potato Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad (A.K.A. PBR)

I don’t even have a recipe for this any more, but here goes.

• 1/2 box pasta shells, medium
• about 6 red potatoes, diced and boiled til done but still firm (the goal here is to have an equal amount of potatoes and pasta)
• 1 lb bacon, diced and cooked until crispy (it gets a tiny bit soggy in the salad so err on the side of well done to compensate)
• shredded cheddar or cojack cheese (I eyeball this)
• finely diced celery (I usually skip because you guys don’t like celery)
• mayo
• Ranch dressing

Sprinkle cooked potatoes with Lawrey’s salt (potatoes love salt). Mix everything well with equal amounts of mayo and Ranch. Chill for several hours, preferably overnight.

‘Daddy’ Pasta Salad

You guys gave this its name when you were little and it stuck …

• 1 box tri-colored rotini pasta
• 2 diced carrots
• diced cauliflower, about the same amount as the carrots
• shredded cheddar or cojack cheese
• equal parts Ranch dressing, mayo, and Italian dressing

Mix all and chill.

Note: I typically use a box of Suddenly Pasta Salad – Classic and discard the seasoning pack. Obviously, you can just buy tri-colored rotini instead.

Broccoli Salad

While not technically a pasta salad, I make this a ton too.

• 2 big heads of broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 cup (or more) dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup (or more) sunflower seeds, roasted and salted

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup Sunbutter (original recipe called for tahini, but the Sunbutter is so much better!)
• 2 1/2 TB red wine vinegar
• 2 1/2 TB maple syrup (the good stuff)
• salt and pepper

Mix dressing with a whisk and taste. Sometimes I add more maple syrup … you want it tangy. but not overly sour. Pour dressing over salad ingredients and stir to combine.

Savannah’s Chick Pea Salad

Savannah found this recipe and tweaked it a bit. It’s really good, especially after it has sat in the fridge overnight.

• 1 can of chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed well in cold water
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, cut in half, insides removed, diced small
• 2 TB red onion, diced very small
• 6 mini tomatoes, diced small
• 1 TB olive oil
• 2 TB lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• sprinkle of salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
• a handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped, if you have it (optional)

Put all in a container with a lid and shake. Put in fridge for at least an hour or two; overnight is better.

Traditional Cheesy Potatoes

The recipe is pretty simple:

• 1 bag 25-32 oz of frozen hash brown potatoes cubes – thawed!!
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• sour cream – I don’t measure, but you want about the same amount as the soup
• shredded cheddar or cojack cheese (again, I don’t measure)

Mix the potatoes, soup, and sour cream cream well. Place in a buttered 13 x 9 pan. Add liberal amounts of cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

How long it takes depends on how cold/frozen the potatoes were. I stick a fork in it to test the potatoes. If it pierces the potatoes easily, it’s done. Bake 5 extra minutes or so with foil removed to brown cheese.

Cheesy Potatoes When You Realize You Are Out of Sour Cream

• 1 bag 25-32 oz of frozen hash brown potatoes cubes – thawed!!
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream or whole milk
• shredded cheddar or cojack cheese (again, I don’t measure)

Mix the potatoes, soup, melted butter, and milk/cream well. Place in a buttered 13 x 9 pan. Add liberal amounts of cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Both versions taste the same. No one will know that you ran out of sour cream – you didn’t last night

Note:

The bag of potatoes can be anywhere from 25-32 oz, depending on what brand you buy. I hate to have a tiny bit leftover so I throw in the whole bag and just add extra sour cream or melted butter to compensate. You want your mixture to be a tad bit soupy when you put it in the oven.

xoxo

Croque Monsieur

I usually do this with a large Italian loaf from Walmart, but you could also use their mini sub rolls or French bread.

• Loaf of bread split lengthwise
• 1 stick of softened butter (I spread 1/2 a stick of butter on the top and 1/2 on the bottom)
• Swiss cheese
• Thinly sliced ham

Assemble and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Heat in a 350* oven for 15 minutes or so, until cheese is melted.

Italian

I know I “wouldn’t understand” but this Italian sandwich is really tasty

• Loaf of bread split lengthwise
• Salami
• Pepperoni
• Provolone cheese (Swiss and mozzarella work, too)
• Pepperoncini (pat dry so the bread doesn’t get soggy)
• Marinated artichoke hearts (I use Mezzetta brand)
• Italian seasoning – just a light sprinkle

Assemble and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Heat for 15 minutes or so in a 350* oven or until cheese is melted.

‘The’ Bread

This bread is as simple as simple gets, but it is soooo good.

• Loaf of bread split lengthwise
• 1 stick of softened butter

Spread the butter equally on both halves of bread and put it under the broiler. You want this to be brown on top. Somehow the ‘almost-burnt-but-not-quite-burnt’ vibe is what makes it taste so yummy. In other words, brown is good. Note: you can freeze half of this for another time.

Olive Bread

Even people that don’t like olives, like this bread.

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1 lb. Monterey Jack cheese (I’ve also used mozz for this)
• 6-8 ounces green olives, roughly chopped (I remove pimentos due to allergies but you can keep)
• 6-8 ounces black olives, roughly chopped
• Green onion

Mix the butter and mayo. It takes a bit of patience. Then, add all the other ingredients and spread on the bread. Bake 350* for 20 minutes. You can bake half and freeze half for later if you want. I’ve also frozen it in 6-inch chunks for lunches.

Garlic Cheese Bread

Another classic: garlic bread.

• Loaf of bread split lengthwise
• 1/2 stick of softened butter
• Garlic powder
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Spread butter over both halves of bread. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Add as much mozz and parm as looks good to you. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or so at 350* or until everything is nice and melt-y.

Chicken & Cheddar

Spinach-Artichoke

French Bread Pizza

Bruschetta

French Toast Bake