Easy Steak Fries:
*preheat your oven to 350 degrees
*about 2-3 potatoes for each adult
*clean the skin or peel potatoes and pat dry
*cut each potato into 4 wedges
*place in a large bowl and drizzle generously with olive oil, salt and pepper
*toss to make sure all potatoes are coated well
*for easy clean up line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper
*place potatoes on paper-lined cookie sheet for about 20 minutes, then turn and cook an additional 15-20 minutes. *Potatoes are done when they are firm to the touch and start to brown.
*Serve with ketchup or your favorite dip

(variation) instead of salt and pepper use fresh or ground rosemary

Yummy Mashed Potatoes
*In a 2 1/2 to 3 qt pot fill with enough water to cover the potatoes about 2 inches
*about 2-3 potatoes for each adult
*clean the skin or peel potatoes
*quarter potatoes and then cut each quarter in half (you should have chunks of potatoes)
*boil potatoes on medium-high until tender, then drain water (about 20 minutes)
*put potatoes back on a very low fire
*use a potato masher to smash the potatoes, then stir with a whisk, or fork or hand mixer
–FOR EVERY 6 POTATOES
*add about 1 teaspoon butter, and 1 tablespoon milk
*season with salt, pepper to taste and stir well

(variation) - add about 1 tablespoon sour cream for every 6 potatoes
(variation) - add about 1/8 cup cheese for every 6 potatoes-whatever kind you like, cheddar, american, colby…
(variation) - add about 1/2 clove garlic for every 6 potatoes and put the garlic in the pot when you first put the potatoes in

The possibilities are endless with red potato recipes and that is the good thing. There is very little stress. If you are in a hurry when trying these red potato recipes, just skip the skinning process. Give them a good scrub and start cooking. Keep them on-hand for a quick, nutritious meal anytime, day or night.

There are several steps to making cold potato salad, and a shortcut for each step. The first step is to peel and boil the potatoes. A couple of good shortcuts for this process include scrubbing the potatoes instead of peeling them, and cooking them in the microwave to speed up the process. Running cold water over the cooked potatoes in a colander also helps speed things up, as does putting the dried potatoes in the fridge while chopping the other ingredients and mixing them. You can also use a microwave egg poacher to hard poach the eggs instead of boiling them, then cube the eggs and stick in the freezer for about 5 minutes to cool them off. If you use other ingredients fresh from the fridge, your dish will go together much more quickly, and chilling after making is the key to a great tasting dish.

My personal favorite involves potatoes, chopped celery, boiled eggs, chopped onions, mayonaise, sour cream, mustard, salt, pepper, topped with fried bacon pieces, and small halved cherry tomatoes. Served up inside large leaves of lettuce or cabbage placed in the bowl, this makes an attractive and tasty side dish for any event. While the ingredients themselves are fairly simple and the process of making the dish is simple enough, not everyone has the time to make this dish.

Many cold potato salad recipes use mustard and or mayonaise as one of the ingredients, however I have also seen recipes that include oil and vinegar as the dressing or italian dressing. These recipes make for a unique and interesting side dish, as they are not what is expected from this type of dish. The basics are still the same, however slicing the potatoes in thin slices instead of cubing them as for traditional potato salad puts another spin on this dish. One such recipe includes the use of italian dressing, green peppers, sliced green onions, and chopped celery. This is a much lighter version than the traditional cold potato salad. This version does however rank high on the taste factor. You simply boil the potatoes whole, allow them to cool thoroughly, and slice them in rounds, add the dressing, the peppers, onions and celery and mix well, then refrigerate before serving. This is a delicious light alternative to traditional fare.

Just remember when making these dishes, that they are sometimes better the second day when all the flavors have had time to blend together. Hopefully these hints will help you enjoy making and eating your cold potato salad recipes in the future.

Sweet potatoes are a traditional southern soul food that should be enjoyed more often. Sweet potatoes are high in nutritional value, an excellent source of fiber, vitamins A and C, iron, potassium and calcium. The darker flesh varieties have more vitamin A and beta-carotene than the lighter varieties. As a bonus, sweet potatoes are relatively low in calories and have no fat or cholesterol.

Sweet potatoes can be cooked in most of the ways that regular potatoes are. Baked, boiled, or sauted, sweet potatoes are a nutritious dish.

My favorite sweet potato recipe is a baked sweet potato. Prick the sweet potato all over. Then bake the sweet potato in a moderate oven, or microwave until soft to the touch. When done, moisten with a little crushed pineapple and juice, sprinkle with cinnamon. This is a great meal when watching your calories and fat. No butter needed. Or try these Sweet Potato Pancakes for a different presentation.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 sweet potato (3/4 pound), peeled and cut into 1 ½ inch chunks

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons milk

salt and freshly ground pepper

vegetable oil for frying

1. In a saucepan, cover the sweet potato with cold water and boil until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Drain and mash until smooth. Stir in the flour, eggs and milk and season with salt and pepper.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil.
4. Spoon batter into skillet by rounded tablespoons. Cook over low heat until browned; flip and brown on the other side.

Makes 12 small sweet potato pancakes.

Party potatoes will satisfy even the hungriest crowd! How do I know? Read on.

Back in college my volleyball team was in my hometown playing in a tournament. Mom was gracious enough to accept my request to host a team dinner at the house. Mom always says her goal is to prepare enough food to feed “Cox’s Army.” Maybe this is some secret service special detail that only a Mom would know about, because I don’t remember reading about “Cox” in any of my history classes.

Mom made her menu and prepared the meal and believed she had the army covered. And she was right! The team was quite satisfied after dinner and the only dish the team left empty was the party potatoes! Mom was very proud to have more food than could be eaten! She certainly does not like anyone to leave the table hungry.

If a large family gathering is scheduled for Thanksgiving, the following recipe from my Mom’s kitchen can add a very filling side dish to your table.

2 lb. bag hash brown potatoes

1 pt sour cream

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of potato soup

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix and put in casserole dish.

Bake 40 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Optional: Put some shredded cheese on top of casserole.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanks Mom.

This time of year, we think more about staying inside our warm houses and enjoying a home-cooked meal. But sometimes it’s hard to think of things to prepare for dinner night after night, especially when you’re trying to use up things you have on hand.

Potatoes are a staple food in my family’s winter diet. They’re inexpensive, easy to prepare, and there are so many different things that you can do with them. Even though my husband sometimes complains, “potatoes again?!” when we’ve had them in some shape or form for dinner every night for a week, I still manage to come up with new and different ways to serve them. I personally never get tired of eating them.

Potatoes are very versatile in that you can serve them as a main course, side dish, or appetizer. They also freeze very well, so you can prepare meals ahead of time and freeze them for later use. One easy meal to prepare is a simple potato soup base consisting of potatoes, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and milk or water. You can add flour to thicken it up if you wish, or I add cream of mushroom soup to give it a richer flavor. From there you can add whatever you wish to create a meal your family is sure to enjoy. I often add clams for an easy-to-make clam chowder, ham, or corn and bacon for corn chowder. There is no end to the possibilities you could come up with. Served with fresh homemade bread, you can’t beat the feeling of comfort a bowl of potato soup brings on a cold winter’s day.

Potato Soup Base

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cans (21 oz) cream of chicken or mushroom soup

2 soup cans milk

Salt and pepper

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions and garlic, cooking until soft. Add potatoes and enough water to barely cover the potatoes. Cook, covered, until potatoes are tender (15 to 20 minutes). In a medium-sized bowl, mix together soup and milk. Pour soup mixture into potato mixture and stir. Heat but do not boil. Season to taste.

Parmesan Potato Casserole

2 cups mashed potatoes

8 ounces cream cheese

2 eggs

1 small onion, diced

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 cup dried bread crumbs

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs; set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, combine mashed potatoes, cream cheese, eggs, onion, and flour. Beat with a mixer on low speed until blended. Beat at high speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Add salt and pepper. Pour potato mixture into a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with bread crumb/Parmesan cheese mixture. Bake for 35 minutes.

Originally published at Suite 101. Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For recipes, tips to organize your home, home decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rachel_Paxton

“The best tasting potatoes are those fresh out of the pot”, a saying my mum always used to tell me as a child, along with all the usual mum spiels about potato’s make your cheeks rosy, your hair curly and your smile brighter. However for our family, these sayings were not even needed, for our mum cooked some of the best garlic mashed potatoes ever. Every time there was a special occasion these treats would arrive on the table and us kids would come and go in a whirlwind devouring the mashed potato like a bunch of starving rabid dogs.

The Best Garlic Mashed Potatoes’ (Serves
- 6 Cups Peeled Potatoes
- 8 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 Cup (125ml) Cream
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- Salt
- Freshly Milled Black Pepper

I bet you’re wondering what it is that made this mash so perfect. We’ll it’s a combination of a few key ingredients and cooking methods that really brought out the flavor. The key ingredient is of course garlic, which must be cut about 6mm (1/4 inch) from the top. It is best to then rub olive oil, salt and black pepper over the exposed surface. The garlic needs to be then roasted in the oven at 215 degrees Celsius (425F) for about 25 minutes. After the garlic has cooked and you’ve let it cool, peel the skin off of it.

Next its time to cook the potatoes. The potatoes should be cooked in just the same way most potato mash is done, place them in a saucepan and fill with water, sprinkle in about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and bring the water to a boil. Let the potatoes simmer for about 25 minutes until they are soft enough to be pricked quite easily with a fork.

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain out the water and shake the pot so that the potatoes break up slightly and are easier to mash. Place the garlic cloves along with some cream and butter into the pot and top with some pepper and salt to give a great taste to the potatoes. Place the lid back on to let the ingredients mix and leave time for the butter to melt.

Now it’s time to actually mash the potatoes, there are 2 ways this can be done, you can either use an electric whisker to make it more smooth and creamy, or simply use a potato mashed for better texture. I prefer the mashed potatoes as they are just like the ones mum used to cook and seem to taste better, however it’s all up to personal preference.

Serve the mash out onto 8 plates and there you have it, a delicious, nutritious meal that’ll keep your cheeks rosy for a long time to come.

We are potato lovers. We eat potatoes many times each week. We slice them, we dice them, we fry them and we bake them.

One of our favorite recipes is onion flavored baked potatoes. I start with 3 larger sized baking potatoes and cut them into large bite sized pieces and throw them in a small roaster. I then sprinkle grapeseed oil over the potatoes and then sprinkle generously with packaged onion soup mix and bake until tender. That’s it. These come out tender and yummy, every single time.

We also love baked potatoes. We add butter and sour cream, however we’ve also experimented and added taco meat with cheese, and assorted vegetables. If you like chili, try adding chili to your baked potatoes. We’ve also added ranch/buttermilk dressing instead of sour cream. When we make the dressing, we make it with sour cream so it’s very thick.

If you want to make a casserole for serving, this is a very easy potato casserole recipe:

6 medium potatoes
1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup butter
1 can - cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1/3 cup chopped green onion
crushed cornflakes
2 tablespoons melted butter

Boil potatoes until tender. Do not over cook, as you’ll be further cooking the potatoes in the casserole. Once the potatoes are cool, peel and slice.

In a large sauce pan, heat 1/4 cup butter with the cream of chicken soup. Blend in sour cream, green onion and cheese. Mix well. Stir in potatoes. Pour into a buttered casserole dish (2 1/2 qt.). Mix cornflakes and melted butter in bowl and then sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

I do not often cook with bacon, however this casserole is made with bacon and is very flavorful along with easy to make:

8 smaller potatoes, boiled and cubed
1 cup mayonnaise
1 onion, chopped
6 slices of bacon
¼ cup sliced stuffed olives

American cheese, cut into strips, to lay on top of the casserole Par cook the bacon strips. Combine the potatoes, mayonnaise and onion. Pour into 13×9 baking dish. Top with the bacon strips, cheese strips and olives. Bake at 325 for about an hour. I hope you enjoy these potato suggestions for your next meal.

Bon Appetite!!

Audrey’s mom always entertained when she was growing up. Audrey learned to prepare for large groups and has often entertained 15-30 people in her home at a time. You can find more great recipes at http://www.recipe-barn.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Audrey_Okaneko

Scalloped Potatoes a relatively simple yet seemingly rare recipe, heralded by those who can make it work keeping their delicious secrets to themselves. These days are long gone as I reveal one of my favorite potato scallop recipes, the most delicious recipe out there. There are quite a few ways to make potato scallops, including everything from adding exotic ingredients such as blue cheese to the traditional meats such as bacon. There are however a few key rules that must be obeyed when creating the Scalloped Potatoes to bring out that aromatic smell and delectable taste.

The key ingredients are as below:

- 6 Medium sized potatoes (about 4 cups)
- 2 Cups Milk
- 2 Cups Cream
- Salt
- Pepper
- Butter

Some of the extras which are commonly included in Scalloped Potatoes include onion (which gives a bit of oomph to the flavor), and common garden herbs such as parsley and chives to top off the dish. There are also a few extras which you can add to your preferred taste. These extras include bacon (only about 2 slices or 100g is needed) or different varieties of cheese such as blue cheese.

To start off simply slice the potatoes into very thin slices or grate them with a grater then layer the potato slices in an oven safe cooking dish. Next up mix the milk and cream together till it’s a good consistency and pour it over the top of the potatoes in the dish. Add some cheese on top of the potatoes and sprinkle some salt and pepper to finish it off. Pop the Scalloped Potatoes into the oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees Celsius) until they are a golden brown on top. After they have cooked remove them from the oven, leave a few minutes to cool and enjoy.

Now if you’d like to add some more flavor to the Scalloped Potatoes I’d defiantly recommend adding some bacon and onion to the mix. To prepare the bacon and onion for the Scalloped Potatoes you need to first chop up the bacon into small squares (approximately ½ inch x ½ inch) then cut the onion into small strips. The best way to add these ingredients to the Scalloped Potatoes is to first place down one layer of potatoes, add the bacon and onion on top, then add a second layer of potatoes on top of that. Mix in the milk/cream sauce and top with cheese salt and pepper, pop it in the oven and once it’s cooked, enjoy delicious Scalloped Potatoes for days to come.

One of the best things about the Scalloped Potatoes is that even if you don’t finish them all in one meal they generally taste even better after a day left in the fridge (sealed in an airtight container of course). As when they are left in the fridge for a while its similar to meat marinating, all the flavors from the cheese, bacon and onion blend in with the potato and in the next sitting it tastes better than ever as all the ingredients have blended together into one tasty meal.

What makes a great baked potato recipe? Is it that it is full of flavor that burst out of your mouth as soon as you take that first forkful? Or is it perhaps the quality of the ingredients that you buy from your local grocer? I like to think it’s a combination of all of that, and being able to find the best baked potato recipe is of upmost importance before cooking, which is why I’m here today to introduce you to a few little tips of mine, some that I’ve always adored yet never shared before.

To ensure your baked potato is at the highest quality, the correct potatoes must be used. Potatoes that are of the wrong type may produce flavors that you do not want in your food and will often take away greatly from the overall quality of the package. One of the best picks for potato is the Russet; though ensure it is of a good quality, with a nice even brown tone and no green tinge. Also when cooking a large batch of baked potatoes, try to get potatoes of a similar size and shape, this will ensure that the potatoes cook evenly, making sure that some don’t burn quickly while others take forever to cook.

Preparation is a critical step to creating the best baked potatoes. To prepare the potatoes, be sure to scrub them clean of dirt and run them under cold running water to ensure they are completely clean and free from both dirt and germs. After washing, dry the potatoes thoroughly with a serviette or similar item. Before placing the potatoes in the oven, prick them several times with a fork to allow steam to escape from the potato so it doesn’t explode in your oven.

To ensure the potato has a good soft skin, give it a rub with some butter or olive oil before backing. The best temperature to bake medium sized potatoes at is approximately 45 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). When baking, don’t wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil, as this will cause your baked potato to taste more like they’ve been boiled than baked.

A Great suggestion I learnt from a friend years back to really create great tasting baked potatoes, is to bake the potato once slightly, then stuff the potato with the ingredients you’d like inside, such as bacon and cheese on top, then bake the potato again in the oven until it’s a lovely golden brown color.

Finally the very best way to ensure your potatoes are absolutely perfect is to make them with love, a love for cooking and a love for delicious baked potato recipes.