Scalloped Sweet Potato Stacks

If you like sweet potatoes you’ll love this recipe. If you don’t like sweet potatoes, you’ll love this recipe. It’s just that good. Cheese makes everything better!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds small sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
• 1 cup (4 oz.) freshly shredded mozzarella cheese, divided OR Gruyère cheese
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Garnish: fresh thyme

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Layer half of sweet potatoes in a lightly greased 12-cup muffin pan. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp. thyme and 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining sweet potatoes. (Potatoes will come slightly above the rim of each cup.)

2. Microwave cream, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/2 tsp. thyme at HIGH 1 minute. Pour cream mixture into muffin cups (about 1 Tbsp. per cup).

3. Bake at 375°, covered with aluminum foil, 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly golden.

4. Let stand 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around rim of each cup, and lift potato stacks from cups using a spoon or thin spatula. Transfer to a serving platter. Garnish, if desired.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- We made ours with Gruyère cheese… found it at Wal-Mart. Added a nice rich flavor that mozzarella doesn’t have.

- We made these in a bendy silicone baking pan, made it easy to remove them from pan without breaking the stacks.

 

** Original Recipe from: http://www.myrecipes.com**

Bacon and Blue Cheese Potato Salad

Mark needed to take potato salad to work tomorrow, so I went for a new recipe. I get tired of the same old potato salad, you know?!?

Well, it turned out DELICIOUS!! Would be fabulous with burgers right off the grill. Try it, you’ll like it!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs red potatoes , cut into eighths
• 5 slices bacon
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 green onions , chopped
• 3 ounces blue cheese , crumbled

Directions:

1. Boil potatoes until tender.

2. Cook bacon until crisp, and cut into one inch pieces.

3. In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, salt and pepper.

4. Fold in green onions, cheese, potatoes and bacon.

5. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Potato Parmesan Pie

Another Iron Turkey 2011 recipe, actually comes from weight watchers, only 4 points a serving, but you’d never know it. So good.

Ingredients

- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes

- 1 Tbsp plain dried bread crumbs

- 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp olive oil

- 1 chopped small onion

- 2 tsp chopped garlic

- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese plus 1 Tbsp

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp pepper

- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

- 2 beaten large egg whites

- 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

1. Peel and cube potatoes. Cover with water and cook until fork tender. About 20 minutes. Drain potatoes reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking liquid.

2. Spray spring form pan and dust with breadcrumbs.

3. In skillet heat 2 tsps olive oil and sauté chopped onion and garlic until golden. About 8 minutes.

4. To the potatoes, add reserved cooking liquid, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mash well.

5. Cool 5 minutes and stir in onion/garlic mixture, cheddar cheese, egg whites, 1 Tbsp olive oil, and rosemary.

6 Spread in spring form, Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes, top with be golden.

5. Cool in pan 5 minutes, and cut in 8 wedges.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality

- We did not use a whole onion, we thought that would be a bit too much.

- This can be made and refrigerated up to a day ahead of time then baked after letting stand at room temp for one hour.

Potatoes in the Crock Pot

Sunday was a busy morning at church and Mark's parents were in for the weekend as well. I was planning chicken, sweet potatoes, and a green veggie for lunch-- nothing fancy-- but didn't want to have to make it all when we got home from church at noon. Ahh... my best friend the crock pot!! Nothing special for the chicken, just threw it in frozen with some marinade at about 8am, and cranked it to high.

I've seen around in my cooking blog world where people cook potatoes in their crockpot on top of the other food they are cooking. So I said why not, and I tried it. On top of the chicken I placed a large sheet of foil that came up the sides of the crockpot. I then put in 5 large sweet potatoes and closed the lid.

The result:
When we got home lunch was ready, except for my green veggie, which only took 5 minutes. The sweet potatoes were fabulous, had lots of flavor and the peel just fell off. Definitely a fun little trick I'll be doing again.

Not really a recipe, but thought I would share.

Potato Gratin with Rosemary

Mom made this while we were down in Raleigh for the week after Christmas and it was FABULOUS! I just watched her make it, but she said the only hard/time consuming part is peeling and slicing the potatoes. And although the picture below is not of the one she made... it did look this good! We wouldn't expect any less from Chef Diane!


Ingredients
1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts (the ones with two crusts in a pkg)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Gruyère cheese, divided
1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 garlic clove, minced
Garnish: fresh rosemary sprigs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°. Unroll piecrusts on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle rosemary, pepper, and 1/2 cup cheese over 1 piecrust; top with remaining piecrust. Roll into a 13-inch circle. Press on bottom and up sides of a 9-inch springform pan; fold edges under. Chill.

2. Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice Yukon gold and sweet potatoes.

3. Layer one-third each of Yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, and salt in prepared crust. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat layers twice, pressing layers down slightly to fit.

4. Microwave cream and garlic in a 1-cup microwave-safe measuring cup at HIGH 45 seconds; pour over potato layers in pan. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Cover pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet.

5. Bake at 450° for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 25 minutes or until potatoes are done and crust is richly browned. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully transfer to a serving plate, and remove sides of pan. If desired, carefully slide gratin off bottom of pan using a long knife or narrow spatula. Garnish, if desired.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality

Have someone else peel and slice your potatoes ahead of time. :)

Irish Potato Casserole

My step-mom, Rhina, is the best cook I know. Here's one of my personal favorites. Do not expect left-overs with this one.

8-10 medium potatoes
1 8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c melted butter (1 stick)
1/2 c chopped chives
2 tsp salt

Cook potatoes, drain and mash. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add potatoes and other ingredients. Beat until smooth. Spoon into lightly buttered dish. Cover & refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Reality Note: Use fresh chives - they make the dish taste so much better. Yukon Gold potatoes taste really good but they make the casserole look yellowish.