Dinner, Saturday 12 March

[Claire]

What are you doing? I have freinds coming in from Virginia, and am roasting a huge hen, making Jacques Pepin's mashed potato casserole, and have a green mango and cucumber salad marinading (macerating?). I do need to remember to ask my guests if anyone is allergic to mango, because I know a lot of people are. All my guests have lived in the tropics, so should know if they are or not. Oh, the chicken will be baked with a lemon and an entire head of garlic in the cavity.

[SierraCook]

Roy, you dinner sounds yummy. The salad sounds interesting. I have tried mango once and I have never tried papaya. Could you post the mashed potato casserole recipe? Thanks and I hope that you have fun and enjoy your dinner party.

SC

[amber]

Well since you and sierracook started your threads around the same time, I am having pot roast with roasted veggies on the side.

[Claire]

Jacques Pepin's recipe for leftover mashed potatoes, from Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home:

4 cups mashed potatoes, leftover or fresh
3 large eggs
2/3 cups grated swiss cheese
1/4 t salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper

preheat oven to 400. Butter a baking dish. Mash all of the above togethera. Scoop into the buttered dish and bake for a half hour or so.

I'm making it simpler than Jacques' recipe is, but he specifies that the recipe is meant for left-overs. I often replace part of the cheese with other kinds. You want a really nice sharp flavor. I also add a pinch of baking powder which makes it puff up a little more.

This is what I call a very forgiving recipe. If you have some of the ingredients, great. If you don't, it'll still turn out. You need the potatoes. You need some good, flavorful cheese. You need the eggs if you don't want it to be flat. But you can do a lot with the basic recipe and still have a wonderful dish.