Potatoes

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Kevin86

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So I have plenty of other food it’s not that I’m short on groceries at the moment but I am looking at work slowing down for a while so being frugal is a must. Over Christmas my mom gave my sister and I each a 10 lbs bag of russet potatoes. She found 10 lbs bags on sale for $1, naturally such a good deal she grabbed half a dozen bags lol.

So it’s just the wife and I at home and mom sent leftover mashed potatoes from 2 separate Christmas dinners, so lots of spuds. The first bowl of mashed got paired with a beef soup bone for a great creamy potato soup. The bowl from tonight will get matched with leftover turkey meat, we also got sent home with, on New Years when my sister and her husband and 5 kids come down to go skating and spend the afternoon I said I’d make dinner.

Ok, my rambling is done I’m looking to use potatoes obviously. I want to make them the star of the fish not just mashed but something I can base a meal around. I’ve thought of cottage pie, French fries, the usual sides but looking for a way to step up my potatoes.

Thanks
 
You could make twice baked potatoes either addition of cheeses and bacon as the centerpiece of a meal.
 
I'd get a small ham, slice it up and bury the ham slices in a big pan of scalloped potatoes. If some of the kids are teens, they probably have hollow legs , so a pan of hot rolls too. Some roasted herbed carrots and you are good to go.
 
For a skating party, I'd consider baked potatoes and a pot of chili to ladle on top. A few toppers-- green onions, shredded cheese, sour cream.

Or twice baked taco stuffed potatoes.
 
You could make Hasselback Potatoes. This is what they look like:

20130405_195641.jpg


And here's a whole discussion we had about them, with various links to techniques for cutting them and stuff to add to them.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f18/iso-potato-technique-80159.html#post1151622
 
Stuffed baked potatoes are good for a meal. You might want to put them on a weekly rotation for a while...

Bake or nuke potato until soft. Cut up in wedges OR slash in half and squeeze (a la baked with butter and sour cream) OR dice and spread across your plate...however you want to prep them before "stuffing". Then smother them with whatever you have around/strikes your fancy. We like diced ham/broccoli/a nice melting cheese. Chili makes a good topping, too. Or load the tater up with a meaty (or not) spaghetti sauce. Do a southwest style with corn/diced tomato/dash of beans. Be creative...or at least clean out the veggie drawer. :D
 
OR cheesy mashed potato soup. Cook potato chunks in water, then save the water when you drain the very soft potatoes. Mash potatoes, adding back the cooking water until you get a very thin, runny potato. Then make a roux, and add that to the very runny mashed potatoes (which you have returned to the burner). Sounds counter-intuitive, but it gives it a nice depth of flavor. You can make your roux from bacon drippings instead of butter if you want to top the soup with bits of bacon.

When the soup is thick enough (pourable, but not to thin), ladle into a soup bowl that has a generous amount of cubed cheese. Cheddar is good, but we often use a longhorn style (Colby) because it stretches and it's fun to eat! Anyway, top soup with bacon crumbles, or finely diced onion and a drizzle of vinegar. We like apple cider vinegar best, but a dark Balsamic is good, too.
 
Stuffed baked potatoes are good for a meal. You might want to put them on a weekly rotation for a while...

Bake or nuke potato until soft. Cut up in wedges OR slash in half and squeeze (a la baked with butter and sour cream) OR dice and spread across your plate...however you want to prep them before "stuffing". Then smother them with whatever you have around/strikes your fancy. We like diced ham/broccoli/a nice melting cheese. Chili makes a good topping, too. Or load the tater up with a meaty (or not) spaghetti sauce. Do a southwest style with corn/diced tomato/dash of beans. Be creative...or at least clean out the veggie drawer. :D
I'm lazy. I take the cooked potatoes and mash 'em up a bit, add stuff like sour cream, grated cheese, fried onion, seasonings, and toss it into glass baking pan for the second bake.
 
Another vote for making baked potatoes the main dish.

I would start by baking twice as many potatoes as I need for a meal.

While the potatoes are baking I would make a potato topper out of whatever I could find in the refrigerator. It could be a broth or milk based gravy with leftover meat or canned tuna with peas, leftover vegetables in a little cheese sauce, chili, a poached egg, onions fried in bacon grease, etc...

I would refrigerate the extra baked potatoes. The next day scoop out the guts and fry them in some bacon grease for breakfast. Stuff the skins/shells with a little cheese, crumbled bacon, etc... for a lunch or dinner side.
 
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Potatoes Au Gratin was always a favorite of ours.
Made it one Thanksgiving, and it was the first ( and only) dish to go completely.
Sadly, I misplaced the recipe, and haven't made it in years.
I just remember thinly slicing the potatoes ( about 1/8 inch thick),making layers of potatoes / grated cheddar cheese ... alternating until the casserole dish was filled (ending with a layer of shredded cheese) , then adding broth and cream ( dont remember the amounts) and baking.
 
Potatoes Au Gratin was always a favorite of ours.
Made it one Thanksgiving, and it was the first ( and only) dish to go completely.
Sadly, I misplaced the recipe, and haven't made it in years.
I just remember thinly slicing the potatoes ( about 1/8 inch thick),making layers of potatoes / grated cheddar cheese ... alternating until the casserole dish was filled (ending with a layer of shredded cheese) , then adding broth and cream ( dont remember the amounts) and baking.
I just made this for Christmas. I used half and half instead of cream and infused it with fresh sage and crushed garlic. I sprinkled each layer with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Delicious.
 
The other day I made scalloped potatoes with fennel. We also make a baked dish with "shingled" potatoes, sliced fennel, tomatoes and basil.
 
I just made this for Christmas. I used half and half instead of cream and infused it with fresh sage and crushed garlic. I sprinkled each layer with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Delicious.
I believe I used three russet potatoes and about a quarter pound of cheese with two cups of cream for four servings. It was based on this recipe, to give you an idea of the amounts. You can adjust them as needed for your crowd.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/sage-potatoes-au-gratin-recipe2-2111698
 
Pomme Duchesse : https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/pommes-duchesse-french-piped-potatoes

Pomme Anna:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/mini-herbed-pommes-anna

Pomme Dauphine: https://ohmydish.com/recipe/pommes-dauphine/

Pâté de pommes de terre: https://kitchen.nine.com.au/2016/05/05/13/24/pt-de-pommes-de-terre-potato-pie

Potato croquette: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/mashed-potato-croquettes

I also have some where a recipe for Swedish potato dumplings stuffed with pork and potatoes cakes stuffed with left over roast. I try to find it. Why I know potatoes, well that was free food.. really free, if we helped at the potato farm, which my ex husband family owned. We used to get a big bag a month with spuds 10 months of the year.
 
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