A New Thing with Potatoes

I have discovered a new additive to potatoes--cauliflower!  If you have a little left over, add it to your potatoes when you mash them.  If you don't think you need all you bought, save some for the mashed potatoes.  You should cook it until it is very tender--no tender crisp cauliflower in the mashed potatoes!  Surprisingly, it will not change the texture of the potatoes, but it will significantly increase the nutritional value.  Of course, you must mash or whip them with a beater.

If your mashed potatoes are 50% cauliflower, you will reduce the calories by at least half.  The cauliflower and potatoes are both good sources of Vitamin C.

If you use yellow potatoes,Yukon Gold, for instance, they already have the buttery taste without the butter and the color looks rich and inviting, too.  Add a little milk or broth to prevent them from being too stiff; salt and pepper to taste and serve for the comfort food we all remember from other days.

How Many Ways Can You Cook Potatoes?

Have you ever thought about how many ways you can cook potatoes?  If you try to make a list, it is almost endless.  I try to taylor this site for non-cooks, inexperienced cooks, and those who don't cook for a large crowd.  Potatoes fit the bill. 

If you are alone, you may not want a lot of food.  You want it to be easy with little clean-up and no leftovers.  A baked potato is perfect.  You can add extras or eat it as is. 

Baking a potato couldn't be easier.  A medium potato will be done in one hour at 400 degrees.  Rub the skin with a little oil or butter if you like, but it's not necessary.  For a tender peel, wrap it in foil.  For a crisp skin, leave it naked.  If you have someone to feed that has a bigger appetite, get larger potatoes.

Potato Fixings:
Butter is easy, but high fat.  Grated cheese is wonderful and so are crisp bacon bits.  If you don't want to grate the cheese or fry the bacon buy them in a jar.  They keep without refrigeration. 

A lighter add-on is low fat Ranch dressing.  A packet you have left from the salad bar lunch is perfect.  Lightly grilled onions and bell peppers are good and have less added fat than the butter and cheese choice.  Now we are getting back into cooking, but it's still a pretty easy fix.  Any small skillet and cooking spray will have your topping done before the potato is done.  Cook sliced onion and peppers on low heat until limp and slightly caramelized.  Other easy toppings include sour cream, chopped chives, chopped olives, gravy, and salsa.  You may find new options.

Leftovers?
If you bake an extra potato, you can have it tomorrow in salad or add it to soup.

Squash Soup--Easy, Good and Affordable

Butternut Squash are the large, oddly-shaped vegetable at the end of the produce isle.  If you have not been introduced to them, they seem a little intimidating.  There are several kinds of squash that are winter or hard squash, and butternut is one of them.  The deep orange flesh is similar to pumpkin and it can be cooked the same way you might cook pumpkin.

I want to recommend soup.  After you cut the squash in half and remove the seeds, see the picture above, place the squash cut side down on a shallow baking sheet.  Add a cup of water.  Bake in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes until the squash is soft. 

With a spoon remove the soft flesh from the shell.  Place it in a sauce pan and stir in chicken broth or milk.  Add salt to taste.  You may also add garlic or onion powder to taste.  You might try your favorite herbs too.  Stir the with a spoon over low heat.  If you want a really smooth consistency, put the squash in a blender or food processor until it reaches the desired smoothness. 

To serve ladle soup into a bowl and add a teaspoon of sour cream or butter, a sprinkle of herbs, and crutons.  

Cook the squash and remove it from the peel, and then store it in the fridge until you need a quick supper, not more than three or four days.   This soup is easy comfort food for a relaxing dinner. 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This cakes sounds difficult and exotic, and you may be able to impress people with it, but it's really a quick fix for Sunday dinner or surprise company.

Recipe:
1 stick butter or margarine
1 cup brown or white sugar
1 can drained pineapple
1 cup flour
1cup sugar
2 1/2  teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons of milk
4 eggs

In an iron skillet melt the butter.  Add the sugar carefully without stirring to the melted butter a tablespoon at a time.  Allow all the sugar to disolve in the butter.  Add the drained pineapple.  If you use slices, make a circle with one  slice in the middle.  If you use tidbits or crushed, add it a tablespoon at a time until the it is evenly distributed.  You might want to use two cans of pineapple. Allow it to simmer on a very low burner for a few minutes.  Turn of the head and make the batter.

Mix the dry ingredients; add milk and eggs.  Beat quickly with a spoon or spatula.  Pour on top of the pineapple.  It may not look like it will be enough, but it is.

Bale in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until brown on top.  Have a plate ready when you take it out.  Be very careful.  Place the plate on top of the hot cake, and grasp the skillet and plate firmly with both hands; then, turn it over quickly.  Allow to cool.

This is not a huge cake.  It is simple to make.  The topping and the flipping out takes a little planning.

The cake is a sponge cake--that means it has eggs bur no oil or grease except what is in the skillet.  It does not have the tender texture of a most layer or pound cakes.

You can also get creative and use other fruits.  Carol once used Mandarin oranges.  She laid the orange slices in a single layer and proceeded as usual.  She said it was excellent.  A friend who found she didn't have any pineapple, made it with just the butter and sugar topping.  She said it was wonderful, too.

Have fun and enjoy! 

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches

I heard about Elvis Presley's peanut butter and banana sandwiches recently, and I couldn't believe it, but I tried them today.  They were good.  I don't think mine were like his, but then I just took a stab in the dark and used my imagination.   Elvis's had cocoa, so I missed that part.

This is the way I did it: 
Mash a ripe banana with about two heaping tablespoons of peanut butter.  The banana was still lumpy.  This much filling made two sandwiches.

Toast the bread on one side in a skillet with a light coating of butter. 

Fill the toasted side of two pieces with the peanut butter-banana mixture.

Beat an egg with 1 tablespoon of milk.

Carefully coat both sides of each sandwich with the egg mixture. 

Lightly brown the sandwiches in butter in a medium hot skillet.

Allow to cool before cutting because the filling is very soft.

You might try this with peanut butter and jelly, too.  Elvis included cocoa, but, not having read the recipe, I wasn't sure about that part.  To make a firmer crust you might coat the sandwich with pancake batter instead of the egg mixture.

For a special treat dust the sandwiches with powdered sugar.

Have fun--be remarkable!

Roasted Chicken Saves the Dinner

Roasted chicken is popular in the deli department of most grocery stores these days.  They can save dinner in several ways.  Roasted chicken is reasonably priced, and picking it up on your way home from work is a snap.  Add rice or noodles with English peas or green beans and you have supper.

If you get two chickens, save the second one for another night.  These chickens are tender and easily release from the bone to provide a base for several choice chicken dishes.  Use the de-boned meat in a casserole with noodles and chicken soup topped with cheese.  You might also chop the boneless meat and add to sauteed onions and peppers for tacos or fajitas.  Add some salsa for authentic Mexican taste.

To make a superior soup, remove the skin and bones, and add a can of chicken broth and a can of water to the meat.  Bring it to a gentle boil.  Add a can of biscuits cut in thirds and allow to simmer for about fifteen minutes.  Bake another can of biscuits in the oven.  Serve hot.

When the weather is hot, use the boneless chicken in a crisp garden salad with a light dressing.  Delicious!