Creamy Potato Soup (with ham)

Creamy Potatoes with Asparagus

I saw a recipe for these cheesy potatoes on the Get Off Your Butt and Bake website. The pictures were mouthwatering and the recipe simple. All I did was add asparagus to make it a meal rather than a side dish. It really is amazing.

Creamy Potatoes with Asparagus

5-6 large potatoes (I used red)
1 pint whipping cream (2 cups)
Salt & pepper
1/2 bunch fresh chopped parsley (I forgot mine)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 bunch asparagus washed and broken into pieces (bend the asparagus and it will snap into sections)

Wash and cut potatoes into thin strips (or slice thinly) and layer into a 9x13 baking dish. Mix in asparagus and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the cream over the pan. Top with cheese and parsley.

Cover pan with tin foil, cutting a few slits in the top and bake 400 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove tin foil during the last 15 minutes.

Lemon Chicken with bacon, potatoes and roasted asparagus

Wow. I think this might have been the best meal of my entire life. Seriously, it is so yummy. These pictures don't do it justice at all. I thought the other roasted chicken recipe was pretty fabulous, but I think this beats it. Not only is the taste out of this world but the smell is so amazing, don't be surprised if your neighbors invite themselves to dinner...

Lemon Roast Chicken with Bacon and Red Potatoes

1 whole chicken

4-5 lemons

3-4 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon Sea salt

1 teaspoon Pepper

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme (you can also use dried italian seasoning if you don't have any fresh herbs)

3-4 slices of uncooked bacon (the least processed kind you can find, nitrate free of course!)

4-5 Red potatoes washed and chopped, tossed with olive oil or butter, salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice one lemon in half and the other lemons into thin slices. Peel the cloves of garlic and slice in half lengthwise. In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper and thyme (or italian seasoning).

Layer half of the lemon slices on the bottom of your roasting pan. Wash chicken, pat dry and place breast down on top of the lemon slices. Rub with melted butter inside and out. Squeeze the ends of lemon over the top of the chicken. Rub with seasonings inside and out. Fill cavity of chicken with two of the garlic cloves (cut in half) and both halves of one lemon.

Put all lemon slices and ends around chicken (for added lemon flavor, place slices on top of chicken). Cover the top of the chicken with bacon slices.

Toss chopped red potatoes with olive oil or butter, salt and pepper and arrange around chicken. If you choose not to cook potatoes (which you really should- the bacon drippings mix with the olive oil and make perfectly browned and delicious potatoes), I recommend putting 1/4 to 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the pan to keep the chicken most.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is no longer pink.

Remove bacon strips, chop and mix in with potatoes (or just eat plain- it will be the best bacon you've ever had- the chicken flavors soak in and make it seriously amazing). Remove the lemon halves from the chicken cavity and squeeze over chicken slices before serving. Save a bit of lemon juice to squeeze over asparagus.

Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Dash of lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (or place in oven next to chicken during last 20 minutes of baking).

Wash asparagus and prepare each stalk by bending it until it snaps. Discard the bottom half and place the top half on baking sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast for 20-25 minutes or until tender but still crisp. Squeeze with a dash of lemon juice.

And, in case you missed my previous post on making chicken stock with the leftover chicken- click here, it can stretch one meal into 3 or 4.

Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

I have never liked potato salad. Ever. Until last summer... I have mentioned before (more than once I'm sure) my general dislike for mayo-based dishes and most potato salads are smothered with mayo or mustard, not to mention pickles.

This version of potato salad is light on mayo and heavy on flavor and is just as good (in fact I think better) warm as it is cold. And the only thing that makes it better is to stir in fresh sweet white corn.


Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

2 lbs red potatoes unpeeled or Idaho potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
2 green onions chopped, including white part
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (or real bacon bits)
Sweet white corn (optional)
1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix

Wash potatoes and slice into 1/2 inch chunks. Cover potatoes with water and boil until tender, about 10 minutes.

Mix mayo, sour cream, green onions, lemon juice, milk and ranch dressing mix in a large bowl.

Drain potatoes and let cool 5-10 minutes. Add to ranch mixture and toss with bacon and corn if desired. Serve warm or cold.

Lemon Chicken Picatta with Roasted Potatoes

Do you get this magazine? If not, you totally should. It has amazing yummy eay recipes. Then again...you could just read my blog because a good portion of the yummies I make come from this magazine. Like this chicken picatta with roasted potatoes I made for dinner last night. So delicious...

Lemon Chicken Picatta

3 large lemons

2 large chicken breasts

1/4 cup mayo (or 1 egg beaten)

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs seasoned with italian seasoning & garlic salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
Whole wheat pasta

Slice chicken breast in half width-wise to make four thin pieces of chicken (mine was actually thick enough to be cut into 4 large and two small pieces). Spread mayo on both sides of each chicken slice (the Pampered Chef silicon brush works great for this) and coat with bread crumbs.

You can make your own bread crumbs by broiling bread in the oven for 2-3 minutes, flipping to brown on both sides. Bread should be very crisp. Add to food processor to fine crumbs.
Cut 4 thin lemon slices from half of one lemon; squeeze juice from remaining lemons (can microwave for 30 seconds to make it easier). Set aside.


In a large pan cook half a box of angel hair pasta according to package directions, drain.
Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken for 5 minutes, turn and cook for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

In the same pan add lemon juice and chicken broth and cook over medium high heat 6-8 minutes or until slightly reduced, stirring occasionally. Add butter and lemon slices and cook 3 to 4 more minutes.

Place chicken over pasta and pour lemon sauce over top and sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Roasted Potatoes

4-5 medium potatoes cubed (or sliced for smaller potatoes)

6 slices of bacon chopped
3 tablespoons Italian Dressing

2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400.

Put potatoes on 15x10x1" pan. Top with bacon and zesty italian dressing. Bake for 45 minutes stirring halfway through.

Top with parmesan cheese and parsley.

*the original recipe had a sauce of mayo, lemon juice and garlic to pour over the top but these potatoes were so flavorful I didn't think it needed the extra step...

Chicken Potpies

When I was in Nashville I picked up this great kids cookbook from Williams Sonoma: Cooking Together. There are so many fun and healthy recipes dressed up to appeal to kids. Ethan loves to help me in the kitchen and one of his favorite things is to get the recipes from the Highlights High Five magazine and make them. So this book is perfect. He can flip through and choose what he wants to make. Our first selection was chicken potpies and they were YUM. I didn't have any puff pastry so I just made a pie crust, but I think puff pastry looks prettier and would be more fun for kids (and certainly easier for you). I also used homemade chicken stock which added incredible flavor, I'll outline how to do that below the recipe...

Chicken Potpie

3 T. olive oil

1 chicken breast, diced

1/2 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, peeled & diced

3 T. flour

4 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups chicken stock)

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 heavy cream

1 cup frozen peas

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

2 T. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add chicken and cook until browned. Set aside. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and cook onions. Stir in carrots and potatoes and cook until they start to get soft- about 5 minutes.

Stir in flour. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook until vegetables are tender and mixture has thickened. Add salt and pepper and stir in cream, cooked chicken and peas. Pour chicken mixture into six 1-cup oven safe dishes.

On floured surface roll out puff pastry. Cut out six 3" circles with biscuit cutter. Using small cutter (or knife) cut out a hole in the top of each round. Top dishes with pastry rounds and pinch around the edges. Brush the tops with melted butter.

Bake until crust is puffed and golden, 20-25 minutes.

How to make Chicken Stock

One of my favorite things to buy is a rotisserie chicken. We eat the chicken with some mashed potatoes and french bread the first night. Then we can use the rest to make chicken noodle soup and/or homemade chicken stock.

For the stock, bring remaining chicken bones to a boil in a large pot filled with water. You could add onion and celery for additional flavoring. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours. Strain chicken mixture and put the juice in the refrigerator. The remaining chicken will have fallen off the bones and you can use this in soup- I used mine in the potpies and it was excellent.

The next morning your chicken juice should look like chicken jello. It will kind of freak you out at first- but that is a sign that it was successful. You can then thin it with water to make chicken broth or use it as chicken stock. I used about 3 cups of chicken stock and thinned it down with an additional cup of water and it was the best potpie filling I've ever had. You can also freeze this and use it for later. A great way to get the most out of a $5 chicken!

Asparagus Scalloped Potatoes & Honey Glazed Ham

It's been a busy week! I'm finally getting around to posting the rest of what I made for Easter, but better late than never I suppose. Simple honey glazed ham and this yummy potato asparagus casserole was a big hit.

Honey Glazed Ham

Whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 325. Slice ham into thin slices and stud with whole cloves. Bring all other ingredients to a boil. Pour glaze over ham, between each slice. Cover with tin foil. Bake according to directions on package (about an hour). Every 15-20 minutes baste glaze on top of ham to keep it moist. During the last 4-5 minutes turn oven to broil, baste top with glaze and broil to carmelize the glaze.

Asparagus Scalloped Potatoes

1 cup chopped cooked ham

1 bundle fresh asparagus spears cut into pieces

5-6 medium potatoes thinly sliced (could use hash brown potatoes)

1/2 onion chopped

2 cups shredded cheese

5 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Thinly slice potatoes and chop ham, onion and asparagus, grate cheese. Beat eggs with milk. Layer in casserole dish potatoes, onion, ham, egg, salt, pepper, cheese and asparagus. Bake for 35 minutes. 

Mix bread crumbs with butter. Sprinkle over casserole and bake for 25-30 minutes longer or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Wallaby Smashers

One of my favorite places to eat when we lived in happy valley was Wallaby's in Linden- they have the best pulled pork and these yummy garlic cheese bbq mashed potatoes called smashers. This is my version of what I remember them tasting like- granted it's been almost 8 years since we lived in Utah, but this is what my tastebuds remember...Don't judge them by the picture- they are so delicious!

8 red potatoes, washed- keep skins on
1 cube butter
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup cheese
2-3 tablespoons bbq sauce
Boil potatoes until soft. Drain water, mash with potato masher- skin and all. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Stir in sour cream and butter until fluffy. Mix in a bit of bbq sauce and cheese and eat warm. If you need to thin them out just add more milk or sour cream. Perfect accompaniment for our pulled pork.

Baked Potato Skins

Use the potato skins from the sweet potato layer bake to make yummy potato skins. Most of the nutrients in a potato are in the skin so smother them with cheese for a tasty treat.

4 baked potatoes, with flesh scooped out
grated cheese
bacon bits
olive oil
seasoning salt (or salt & pepper)

Turn oven to broil. Toss potato skins with olive oil and seasoning salt (or salt & pepper) place open side down on baking sheet. Broil for 10 minutes or until crisp. Turn over and stuff each skin with cheese and bacon bits. Broil for another 10 minutes or until crisp.

Layered Sweet Potato Bake

The only time growing up I ever ate sweet potatoes was at Thanksgiving with marshmallows on them and they were so sweet it almost made you feel sick. I've since discovered eating them like a regular potato tastes so much better (although I do have a few sweet crunchy recipes I love as well) and they are heathier than white potatoes. This is a fun mix of both potatoes. You can use flavored cream cheese spread in place of sour cream and lipton onion soup mix. Save the skins on the white potatoes- up next are crunchy potato skins followed by mile-high biscuits...

4 white potatoes
2 sweet potatoes
1/2 cube butter
2-3 tablespoons lipton onion soup mix
1 cup sour cream (or 8oz cream cheese)
1/2 cup grated cheese (mozzarella or parmesan)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup French's fried onions (optional)

Cook and peel potatoes (microwave, bake or boil). Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In one bowl mash white potatoes, add 1/4 cube butter, 1-2 tablespoons lipton onion soup mix, 1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 package cream cheese, 1/4 grated cheese, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1-2 tablespoons milk, mix until potatoes are smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl mash sweet potatoes with remaining ingredients (except cheese and fried onions). Spread the potatoes in layers in a small casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese and fried onions. Bake for 15-20 minutes.