Ingredients
3 pounds russet potatoes, cut into cubes
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chicken broth
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup fresh chives, minced

Instructions
1. Place potatoes and bay leaves in large pot of salted water and bring to boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Drain and discard bay leaves.  Return potatoes to pot and mash. 

2. Add chicken broth, mascarpone, butter, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Mix until blended.  Add chives just prior to serving. 

Photo

Comments
This recipe is from Easy Everyday Eats.  I’m a big lover of mascarpone and it works very well in mashed potatoes!  I’ve made a simpler Mascarpone Mashed Potato recipe in the past, but this was is delicious too with a bunch of extra flavors if you’re looking for a more flavorful side. 

Ingredients
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
5 black peppercorns
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
4 cups onions, sliced (about 1-2 large onions)
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 pound bacon, the thickest you can get, cut into 1 inch long pieces
Canola oil
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Kosher salt
1 thyme sprig, leaves only
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chives, minced

Instructions
1. Place bay leaf, thyme sprigs, peppercorns, and garlic clove in piece of cheesecloth and tie to close. 

2. Put the onions in a large sauté pan and set over medium-low heat.  Sprinkle with 1 generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the onions have released much of their liquid. 

3. Stir in butter, add the cheesecloth bundle, and cover with a piece of parchment paper.  Cook slowly over low to medium-low heat for 30 to 35 minutes.  The onions should look creamy at all times, if they start to look dry, add a bit of cold water and stir well.  Season to taste with salt. 

4. Heat oven to 200*F. 

5. Pour oil to 1 inch in large saucepan or skillet and heat to 300*F.  Set cooling rack over baking sheet and line the rack with paper towels. 

6. Add half the potatoes to the hot oil and cook for 8 minutes until tender and golden brown.  Remove from oil with wire skimmer and drain on paper towels.  Repeat with the remaining potatoes. 

7. Pour 2 tablespoons water into medium saucepan and set over medium heat.  Add bacon, reduce heat to medium-low, and let bacon render its fat for 30 minutes.  The bacon should not crisp.  Using a slotted spoon remove bacon to towels to drain.  Remove excess fat from pan, leaving a thin film to cook the potatoes.  Reserve the extra fat. 

8. Add half the potatoes to the pan, sprinkle with salt, and add half the thyme leaves.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes to crisp the potatoes and heat through.  Add half the onions and fold in half the bacon.  Transfer potatoes to a large oven safe bowl and keep warm in the oven.  Repeat process with remaining ingredients. 

9.  Mix everything together, toss in chives, and season with salt and pepper before serving. 



Comments
This recipe is from The Splendid Table but it’s a Thomas Keller recipe.  I’ve had it bookmarked for forever and finally got around to making it.  I can only say that I wished I had made this years ago so that I could have been making it regularly ever since.  This was a really awesomely fantastic dish.  The bacon just melted and wow.  I served it with eggs for a really scrumptious breakfast for dinner meal.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons ranch seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 green onions, minced
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, shredded

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375*F. 

2. Mix oil with ranch dressing mix and pepper.  Toss potatoes with seasoned oil.  Season potatoes with salt if necessary, depending on how salty your ranch mix is. 

3. Spread potatoes on baking sheet and roast 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown, but not completely tender. 

4. Meanwhile, mix sour cream with green onions. 

5. Remove potatoes from oven and mix with sour cream mixture.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over potatoes and bake 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender and Parmesan is slightly crunchy. 



Comments
This is another recipe from Kayotic Kitchen.  It’s a pretty simple recipe for roasted potatoes and the results are great.  Quite a nice twist on regular roasted potatoes! 

Shown here with Baked Cod with Crispy Herb Topping.

Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes, scrubbed
Olive oil
Kosher salt

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 200*F.  Rub potatoes with olive oil and kosher salt then place into baking dish.  Transfer to oven and bake 5 hours. 

2. Increase heat to 500*F and continue cooking potatoes until they reach an internal temperature of 210*F when tested with an instant read thermometer. 

No photo :(

Comments
I got this recipe from one of my awesome choir friends.  These are very slow baked potatoes and the skins get all nice, soft, and delicious.  The insides were super moist and scrumptious. I made 8 of these and had them for lunches throughout the week after we ate the initial 3 with Lance's birthday dinner.

Ingredients
1 large potato, scrubbed and shredded
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Instructions
1. Heat waffle iron on highest setting. 

2. Toss potato with butter. 

3. Working with about 1/4 cup potato at a time, place potatoes in middle of waffle iron and cook about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through if necessary. 



Comments
This recipe is from Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake and I clearly failed it.  Maybe my waffle iron is the wrong kind or something?  I don’t know.  These stuck all over the iron and were a huge pain to both make and clean up.  Oh well, it was worth a try!