Potatoes

Ingredients
1-2 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and cut into small cubes (Amount will depend on the size of your skillet.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt, to taste

Instructions
1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add potatoes.  Cover pan and cook 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Gently shake skillet every 5 minutes to keep potatoes from sticking. 

2. Potatoes are finished when tops are tender and bottoms are golden brown.  Remove potatoes from skillet and season with salt. 

Comments
This recipe is from Baltic Maid and is a Romanian dish.  The potatoes end up steamed on top, slightly fried on the bottom, and tasty all over.  It’s a very simple potato recipe that’s nicely flexible.  You could easily add bacon or onion or whatever herbs you’d like.

I ended up having to cook my potatoes in two batches, since I had too many for the skillet.  Sadly I cooked the first batch over medium-high heat, which turned out to be too hot.  The second batch was cooked over medium heat, like the recipe states, and they were perfect. 

Shown here with Grilled Skirt Steak and Chimichurri.

Internet - Baltic Maid

Ingredients
6-8 ounces bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pound potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 tablespoons butter
¹⁄₂ cup milk
¹⁄₂ medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small head cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
3 green onions, chopped

Instructions
1. Cook bacon until crisp in large skillet over medium heat.  Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon, leaving bacon fat in skillet. 

2. Bring large pot salted water to boil.  Cook potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain and return to pot.  Mash with butter and milk, cover to keep warm. 

3. Return bacon skillet to medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, and cabbage to reserved bacon fat, stir to combine, then cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until cabbage is soft. 

4. Stir cabbage mixture, bacon, and green onion into mashed potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from Life’s Ambrosia and, while I can’t speak for its authenticity, I can vouch for its tastiness.  This is a great way to use up cabbage and potatoes during the growing season.  The bacon added great flavor throughout. 

Shown here with Mustard Roasted Tilapia.

Internet - Life’s Ambrosia

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced with knife or mandoline
4 shallots, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 sprigs thyme

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375*F.  In large bowl combine butter, oil, potatoes and shallots.  Toss well to coat potato slices, separating any that have stuck together.  Season well with salt and pepper. 

2. Select a baking dish that will hold all of the potato slices.  (My baking dish is around 9x5, but a different size might work better depending on the size of your potatoes.) 

3. Working a few slices at a time, arrange potatoes vertically in dish, making sure to get shallot pieces in between potato slices.  Once dish is full, spread remaining oil-butter mixture over potatoes. 

4. Bake 75 minutes then arrange thyme sprigs on top of potatoes and bake until potatoes are cooked through with crisped top, about 35 minutes more.  If potatoes brown too fast, cover with foil. 

Comments
This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and it sure is pretty!  (Her’s is much prettier than mine.)  The potato slices on the edges get all nice and crispy while the ones in the middle are soft and tender.  The shallots and thyme give the potatoes great flavor and these were pretty scrumptious.  We did reach the consensus that we all prefer Mini Pommes Anna when it comes to dishes involving thinly sliced potatoes.  So expect some future experimentation with that dish in the coming months while potatoes are in season here!

Internet - Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 tablespoons capers plus splash of caper brine
1 clove garlic, minced
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
1. Place potatoes in large pot of water, bring to boil, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. 

2. Return potatoes to pot and mash.  Add remaining ingredients and stir.  Add reserved potato water until potatoes are desired consistency. 

Comments
This recipe is from Elise’s Kitchen.  It was tasty, the capers and lemon added a nice flavor punch.  We all enjoyed them and leftovers were eaten, but I must say that this won’t be a recipe that comes to mind in the future when I’m trying to figure out a way to prepare potatoes for dinner.  They were good, just nothing to write home about if you know what I mean. 

Shown here with Eye Round Roast and Horseradish Cream Sauce.

Internet - Elise’s Kitchen

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ pound potatoes, cut into ¹⁄₂-inch cubes
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 large garlic clove, minced
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dash nutmeg

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil.  Boil potatoes 8 to 10 minutes, then drain. 

2. Place tomatoes, garlic, bay leaf, and 1 tablespoon butter in sauce pan.  Season with black pepper, bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove bay leaf and puree with immersion blender until smooth. 

3. In a second sauce pan, melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes.  Slowly add milk, stirring constantly, until sauce is smooth.  Simmer until sauce thickens then add salt, pepper, and nutmeg. 

4. Stir tomato puree into white sauce.  Add potatoes to sauce, cover, and simmer, stirring often, until potatoes are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Check seasoning and serve.

Comments
This is another great recipe from Kayotic Kitchen.  The potatoes had a great tomato flavor and they reminded me quite a bit of the Bombay Potatoes I used to get in British Indian restaurants.  Adding different seasonings to the sauce could be lovely for future versions of this dish. 

Shown here with Steak Diane.

Internet - Kayotic Kitchen

Ingredients
3-4 medium potatoes, washed and thinly sliced with knife or mandolin
¹⁄₄ cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Butter (about ¹⁄₂ teaspoon per stack)

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375*F. 

2. Toss potato slices with olive oil, salt and pepper, ensuring slices are well coated. 

3. Stack potato slices in regular-sized muffin tin until potatoes reach the top of each cup.  Put thin pat of butter on top of each stack. 

4. Cook for 45-50 minutes or until potatoes are nicely browned on top.  Rest 5 minutes in muffin tin then remove and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is inspired by Souvlaki for the Soul.  I made Pommes Anna a few weeks ago and these are just like mini version of that recipe.  We all thought they were perfect due to the increased edges which increased the crispiness.  I used tarragon olive oil which added fantastic flavor.  

I used three medium russet potatoes which ended up filling 9 muffin cups.  This recipe is super easy to scale, so don’t feel that you need to stick with the measurements exactly as they’re shown here.  I will definitely remember to make these in the future! 

Shown here with an awesome grilled burger care of Eggmaster Art.

Internet - Souvlaki for the Soul

Ingredients
3 russet potatoes, scrubbed
Olive oil
³⁄₄ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 425*F. 

2. Coat 10-inch  skillet with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon.  Working 1 potato at a time, slice very thin with mandolin.  (Or with a knife, if your skills are amazing.)  Starting from the center, make concentric circles of potato in the bottom of pan.  Brush each layer with olive oil.  Every 2nd or 3rd layer sprinkle with cheese and season with salt.  After finishing with each potato, press down with clean hands so that the layers are compact.  Repeat with remaining ingredients. 

3. Place pan over medium heat and cook until oil begins to sizzle and potatoes start to brown on the bottom, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Transfer skillet to oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes. 

4. Remove pan from oven and cover with tight fitting lid.  Drain excess oil out of skillet using lid to keep potatoes in place.  After oil has been drained, flip skillet over so that potatoes are turned onto bottom of lid.  Then slide the potatoes off the lid and into the skillet so that the browned side of the potato cake is now on top. 

5. Return pan to oven and bake until potatoes are fork tender.  Cut into wedges and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from Chef Anne of Food Network fame and was recently featured in an episode of Worst Cooks in America.  It was a bit tricksy with the flipping, but it sounds more difficult than it actually is.  Just be brave and you’ll have no problems.  I think I let my potatoes brown a little too much in step 3, but they were still delicious and I could have gobbled up the entire skillet.  A mandolin makes short work of the prep for this dish and the presentation is quite pretty.  This is the sort of dish to make when you’ve got company you want to impress, but want to keep the flavors nice and simple.  This recipe is definitely a keeper. 

Shown here with Roast Pork Loin with Bacon and Brown Sugar Glaze.

Internet - Anne Burrell

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ¹⁄₂-inch cubes
¹⁄₃ cup milk
3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Place potatoes in pot and cover with water.  Bring to boil over high heat.  Boil until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.  Drain potatoes and return to pot. 

2. Add milk, mascarpone, and salt.  Mash or stir to desired consistency. 

Comments
This recipe is from the 2011 Cooking Light Annual.  The mascarpone adds a lovely richness to the potatoes which makes up for the lack of the traditional butter and heavy cream. 

Shown here with Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers.

Cooking Light 2011

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ pounds potatoes, cubed
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
Salt and pepper
¹⁄₄ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400*F.  Spray 12 by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. 

2. Place potatoes in baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.  Toss potatoes to cover evenly.  Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Stir once halfway through baking and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 

Comments
This recipe is from [Let’s Dish](http://letsdish(recipes.blogspot.com/2010/10/parmesan-garlic-roasted-potatoes.html).  Like all roasted potato (recipes, the cooking time seemed much too short, so I increased it for the recipe.  I even cut the potatoes into small pieces to ensure they’d cook faster, but it still took about 45 minutes.  These were lovely, easy, and full of flavor.  I like the way the Parmesan crisped up on top of the potatoes at the end. 

Shown here with Crispy Oven-Fried Cod.

Internet - Let’s Dish

Ingredients
3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
Salt and pepper
1 ¹⁄₄ cups heavy cream, chilled
1 ¹⁄₂ cups Gruyere or Parmesan cheese, grated (about 3 ounces)

Instructions
1. Place potatoes in large microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap or lid. Microwave on high until tender, 8 to 12 minutes, shaking bowl halfway through cooking. Mash potatoes, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and microwave potatoes until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Adjust oven rack to upper-third position and heat broiler. With mixer on medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Gently fold two-thirds of whipped cream into potatoes with rubber spatula until absorbed. Dollop potatoes in broiler safe 2-quart (9 by 9-inch) baking dish. 

3. With rubber spatula, fold 1 ¹⁄₄ cups cheese into remaining cream. Spread over potatoes and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Broil until top is golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Let rest about 10 minutes. Serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from the 2010 Cook’s Country Annual and I’m not sure what it was supposed to be like.  Served after the 4 minutes of resting called for in the original recipe, it was a bit liquidy however, by the end of the meal, it had set up nicely.  (Art tells me that the word “congealed” is not an appetizing word…)  The flavors of this dish were really nice but the soupiness of it was not so grand.  I’m sure leftovers will be much better.  All of that said, I’m not sure I’ll be revisiting this dish.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely didn’t make my top 50 potato recipe list. 

Shown here with Spice-Crusted Grilled Pork Tenderloin.

Cook’s Country 2010