Roasted New Potatoes

 

ROASTED NEW POTATOES  (serves 4-6)

2.5 lbs new red or white potatoes; unpeeled

1/4 c olive oil

2 TB fresh lemon juice

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 TB finely shopped fresh basil

1 TB finely chopped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 425

Wash the potatoes under cold runnbing wate & pat dry.

In a roasting pan stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, paprika & pepper.

Add the potatoes and using a large spoon, or by shaking pan from side to side, coat the potatoes evenly with the mix.

Roast the potatoes, turning every 15 mins, until tender and golden brown.  About 45 mins.

taste & adjust seasonings.  Transfer to a serving dish & garnish with the basil & chives.  Serve immediately.

Funeral Potatoes

6-8 medium potatoes
1/4 c. diced onions
1 can cream of chix (or celery)
1/2 of the soup can of milk
1 c. sour cream
S&P
3/4 c. crumbs
3 TB butter, melted
1 c. shredded cheddar

Preheat over 350*.
Cook potatoes, dice
Place potatoes in a greased 9x13 pan.
Saute onions in 1 TB. butter and spread over potatoes.

Combine soup, milk, sour cream, s&p to taste.  Mix well.
Spread sauce over potato/onion mix.
Sprinkle cheese.

Melt butter & combine crumbs.

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until hot & bubbly throughout.  325*??

Easter

Every year I always have a brain lapse of what we did the year before...for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter...you get the point. 

So, here is our Easter menu in one single place!

Ham
We cook the ham in the roaster oven (saves us oven space for the potatoes and other misc.) at 325* for 2 hours.  We actually set it in a 9x13 dish, covered with pineapple juice, brown sugar and then I toothpicked the pineapples and covered in foil.  I put that in the fridge about 1 1/2 hours BEFORE we cooked it!

Creamy Potatoes Au Gratin from Allrecipes. 

Makes 8
8 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices

2 onion, sliced into rings

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups milk

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 1 quart casserole dish.
2. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
4. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.

Deviled Eggs
6 boiled eggs
1/4 c. salad dressing
1/4 tsp. dry ground mustard
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Paprika

Remove egg yolks, mush.  Add ingredients and then add more to taste.  I added more salad dressing, mustard and vinegar to get the right taste and texture.  They were delish!

Asparagus
Boil water.  Snap off ends of asparagus and add to water.  Cook for maximum 3 minutes.  If they are thick 3 min. thin...much less.  I usually go by the look of them..they change to bright green!

Hollandaise sauce
from a packet!  Unless I am much more brave and then by hand, but it is tedious and takes a long time.  I made the mistake of buying McCormick this year...buy Knorr's if you can!  Different taste..not a fan.

HUGE SALAD with extra boiled eggs :)

Loni brought rolls
Amy brought cookies

I bought Angel food cake, strawberries and whipped cream

Shepherd's Pie

1lb. ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 (10oz) can cream of mushroom soup
2 TB. ketchup
1/8 tsp salt and pepper, each
1 c. frozen peas and carrots

1 C. milk
2 TB. butter
1 1/3 c. instant mashed potatoes or make them from scratch (*see below)

1/2 to 1 c. cheddar cheese

PREHEAT OVEN to 400*
1.  Cook beef and onion, drain.
2. Stir soup, ketchup, black pepper/salt, peas and carrots into skillet. Spoon mixture into a 9 inch pie plate (or small square pyrex)
3. Heat milk and butter in 2 qt. saucepan.  Remove from heat and slowly stir in instant potatoes.  (omit if you made your own potatoes)
4.  Spoon potatoes over beef mixture.
5. Sprinkle cheese on top
6.  Bake at 400* for 15 minutes or until ptoatoes are lightly browned.   


*Homemade potatoes:
Peel 4-5 medium potatoes (they fit into a 9 inch pie tin)
Cut the potatoes in to cubes
Bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove.  Put potatoes in and cook until they are fork tender.  Drain.  Add milk, s&p and mix until fluffy.

Creamed Peas & Potatoes

This is a family favorite.

4-5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 bunches of green onions, chopped
1 pkg. green peas

1/2 c. butter
4 TB. flour
Salt and Pepper (S&P)
2 1/4 c. Milk (more or less as needed)

Place potatoes and onions in a pot, add just enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are cooked, but not overly tender (abt. 10 minutes).  Add peas last 2 minutes.  Drain.

In a different pot, melt the butter. Add the flour, s&p and keep stirring for about a minute or so..it will thicken. Slowly add the milk to your desired amount. Stir.

Add the 2 together. Heat up.

**Updated**
Instant Pot
Peel, cube potatoes

Put in instant pot.  Add 1 1/2 cups water.  Set IP to 5 minutes. 

While it is cooking, make the roux.  I added tons and tons of S&P and it turned out great.

Open IP and add green onions and frozen peas.  Put on for 1 minute.  Then add the sauce after done. 

Pot Roast and Gravy (Rachel Ray)

*Read about the gravy in extra tidbits below BEFORE making it!*

3-4 tablespoons canola oil
1 4-5 pound rump roast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons flour, plus enough to dredge the roast in
3 carrots, roughly chopped
4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
2 large onions, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 fresh bay leaves
3 cups water
**2 beef bouillon (i added this and just put it in the water on the side)

Gravy:
3 tablespoons butter
3-4 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

A handful of parsley, chopped, for garnish

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Heat a large, ovensafe Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the canola oil. Season all sides of the roast well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then dredge it in flour. Brown the roast well, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Once all sides are brown, add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic and fresh bay leaves to the pot, then fill it with water so that the liquid comes a third of the way up the roast. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven for about 3 1/2-4 hours. If you don't have a tight-fitting lid for the pot, use tin foil instead and baste the roast every 30-40 minutes.
Once the roast is about 30 minutes from being done, start your gravy: place a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the butter and stir in three tablespoons of flour. Cook the butter-flour mixture about 2-3 minutes, until it is light brown. Then, whisk in the beef stock, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce; season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Let the gravy cook down, whisking occasionally, until desired consistency.
Once the roast is done, remove it from the oven and place the meat on a cutting board, loosely covered with foil. Let the roast rest for about 15-20 minutes. While the meat is resting, strain the pan juices through a fine strainer, remove any extra fat, then stir the pan juices into the gravy.
Once the meat has rested, slice it across the grain and pour gravy over each portion.

Extra tidbits:
THE GRAVY IS GROSS!! YUCK! And to be honest, I don't think that the pot roast was tasty enough. Like I have mentioned before, we like seasoning and taste. Since I only put s&p on it, we made some other gravy and added bunches of s&p to make it taste good. This fell apart! I cooked it from 1:30p.m until almost 6 and it was VERY tender, just not tasty enough!

Easy Ground Beef Casserole

1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef, browned
1/2 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper
3 large potatoes, sliced
2 Carrots, shredded
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
Brown ground beef in a skillet with chopped onions; cook until onions are tender. Drain off excess fat; transfer ground beef and onion to casserole dish. Add layer of sliced raw potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper; shred carrots to cover potatoes. Put soup over carrots. Bake at 350° for 40 to 50 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top and bake for about 5 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted.This easy ground beef and potato casserole serves 4 to 6.

Extra tidbit:
This was yummy! Luke loved it and he isn't one for casseroles. When I brown the beef I add extra spices (garlic powder, salt & pepper, onion powder, etc) and I think it adds some YUM factor.

Roasted Potatoes

6 med. potatoes (about 2lbs)
4 TBS. olive oil
2 tsp. dried rosemary
1 TB salt
1 tsp pepper (less--read below)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Clean potatoes, but don't peel. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise.
Place in a ziploc bag and add ingredients. (I just put them on a pan and drizzled the mixture over it, then when I turned it over I made sure they were covered with seasoning)
Mix well and place on a cookie sheet.
Roast 20 minute. Turn over and roast another 15 to 20 minutes.

Extra tidbit:
These would taste wonderful with the meatloaf. I guess I should try them together. I'll let you know what i figure out! ;) Update 11/14: I made them last night and they were a hit...with the adults. The kids thought they were too spicy, SO cut down on the pepper if you are serving to kids!! Also, after I was done mixing it, I sprinkled more salt, garlic powder, onion powder and even some garlic salt. I told you I do seasoning overboard!