The Best Potatoes Au Gratin

 

Original recipe came from thepioneerwoman.com

I changed it up just a tad.

 

2 tablespoons of softened butter

4 large russet potatoes, well washed and diced

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons flour

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese

3 green onions, thinly sliced

crumbled cooked bacon, if desired

(You could add cubed ham to make this a main dish.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9x13 casserole pan with the softened butter. Toss diced potatoes in pan, set aside.

Combine milk and cream in medium bowl. Whisk in the flour, garlic, salt and pepper until smooth. Pour over diced potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes more. Sprinkle with cheese and bacon and return it to the oven for 5 minutes. Top with green onions and serve it nice and hot. So good!

Marinated Tomato Salad

I love this summery salad! I love to eat it with a sprinkle of feta cheese. I also loved it with a scoop of brown rice mixed in for a fantastic, light lunch. It would also be great served on toasted baguettes.

 

 

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

a pinch of black pepper

3 whole green onions, sliced

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon ground thyme

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1-2 lbs sliced tomatoes

feta cheese, if desired

Whisk together all ingredients except for tomatoes and feta in a glass bowl. Add tomatoes, cover and refrigerate for 24ish hours. Serve with feta on top.
 Easy peasy! 

Crunchy Breadsticks with poppy seeds

These breadsticks are so amazing!

They're the crunchy kind.

We love them so much that we can't stop making them.

And the best part is that they're so easy!

Recipe from:

The Homemade Pantry:101 foods you can stop buying and start making

ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2/3 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the counter

1 1/2 teaspooons salt

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Combine sugar and yeast with warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add 1 1/4 cups of the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix for 5 minutes on medium speed using the paddle attachment.

Dust counter with remainging 3/4 cup flour. Turn dough out onto the counter and knead the additional flour into the dough for 3-4 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and has lost most of its stickiness. (I'm not a kneader, so I switched out the paddle for the dough hook and let my mixer do all the work) Put dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size. About 1 to 2 hours. I set my bowl in my super warm garage and it only takes an hour.

Punch down the dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter again. Sprinkle the seeds on the dough and knead them in for about a minute or two. Cover dough with plastic and let rest for 5 minutes.

Divide dough in half, then half again, and again until you have 32 roughly equal pieces. Let rest while you prepare your pans. Spray them lightly with cooking spray or line them with parchament paper. Take each ball and roll it like a snake, stretching a little as you go, until you have an 8-ish inch breadstick and no more than 1/2 inch in diameter. Lay on tray leaving 2 inches between each stick. Let rest uncovered for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until slightly golden. Let cool for crispier breadsticks.

Cheese Crackers

I found a new cookbook that I think I'm going to need to own soon. It's going on my Christmas wish list. It's called The Homemade Pantry:101 foods you can stop buying and start making.

Here is one of the recipes we've tried. They're a grown-up version of Cheez-it crackers and are so crunchy and addictive, ask Tyler.

Cheese Crackers

Makes 40-50 crackers

3 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for the counter

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups finely grated cheddar cheese (6 ounces)

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

3/4 cup water

ice cube

Combine the cold butter, flour, dry mustard, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the mixture is crumbly and the butter starts to integrate into the mixture, about 30 seconds. Add the cheese and mix again on low speed for a few seconds.

In a liquid measuring cup, combine 3/4 cup water, the vinegar and an ice cube and let sit for a moment to get nice and cold. Add 6 tablespoons of the vinegar mixture to the dough and mix on medium speed for 20 seconds. Continue adding liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough clings in a ball to the beater. (I only needed one extra tablespoon of liquid for a total of 7 tablespoons) Mix the dough for an additional 30 seconds. Don't over mix! Mound dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Remove the dough from the fridge and let sit 15 minutes before you are ready to roll it out. Preheat oven to 325 and grease 2 baking sheets. Turn dough out onto a little floured counter, press into a flat disc, and roll with a rolling pin until the dough is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Use a pizza wheel to cut dough into 2-inch squares (I went a little smaller). Transfer to baking sheet leaving a 1-inch space between crackers. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Turn off oven, but leave pans in the oven for one hour as it cools. (I left them in for only 20 minutes because they continued browning too much for my liking.) They can be stored in an airtight container for 5-7 days.....ours only lasted on the counter for maybe 6 hours before they were all consumed. :)

Zucchini-Feta Pancakes Topped With Sour Cream

You know, there are some foods that I just can't make when my husband is home. And seeing that these are called pancakes and yet are nothing like the traditional pancake, I knew there would be no way he'd be interested in eating them. So, Genevieve and I made them for lunch. Just the two of us. She made sure to let me know that we needed to save some for the boys, but half way through eating her first one, she stated that the boys didn't need any. She loved them and so did I. We halved the recipe and ate them all. Delicious!

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma's Cooking from the Farmer's Market

Here's what you'll need:

4 cups grated zucchini

salt and pepper

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

2 Tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh mint (I omitted this)

olive oil for frying

Sour cream for serving

Put the zucchini in a strainer set over a bowl. Sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt and let stand for 15 minutes. Squeeze out any excess liquid. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, 1/4 tsp pepper and 1 tsp salt. In another bowl, stir together the zucchini, feta, egg yolks, green onions, parsley, and mint. Stir in the flour mixture. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold into the zucchini mixture.

In a frying pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Drop 4 spoonfuls of batter into the pan and fry the pancakes until crisp, about 2 minutes per side. Keep warm while cooking remaining pancakes. Serve topped with sour cream. The melted feta really makes them delicious. Enjoy!

Broccoli Slaw Salad

Yum.

If your looking for an easy, light salad for a summer get together, this is it! It is one of our favorites!

1 pkg. Broccoli slaw (found by the bagged salad in the produce section)

2 or 3 stalks of green onions, chopped

sunflower seeds

sliced almonds

2 pkgs. chicken flavored Ramen noodles (it has to be the chicken, I tried the beef flavored once & it was awful!)

crasins

Dressing

2 chicken seasoning packets from the Ramen noodles

1/3 cup vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

*Smash the Ramen Noodles, them mix with the broccoli slaw. Sprinkle the green onions, sunflower seeds, almonds & crasins onto the Broccoli slaw & mix together. Now I know there are no exact measurements for those last three ingredients, it's because some people like their salad stuffed (me) while others would prefer the taste of the Broccoli slaw to be the main thing (my hubby). So add the ingredients slowly until you find your perfect combination. Set aside.

*In a separate bowl, mix the chicken seasoning, vinegar, sugar & oil together. Pour the dressing mixture slowly over the noodle mixture. BE CAREFUL not to dump the entire dressing mixture on all at once, I don't like my salad drenched so I add it slowly while mixing just until it's coated. Most of the time I don't use all of the dressing. Mix well & serve immediately.

DELIGHTFUL!!

Stuffed Artichokes

Okay so I forgot to take a picture, but they looked and tasted so YUMMY! and they are super easy, really!

3 artichokes (we used 4 and just doubled the recipe and had plenty of stuffing, so if you want to just make one or 2 that is fine!)
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 c celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c butter (we used more...)
1/2 c chopped mushrooms

To prepare the artichokes: Remove coarse lower leaves. Trim off the tops of the artichokes 1 inch. Cut stems off so artichokes will sit. Boil artichokes in a large sauce pan for 30 mins, or until tender. Remove center and dig out fuzz with spoon.

In butter, saute onions, celery, galic, crumbs, mushrooms. Remove from heat and add cheese. Mix and stuff the three artichokes. (Stuff the middle by the heart, and in between the leaves.) After stuffing, sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese. Bake on a metal or glass pan at 350 degrees until hot. ENJOY!

Green Beans with Prosciutto and Gouda

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I found this recipe on www.tasteandtellblog.com after receiving way too many green beans from my bountiful basket. It was pretty amazing, but had a little too much olive oil for me. So, I'm going to cut it down a little for the following recipe.

serves 8

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3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons minced white onion
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 lb. fresh green beans, ends trimmed
1/4 lb prosciutto, thinly sliced
1/4 lb Gouda cheese, cut into sticks
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Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, onion, 4 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Add additional salt and pepper if needed. Set aside.
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Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and boil for about 3 minutes or until bright green and a little tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well.
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Toss the green beans and dressing together and let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.
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Heat remaining olive oil in a medium saute pan over med-high heat. Add the prosciutto to the hot oil and cook for just about 2 minutes. Add the prosciutto and Gouda to the green beans and serve at room temperature. It's also good cold the next day.

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

I had planned on making this last night, but couldn't find the recipe that I quickly wrote down on a napkin while sitting at Barnes and Noble. So, I had to run back there today to write it down again. However, this time I came prepared with an actual sheet of paper and a pen. I found it in the Emeril at the Grill cook book. I would have bought it, but there were really only 2 or so recipes that I loved. This is one of them. The other one I wrote down on the back of a receipt and know exactly where it is.

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Anyway, this was a hit in our home. Even Wayne enjoyed it and he doesn't even like sweet potatoes. I think the lime juice and cilantro bring out a whole different flavor. It's pretty yummy!

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2 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 3-4), peeled and cut into 1/2" rounds

1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup very thinly sliced red onions

2 tablespoons feta cheese

Preheat grill to medium-high and oven to 350 degrees.

Place sweet potatoes in a bowl and add 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss well. Place on hot grill until nice grill marks develop, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet (I set a cooling rack on the baking sheet so that the potatoes wouldn't get all soggy while baking), place it in preheated oven and bake until tender - about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (I was a little impatient and served it warm...delicious)-

Arrange potato slices on a platter and drizzle the remaining olive oil (I used way less than the 1/4 cup it says to use) then drizzle on the lime juice. Add a little more if needed. Then sprinkle on the cilantro, red onion and feta. Serves 4-6.

Sugar Baked Beans

1/2 lb bacon diced
4 onions diced
1/4 c mustard
1/8 tsp garlic
1/2 c vinegar
1 c brown sugar
Simmer above ingredients for 20 mins then pour over beans mixture

Beans:
1 can kidney beans
1 can butter beans
1 can lima beans
drain above cans then add
1 can tomato sauce
2 medium cans pork and beans (undrained)

Bake 1 hour at 350 or crock pot on high for 4 hours