It's All Greek To Me

This post will be short but flavorful. I have had a craving for Greek food and unfortunately my town is lacking in such fare, except for one restaurant which isn't always open when we want it to be.  Since I had a trip to Portland planned yesterday, I stopped by Barbur World Market which I have blogged about in the past and picked up some fresh baked pita bread along with some hummus for our delicious Greek dinner I served today. I made my own tzatziki which I have posted before also.

Included on the menu to go with our steak gyros was Greek potatoes.  I made up this recipe and the combination of ingredients worked out great.  They made a wonderful accompaniment to our meal. Now my Greek craving is satisfied for awhile anyway.

Greek Potatoes
(Serves 4)

One pound of new potatoes into one inch cubes and microwaved them until just slightly done  
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp. fresh oregano (optional)
Dash of cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients together and toss the microwaved potatoes with the marinade.  Put in a baking dish in a single layer and roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes until golden brown.  Sprinkle with salt.  These can be served hot or at room temperature.

Potatoes Fit For A Queen (Or A Duchess)

Here is a fantastic potato dish when you want to fancy up your dinner table with just a little extra effort.  Duchess Potatoes are basically mashed potatoes bound together with eggs and any extras that suit you, then piped onto a baking sheet and cooked until browned. The results are a creamy, tasty, and might I add, elegant addition to your plate. Give them a try sometime, you'll be glad you did.

Duchess Potatoes
(Makes 8, 2 inch diameter servings)

2 large baking potatoes
1 large egg
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 Tbsp cream
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp finely grated, Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cut potatoes into 2-3 inch cubes. Boil in salted water until tender.  Let cool for 20 minutes.  Add the rest of ingredients and beat with electric mixer until very smooth.  Place potatoes in large heavy duty pastry bag, fitted with large star tip.  Pipe onto parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until browned.  Serve immediately.

Hasselback Potatoes

This blog is dedicated to Patti, Peggy, Robin and Debbie, my peeps in high school.   The recipe today is Hasselhoff Hasselback potatoes.  When I first read the name of these Swedish-style baked potatoes, my very favorite soap opera star of all times, David Hasselhoff immediately came to mind.  I know I'm not alone in voting him the sexiest of daytime stars from the early years of the 1970's, right girls??

We would race home to watch Dr. Snapper Foster in our fave rave soap opera, The Young and the Restless and swoon.  All of the other TV doctors paled in comparison.  Who needed Dr. Steven Kiley on Marcus Welby or Dr. Joe Gannon on Medical Center when Snapper Foster was curing all that was wrong in Genoa City?   And there was plenty wrong! 

WHAT HAPPENED???  Poor, pitiful David Hasselhoff can't catch a break these days.  It all went down hill after the infamous hamburger eating incident, caught on video by one of his "loving" daughters.  Who amongst us hasn't gotten the munchies after having a cocktail or two and felt the need to shove an entire hamburger into our gaping maw, all at once?  And now his newest TV venture, a "reality" show was cancelled after only one episode.  Oh well, we will always have our memories of Snapper Foster - a teenage girl's fantasy doctor.

Now on to the recipe.  Very simple.  The tricky part is cutting the potatoes into slices without going all through the other side.  I stuck a couple of chopsticks on either side of the potato and cut through until I hit them and didn't slice through once.  The results were lovely, crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside, slices of yummy potatoes.  This is a wonderful alternative to the boring old baked potato that often accompanies our meatloaf dinner.  Enjoy and thanks for indulging me in my walk down memory lane.

Hasselback Potatoes

Medium size baking potatoes.

Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Butter
Garlic slivers, onion slivers, any spices you'd like to sprinkle on your potatoes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Wash potatoes well. Lay each potato on a cutting board.
With a sharp knife, thinly slice each potato, being careful to not cut all the way through. (Tip: I lay a chopstick on each side of the potato so I don't accidentally cut too far.)

Season each potato.  You could get creative, slide a sliver of garlic between the layers, experiment with different herbs, butter, use whatever might sounds good to you.

Place potatoes in a baking dish that has been drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle potatoes with olive oil.  Bake at 425 degrees for 40 min, or until the inside is tender.

A Favorite Food Blog

In my research for new and interesting recipes I read a lot of fine cooks' food blogs and one of my favorites for the past year or so has been The Pioneer Woman Cooks, authored by Ree Drummond.  Ms. Drummond is a city girl who married a cowboy (whom she refers to as "The Marlboro Man") and moved to his cattle ranch in Oklahoma.  How she manages to create such an entertaining blog and cook such excellent dishes with a huge ranch to assist with and four children is beyond me.

I recently purchased her cookbook by the same name and have found it delightful to read.  She describes her life on the ranch, how and why she cooks the way she does and also includes many pictures that she takes herself.  Oh, did I tell you she is a great photographer on top of everything else. 

Anyway, I recently tried one of her recipes for Perfect Potatoes au Gratin and indeed they were.  As The Husband exclaimed after cleaning his plate, "That was some good insert expletive here."  Compliment duly noted!  This makes an excellent side dish with steak or pork chops, though make them small portions of meat because you will want to save room for these delicious potatoes.

Pefect Potatoes au Gratin
(As developed by Ree Drummond)

4 whole Russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1½ cup heavy cream
½ cups whole milk
2 Tbsp flour
4 cloves garlic, finely minced  (I only used two cloves in mine)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, freshly grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Smear softened butter all over the bottom of a baking dish.

Slice potatoes, then cut slices into fourths.

In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.

Repeat this two more times, ending with the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling. Add grated cheese to the top of the potatoes and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.