Tag Archives: potatoes

Blog Well Done Cooks Live – Vegan Irish Stew

Irish StewI want to announce another Blog Well Done Live cooking event on StreamingGourment.com!  This time I’ll be making

Vegan Irish Stew

Just in time for St. Paddy’s Day!  The event will happen on Saturday, March 14th at 2:00 Central time.  (That’s pm, not am…)

If you are interested, click this link:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blog-well-done-cooks

And if you want to participate live can dial in:

Conference Dial-in Number: (218) 339-4600
Participant Access Code: 645838#

Also, if anyone wants to cook along, here is the recipe:

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Valentine’s Day The Easy Way

4 Ingredients + 3 Stores + 30 Minutes = 1 Hot Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the post for those people who held off on Valentine’s Day until the last minute.  I know you’re out there.  It was the same for Christmas and her/his her birthday.  It’s okay.  We’re all busy!

The good news is BlogWellDone.com is here to help! If you can buy four ingredients, a good bottle of wine, and a store bought dessert from a nice place you will have:

The Easiest Valentine’s Day Menu Ever!

Seriously, I threw this menu together in about 5 minutes.  It only uses four ingredients you may have to purchase from the store (plus salt, pepper, cooking oil, and butter if you have it), then you buy a good bottle of wine (suggestions below) and his/her favorite dessert from a bakery or restaurant.  That’s all you need for love to be in the air in less than 30.  I promise.

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Killer Mashed Potatoes – Junk Food Post #3

And the beat rolls on.  Hopefully by now, most everyone has abandoned their resolution and is pleasantly enjoying their wave of delicious comfort food.  Today’s edition is dedicated to my wife because I first made Killer Mashed Potatoes for her.

Killer Mashed Potatoes

What makes them killer?  Well, two things really.  First, they are really, really good or as Guy Fieri would say (“killer”.)  Secondly, they use so much cream and butter that … well, you get the picture.  So yes, these potatoes are definitely a sometimes food, but who cares?!  We have some resolutions to break!

Making Killer Mashed Potatoes

This one is pretty simple and can be done in one pot unless you want to add faux bacon (or real bacon.)

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The $7 Dinner Challenge Part 2

Okay, here is my second entry in  Cate and Sarah‘s $7 Dinner Challenge.  If you have not heard of the $7 Dinner Challenge, these two amazing food bloggers have challenged the rest of us to create a  two-course meal for four including a full serving of vegetables for just $7 total. So for today:

Pea and Potato Burritos With Roasted Bananas

To get the evening started off right, our family of four will be dining on pea and potato burritos, a great vegan go-to dish that is hearty and tasty.  Half a bag of peas provide a serving of vegetables to the family (A bag of frozen corn can be substituted instead, though it will change the taste pretty dramatically.)  Desert is cinnamon roasted bananas.

Pea and Potato Burritos

  • 2 pounds russet potatoes, cut into 1 inch dice
  • 1/4 pound of onion, finely diced
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic, finely diced
  • 1 12.5 ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 1/2 bag of peas
  • 4 tortilla shells
  • salt and more pepper to taste

In a sauce pan over medium heat, add the can of tomato sauce, chili powder, the tablespoon of black pepper, and a healthy pinch of salt.  Bring to a boil and simmer to reduce.  This can stay on the stove until dinner is ready.  The longer it has a chance to reduce, the better it will taste.

Put the potatoes into just enough cold water to cover them and bring to a boil.  Boil until fork tender (15-20 minutes.)

Remove the potatoes from the water to cool and put about 4 tablespoons of the starchy potato water into a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and garlic and boil/saute for about 2 minutes.  Add the potatoes and two teaspoons of black pepper back into the skillet.  Cook for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are dry.

Mash the potatoes with a fork and add the peas.  Mix and cook until the peas become warm.

Take out the flour tortillas and fill each with a quarter of the potato/pea mixture.  Right before you serve, test the tomato sauce for salt, adjust if necessary, and pour the tomato sauce on top the burritos.

Roasted Cinnamon Bananas

  • 1 pound bananas
  • 1 tablespoon, cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons, powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, mix the cinnamon and the powdered sugar.

Leaving the banans in the peel, cut the bananas in half lengthwise and then cut each half into two.  Cover with the sugar/cinnamon mixture and bake peel side down for 15 minutes.  Serve warm.

(Now would be a good time to pour the sauce on the burritos.  It should be reduced by now ;))

Well, what do you think?

Oh, yeah, the tab:

Tortilla .75
*Garlic .38
*Potatoes 2.38
Peas .55
Chili powder .57
Tomato sauce .47
1/4 lb. onion .33
——–
Bananas .58
Cinnamon .57
Powdered Sugar .10
——–

For a total of 6.68

If you want, you can add 32 cents of cheap oil when sauteing the onions and garlic.  I just am not smart enough to do the math on that.

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Braised Potatoes

As I understand the term “braised,” I made braised potatoes last Friday.  My son had tossed several spuds into the pan I was using to hold potato peels, covering them in potato juice.  Figuring that putting the potatoes back into the bag was a good way to ruin the rest of the spuds in the sack, I figured I should cook them.  Unfortunately, my judgement was a bit off and what I thought would make enough mashed potates for dinner and perhaps lunch the next day turned into the largest batch of mashed potatoes I have ever prepared.  Which left me with four medium sized golden potatoes that I did not want to add into the boiling water for fear of overflow.

Still on an Indian kick, I decided to experiment.  This is what I used:

  • 2 tablespoons of ghee (butter or olive oil is fine)
  • 4 medium sized golden potatoes cut into 1/4 inch coins
  • 1 teaspon of cumin seeds
  • 1 pinch of red pepper flake (more is fine)
  • 1/4 cup of broth 
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powdeer
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon of pepper
  • salt to taste
  1. Melt the ghee in a large skillet over medium heat.  When the ghee is melted, toast the cumin seeds and the red pepper flake.
  2. Add enough potatoes to cover the bottom of the skillet.  Do not pile the potatoes on top of each other.  Season with salt.
  3. Stir the potatoes to coat in the ghee/seed/pepper flake mixture to coat and let cook for two-three minutes, until the potatoes begin to change color.
  4. Add enough broth to come up half way on the potatoes.  Cover with a lid.  The potatoes are ready when they are fork tender.
  5. Move to a serving dish and add the ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic powder, pepper, and any additional salt.  Toss to ensure all potatoes are covered in the spice.

Try this dish.  I enjoyed the cinnamon and the potato combination far more than I had hoped.

Question:
So if you don’t mash ’em or fry ’em, what do you do with your potatoes?

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