baked mashed potatoes with parmesan and bread crumbs

It's Mashed Potato Time, and over a hundred food bloggers are participating in the Crazy Cooking Challenge, which exists to find the Ultimate Mashed Potato Recipe. I had recently bookmarked this recipe from Bookcase Foodie, so this challenge was a perfect fit.

I enjoyed these potatoes, particularly with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The Daughter wished the potatoes could have been creamier (use heavy cream then,) saltier (I've got high blood pressure and have salt issues- she can add what she wants) and more buttery (ditto to adding a pat of butter.) She managed to down three servings, so they couldn't have been that bad.

chili topped baked potato

Inspiration comes in many forms. An incredible picture. A few poignant words. An impeccably dressed person.

For The Kids, it was the Food Network magazine's insert, 50 Stuffed Potatoes. The cover photo of the pamphlet garnered an immediate "Let's Make THIS!" reaction. The photo of the overstuffed potato, brimming with chili, sour cream and grated cheese made us drool.

I baked the potatoes and they topped to their hearts' content.

There are a few time-saving techniques you can use. Instead of baking the potato in the oven, you can microwave the potato. Using a fork, poke holes a few times to allow steam to escape. For four potatoes, start with 8 minutes, and then check for doneness. Canned chili and grated, packaged cheese also help. Do what suits your time constraint and preference. Then dig in and enjoy!

potato galette

Potatoes are the carb of choice here in this house. We eat them many ways: mashed, baked, roasted, au gratin, hash browned, latked, french fried, tater totted— really, any which way, we love them.

We now can add GALETTE to the list. A galette is a french word for a flat, round cake. What you have here is a potato dish with a super-crisp crust and tender slices, which hold together in cake form. It is a great and relatively simple dish to put together. 

perfect roasted potatoes~ aka fuzzy potatoes

It's a new year.  I always make a long list of resolutions, of which one is the well-known mantra: eat less, exercise more.  I am sure that will be on the list in perpetuity.

Another resolution is a variant of the above: bake less (maybe not that much less), cook more.

I have a cupboard full of cookbooks and cooking magazines which are sorely neglected.  For Christmas '09, I received Thomas Keller's ad hoc at home cookbook, and I have managed to try but two recipes. Needless to say you will be seeing more of TK's dishes in the future.

So here's to more savory recipes.  The first one of the year is a wonderful potato dish.  I've roasted potatoes many, many times, and have never looked up a recipe.  Last week, while browsing Clotilde's lovely Chocolate and Zucchini blog, I stumbled upon this recipe. I was tickled and inspired.

falling in love

... with The Nephew, who after 5 wonderful weeks here, flew back home (sob) to California with The Sister.

He is just 10 months old and so we were able to see a few "firsts"— climbing stairs, pulling up and squatting down, speed crawling... and perhaps funnest of all, eating real people food.

One item he particularly enjoyed was the potato latke.

"YEAH!! FINALLY! Big Boy Food!
Get me out of Stage 2!"

"What? Is this all you're giving me????"

"Gotta make sure it's not too hot."

"I'd be two-fisting this, if the portions weren't so stingy."

"MMM, more, please?"