Chantilly Mashed Potatoes

This is just a simple variation on your basic mashed potato that makes them special.  The name alone makes you feel like you are having a fancy dinner, doesn't it? But really, you are just adding cream and parmesan to your mashed potatoes. Now - I want to say - this is a GREAT dish for fussy eaters. I normally do not like cheese anywhere near my potatoes. No potato skins, no cheese fries, no cheddar in my baked potato. Nothing. But there isn't a lot of cheese here and it's very mild.  Even my very fussy children love it when I make these.

Yummy!

 

Now, I could go into how to make mashed potatoes, blah, blah, blah. But, I am going to assume you know how to make them. If you don't, you can use a box or buy the ready made in the supermarket.  One thing I will say, if you make them from scratch, use an electric hand mixer, not a hand masher. You want these to be as smooth as possible. No lumps.  Also - please salt your water when you cook your potatoes. You can't add that flavor in later on. I know some people are very salt conscious - but that salt brings out the flavor and no amount of table salt after the fact can make up for not having the salt in when you cook them. [climbs down off her soap box]


Ok.... so - you have your mashed potatoes already made - one way or another. Season them with butter, salt and pepper. (I used 24 oz of potatoes - about 3 cups)

Now we are going to turn them into Chantilly Mashed Potatoes!

Approx. 1 tbsp. softened butter
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese - divided
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Grease the inside of a 9x13 baking dish (or large round casserole) with the softened butter. Be sure to get the bottom and all up the sides to the rim.  Put the breadcrumbs in the dish and shake/turn to cover the entire buttered surface. Dump out any extra crumbs. Set dish aside.

this is what your dish should look like



Whip the heavy cream in a metal bowl until soft peaks form.  Beat 1/3 of the whipped cream into the mashed potatoes along with 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese.  Fold in the remaining whipped cream gently.  Spread potato mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over the top of the potatoes.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.  If desired, you can finish them off under the broiler for a minute or two to get a darker, crispier top.

You can also add seasoning to the potatoes, such as rosemary (one of my favorites with potatoes!), garlic, onion, etc.  You could even sprinkle the top with crumbled bacon.  Because you are using parmesan as opposed to cheddar or any other, stronger cheese, you will only get a very mild flavor - but very nice.  Also, the cheese on top won't melt and get bubbly. Instead it makes a lovely crust. And you won't ever have creamy potatoes!

This dish comes together very quickly but looks like something very complicated when you bring it to the table.  When I made these at Thanksgiving my dinner guests were very impressed and could not stop talking about how much they loved the potatoes.

Hope you enjoy!

Easy-Peasy Semi-Homemade Beef Stew Recipe

We have been getting snowstorm after snowstorm here in New England over the past few weeks and my poor hubby has had more than his fill of snow - even for a New Englander.  Getting chilled right through to his bones has him craving hot, hearty dishes like beef stew. Unfortunately, 4 feet plus of snow has made getting to the grocery store nearly impossible. Especially as we live on a steep hill that hasn't been plowed very well - yet (she added hopefully).

So, I went through my freezer and pantry to see if I could find a way to make beef stew for him, and I could!  Luckily, I had a few packages of stew beef in the freezer.  I had some baby carrots in the fridge, some canned sliced potatoes (I always try and keep canned sliced, diced and whole potatoes in my pantry. They come in very handy!) and a few jars of savory beef gravy (purchased the last time my local market had a big sale).  Now, I know how to make stew without jarred gravy. Indeed, I know how to make gravy from scratch very well. But, there are sometimes when the jar comes in handy, like with meatloaf or chicken fried steak (sorry, can't stand that white, cream, pepper stuff some people call gravy. To me gravy should taste like meat, not flour. yuck!). But I wanted a quick and easy way to make some stew and this fit the bill.

All done in the crockpot - prepped in less than 5 minutes!

Anyway - I took out the meat the night before and let it thaw. (I had about 3 pounds of meat).Then I put everything in my trusty crockpot.  First, I cut any large pieces of meat in half. Then I tossed them in the pot with a little salt and pepper.  Then I added a couple of handfuls of carrots (just what looked like enough for the 4 of us). Then I added 3 cans of sliced potatoes and 4 jars of gravy.  I added 1/4 tsp of ground rosemary, gave it all a stir and set it on high for 4 hours.  During the last 20 minutes I threw in a little frozen corn.

That was it. Could it be any easier? Prep time was less than 5 minutes!  You could make this before work and leave it on low all day and have a nice, hot meal when you come home.

Now, I know - where are the green veggies? Well, my fussy family doesn't all like the same veggies, so we usually heat them up separately in the microwave and everybody adds what they want to their stew individually. Naturally, you can add whatever you want to this. Green beans, peas, pearl onions, mushrooms - whatever your family likes.

We had the stew with hot, buttery crescent rolls - something else I always try to keep on hand :) It was SO good. Even my super picky daughter ate a whole bowl and she usually hates beef and any kind of gravy. My husband went back for seconds - no shock there.

Have leftovers that don't quite make enough to fill everybody up? Get a ready made pie crust and turn the leftovers into a pot pie! Add some more veggies, potatoes - even some egg noodles. Serve with a side salad and you have another hearty, satisfying meal.

Enjoy!

Great Way to Deal with Leftovers - Hash!

We've all been there. The fridge is full of leftovers but not enough of any one thing to make a meal out of. So, what do you do? Do you have pot luck and everyone has something different? You could do that. Putting up various plates and reheating them in the microwave and everyone eats higgilty piggilty. Or... here's a better idea - take those leftovers and combine them into a one skillet meal that the whole family can eat together.  Hash!

Now, I know, some people jump to the image of nasty canned food that they wouldn't touch or gross looking stuff from some greasy diner that contains God only knows what. But, you are making this, you know exactly what is in it and you're going to have to trust me - it's yummy!

In fact, it's a great way to get your kids involved in helping to cook a family meal and make a family night out of it.  Just think: Every Friday night (or whatever night) your family empties out the fridge of leftovers and makes hash in a large skillet together. And when it's done, you all eat while watching a family movie or playing a family game. And everyone can feel they contributed to the family meal.

The one thing you need to have is potatoes. If you have leftover roasted, boiled or baked potatoes you're all set. (mashed won't work) Otherwise, use some canned diced potatoes. They are inexpensive and a great staple to keep on hand. I suggest you stock up whenever they are on sale.

If you have leftover potatoes dice them up. If not, use the canned.  How many cans you need depends on the size of the cans and how many you are feeding.  I always start by cooking the potatoes on their own for awhile so they get crispy. That is a matter of preference. If you don't mind if they are soft vs crispy, then it doesn't matter if you precook them.  I put a little olive oil in my skittle and let the potatoes cook until they start getting brown.  I also season them with kosher salt and black pepper.

While they are cooking, take whatever meat you have leftover and dice it up. You can mix it all in. Chicken, beef, pork, meatloaf - anything but fish. I suppose it's possible some types of fish might work, especially if you are only using fish, but I don't know enough about fish to suggest what types would hold up and not just disintegrate.

Then take care of any veggies you have.  Dice them up if they are large. You want everything in the dish to be about the same size.  Now, if you have some fussy eaters who don't like all of the veggies you have, you can keep the veggies separate and just reheat them in the microwave and add vegetables of choice to each person's plate at the end.  If you have any veggies that will mush or break up easily, heat them separately and add them in right at the end.  If you don't have left over veggies, you can easily add canned or frozen veggies to round it out.

Tonight's dinner. Potatoes, pork chops, meatloaf and roasted chicken. Veggies will be added after as none of us all like the same veggies.  May not look like much, but is really tasty! Kids want to make sure there is left overs for lunch tomorrow.

 

When you have the potatoes where you want them, add your meat and any veggies that are going in and mix them together. Cover and cook until everything is hot.  Since your leftovers were seasoned when originally cooked you shouldn't need too much in the way of seasoning, however, that doesn't mean you can't add any, especially if you want to try and change the dish. You could add curry for an Indian take, or paprika for a Hungarian goulash style, or a dash of ginger and sriracha for and Asian flair, basil and oregano for an Italian version - or whatever takes your fancy.  Using different flavor profiles can keep hash from getting boring.

Once everything is hot, serve it up! Add any veggies that were done separately.  It will be delicious!

Need to stretch it or have left overs that aren't quite enough for a second meal?  Make some thick toast or Texas toast, scoop a bunch of hash on the toast and top with a fried or poached egg. When the yolk of the egg seeps down into the hash it is SO good! Makes a great breakfast, or breakfast for dinner.  A great way to use breakfast leftovers too. If you have leftover home fries, sausages and bacon (I know, who has leftover bacon? But it could happen) you could make a hash out of that and eat it with an egg for a great breakfast treat.  Can't afford steak and eggs for breakfast? Buy one small, affordable steak, perhaps even some cube steak, and cut it up to make hash and have with an egg and you can still have your steak and eggs for breakfast.

But the main thing is to find a way to not throw out a bunch of left overs. Nothing is more frustrating than the night before trash day pulling out things wrapped in foil and plastic wrap and anonymous plastic bowls and realizing that you have to throw away food that cost good money and should have been used up somehow.  Well, now you know how to avoid that!  In fact, you could freeze your hash into freezer bags and have on hand for last minute meals.

I hope you find this helpful and it gives you lots of creative ideas.

Enjoy!