Super Simple Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Brian loves stuff like this, and it sounded good, so I planned it out for a Sunday meal.

Super Simple Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Ingredients

1 package (24 oz) frozen shredded hashbrown potatoes, with peppers and onions

3 cups cubed Farmland Hickory Smoked Ham

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c (2 oz) shredded Swiss cheese

Preparation

1. Heat oven tp 350 degrees. Combine hashbrowns, ham, and soup in 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle top with cheese.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through

I have been avoiding cream of soups, but I figure once in awhile is fine. It was easy and good. I mixed in most of the cheese (only cheddar), and added in a couple spoonfuls of sour cream since my bag of hashbrowns was a little bigger. I liked that it wasn't as greasy/goopy as other potato casserole recipes.

Potato Broccoli Soup

When our friends came over to watch the Christmas Devotional at the beginning of December, we decided that we would each make a soup and then she would make bread and I would make dessert. It turned out great and we had lots of leftovers from this recipe which is found in the awesome soup packet the corn chowder recipe is in.

1 pk. frozen broccoli cuts
6 cups cubed potatoes
1 medium onion
2 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1 cup butter
1 cup milk
1 quart milk
salt and pepper

Cut up potatoes and onion and add broccoli. Place in large dutch oven, barely covering with water. Cover and cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, place butter in sauce pan. When bubbly, add flour, cook until smooth. Add milk, cook until thick stirring constantly. Pour over simmering vegetables. Add cheese and continue cooking on low until soup thickens. Serve with crackers.  6-8 servings.


This made way more that 6-8 servings, but that just meant leftovers for dinner the next day and Big Chubb had some lunches made for the week. While we were at church, I put it in the crockpot to keep warm. I think it changed the taste a little bit.

Leftover Mashed Potato Soup

We enjoyed this from the leftover mashed potatoes we had for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
14 1/2 ounces chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 cups prepared mashed potatoes ( leftover is great)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
2 scallions, finely chopped
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons cream or 2 tablespoons half-and-half

Directions

1. Cook bacon, and set aside to crumble.
   
2. In a large saucepan, cook onion in butter or dripping until softened.
   
3. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until tender and onion is golden.
   
4. Add chicken broth, salt, pepper, and paprika, stirring to mix.
   
5. Blend in mashed potatoes, stirring until lumps are gone.
   
6. Bring soup to a boil, then lower heat and add cheddar cheese, stirring until it is melted and smooth.
   
7. Mix in scallions, crumbled bacon, sour cream, and cream/half and half, stirring to heated through but not boiling.
   

It was relatively easy to make so that was a big plus. I left the mushrooms out because two people in our family would not have touched it if there were mushrooms in it. It all got eaten up really quick, and was much tastier that how it actually looked. If you've got some leftover mashed potatoes, this is a good way to use them up!

Delmonico Potatoes

Delmonico Potatoes

8 or 9 medium potatoes

1 t dry mustard

1/2 pint whipping cream

3 or 4 dashes nutmeg

1/2 lb grated cheddar cheese

1 1/2 t salt

1 c milk

Cook potatoes until tender, not mushy. Cool and

a buttered casserole. 

Heat the remaining ingredients until cheese melts

potatoes, sprinkle with paprika and dot with butter. C

-erate 24 hours.

Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before baking. B

degrees for 1 hour.

The right side of the page was cut off, so I had to make some assumptions on what to do. I grated the peeled potatoes, poured the sauce over the top, refrigerated for a few hours (during church), and baked for about an hour at 350.

Big hit with the O-Man, which is good considering he never eats anymore.

It was a nice change from classic funeral potatoes (hashbrown casserole, cheesy potatoes, etc.) Brian loves funeral potatoes, but I have gotten tired of making and eating them. These aren't really much healthier, but they are not as greasy, so that made me like them more. Brian said this was as good as funeral potatoes, so if I am in need of a fatty potato dish again, I'll probably go for this one.

Broccoli-Cheddar Potatoes

4 med. baking potatoes
margarine
sour cream
1 c small broccoli flowerets, cooked and drained
4-5 medium mushrooms, chopped
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c bacon bits

Bake potato 'til tender. Cut in half length-wise. Make slits in potatoe surface w/ knife. Spread w/ butter; top w/ sour cream. Top each w/ broccoli, mushroom, cheese, bacon bits. Bake at 400 degrees til cheese is melted. 4 servings.

I'm guessing this is a pretty old recipe judging by Mom's spelling mistakes. It was only okay. The toppings were all good, but not enough got into the potato, so the actual potato was pretty dry. It would be much better like a twice-baked potato with the extra stuff on top.

Mom's Stew

The scouts went camping last weekend and had a dutch oven cook off. Big Chubb was assigned to make some stew, so I decided this would be a good chance to use this recipe. I ended up making it because Big Chubb had less than an hour between when he got home from school and when he had to leave to go meet at the church. We don't eat stew often because we never have beef. I used some of the venison Dad gave us at Thanksgiving. Plus, if it turned out gross the scouts would be eating it.

I'm not sure which Mom this belongs to, but I don't feel like we ever had stew like this.

Mom's Stew

2 pkg. stew meat
1 green pepper
1 onion
celery
potatoes-4 big
carrots-6 good size
tomato sauce (big) 29 oz.
1 can water
salt
pepper
6 TBLS tapioca
2 bay leaves

Put in lg. casserole. Stir to mix. Cook 5 hours without opening lid. 350 degree oven. Makes a lot!

So it would have been fairly easy to assemble, but we don't have a huge casserole. And, I wasn't about to clean out the dutch oven Big Chubb got from church. So I used our huge stock pot. It seemed to work fine. It started getting stuck to the bottom of the pan, but it was right when Big Chubb was moving over to the Dutch oven to take it, so it didn't get burned. I also had to cut up the venison, which took for ever. Plus, Baby Chubb was screaming at me the whole time, and Little Chubb had been sent to take a nap for being naughty. It was a pleasant afternoon.

Anyway, it was well received by the campers. The leaders all enjoyed it, and some of the scouts (all deacons) who poorly planned their meals were very happy to have some. Big Chubb said it had a very tomato-y base, not like a regular stew that has a much more beefy base. I had forgotten that we were out of celery because Big Chubb ate it all, but he said it wouldn't have changed the flavor profile much.

I forgot to snap a picture before Big Chubb took it away, but just imagine all those veggies in a red broth. It did look pretty with the green and orange and white in the red.

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
8 large potatoes (about 4 pounds), peeled and quartered
  1-1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
  3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  1/4 cup butter, cubed
  1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Place potatoes in a Dutch oven; add 1 teaspoon salt. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Place potatoes in a large bowl. Add the cream, butter, rosemary, nutmeg, pepper and remaining salt; beat until smooth. Yield: 12 servings.

Originally published as Rosemary Mashed Potatoes in Taste of Home February/March 2008, p3

I made these to go with our Sunday dinner. I kind of was laughing about it because who uses a recipe to make mashed potatoes? It was different. The rosemary/nutmeg combo was interesting. I think the nutmeg stood out more than the rosemary, maybe because I used dried rosemary. I will probably make this again sometime, but I think I still prefer basic mashed potatoes. I used an immersion blender to mash them, which was a bad idea. They ended up really sticky.

Corn/Potato Chowder

The is from a little pamphlet called, "People Pleasin' Potatoes For Your Family". Here is a little bit of the information it contains.

The non-irrigated potatoes from the Red River Valley of the North hold moisture within the skin to provide a moist, mealy texture that is delicious. Red River Valley potatoes are excellent for all purposes. Next time ask for red River Valley Potatoes...you will not be disappointed.

Potato Facts
Potatoes are always a good buy! They are nutrient dense and cost only pennies per serving. Potatoes are one of the most economical sources of Vitamin C and iron, also potassium, vegetable protein, and fiber.

A medium potato can furnish 5% of the recommended daily allowance of protein, half of the Vitamin C, 5% of the iron, several of the B vitamins, essential trace minerals, such as copper and magnesium...All for 90-115 calories. POTATOES ARE VIRTUALLY FAT FREE!

Eat Red River Valley Potatoes...The world's most versatile vegetable!


If you want to contact them, I have an address and phone for them. The Red River Valley is located in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.

Now on to the recipe.

3 large red River Valley Potatoes
4 strips bacon
1 onion, chopped
2 cups water
1 can whole kernel corn
3 cups milk
1 small can mushroom stems and pieces
1 green pepper, chopped
1 bay leaf

Dice bacon and fry until crisp. Add chopped onion and cook until tender. Drain and set aside. Peel and dice potatoes and cook in water, lightly salted, until tender. Drain. Add milk and bay leaf and heat slowly, stirring often. When heated, add bacon and onion, corn, mushrooms, and pepper. Salt and pepper to taste. Continue to simmer on low heat until heated through, about 15 minutes, stirring often. Serve with a garnish of bacon bits and grated cheese.


It was okay. I thought it was strange having the green peppers and mushrooms, but that was just me. Big Chubb didn't find it strange. Little Chubb managed to eat it even with the peppers and mushrooms, both of which he doesn't like.

It came together pretty easy, but I already had frozen chopped green pepper and some precooked diced potatoes leftover from our fondue dinner the night before. I was a little confused about whether I should drain the corn, so I didn't and it wasn't quite as thick as I picture a chowder. I also took lots of time heating the milk because a couple mornings ago, I decided to use milk to cook our oatmeal. It scorched badly on the bottom of the pan, and I didn't want to relive that.

Cheese Stuffed Potatoes

This is a simple recipe that looks like it has been around awhile.

Cheese Stuffed Potatoes--8 potatoes

Bake potato 'til tender. Cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides, leaving 1/4 '' shell. Mash potatoes with milk and butter. Stir in 1/2 c sour cream, 1/2 c grated Swiss cheese, 1 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t pepper. Spoon back into shells. Heat in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/4 c shredded Swiss cheese.

Basically, it's fancy twice baked potatoes. I liked them a lot. I used whatever cheese I had (co-jack?) because I only ever buy Swiss cheese in slices. It was good, and it would be good with Swiss cheese, too.

Salmon Mountain Strata

The last time we were in Wisconsin, I, too, bought a 50-lb bag of potatoes. Who wouldn't buy 50 lbs for $7? Big time budget saver. We have worked our way to the end, and I wish we would be going to Wisconsin before Thanksgiving so we could get another 50 lbs, but it won't be happening :( In an attempt to actually make a one of my recipes to put on here, I came across this one, which worked out perfectly because we had everything (minus 6 ounces of salmon) on hand that needed to be used.

1 can (1-lb) salmon
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
4 eggs
2 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 medium Idaho potatoes (6 cups sliced)

In large bowl combine salmon, onion, celery, eggs, milk, 1/2 tsp. salt, dill and pepper; mix well. Pare potatoes and cut into thin slices. Place half of potatoes in greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt and spread half of salmon mixture over potatoes. Repeat with remaining potatoes, salt and salmon. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Yield: 8 servings


Well, I told Big Chubb that I would never make this again. He and Little Chubb gobbled it right up. I ate it because I was desperately hungry.

After cooking it for the time intended, the potatoes were still raw, the onions and celery were still crunchy, and it had a very fishy taste to it even without the entire pound of fish. At least it got rid of some of the ingredients from our house.

Sausage Casserole II

This dinner was... a huge disappointment.  It has pretty good reviews, but while I was putting it together I knew Jacob would need a sauce to go with it.  When it came time to eat, even I needed a sauce to go with it.  The flavors were good, but it was like different foods stirred together, plus the potatoes were dry.  Bleh.  The next day, I made a cheese sauce to mix into it and we both liked that much much better.

Sausage Casserole II

Image from allrecipes

 

 

 

Ingredients:

5 potatoes, sliced 1 onion, sliced 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, undrained

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes 1 pound pork sausage, sliced salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Place potato slices in the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Add onion slices, corn with liquids and tomatoes with liquids. Top with sausage slices and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour or until pork is cooked through.

Broccoli Quiche with Mashed Potato Crust

There is a lovely little spot on our drive to Wausau that has 50 pound bags for sale at the end of the summer and into fall. Last time we drove by I bought some and brought this recipe home to use them up :)

Broccoli Quiche with Mashed Potato Crust

INGREDIENTS:

2 large potatoes, peeled 2 cups chopped fresh broccoli 1/4 cup milk 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 3 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes; drain. Meanwhile, place broccoli in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3.	Mash the potatoes with milk and salt. Brush a deep 9 inch pie dish with olive oil and press the potatoes in. Brush with remaining olive oil. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
4.	Arrange onions, broccoli and cheese in the potato crust. Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour over broccoli and cheese.
5.	Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until slightly puffed and cooked throughout. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

We liked it alright. There are a few changes I would make that would maybe make it even better, mainly using different onions or cooking them a little before putting them in the quiche. We both also would have  liked to have a little more quiche.  And, when it says to use a deep 9" pie pan they really mean it. A regular one was just a touch too small.

One Skillet Corned Beef Hash

Who here likes corned beef? 
I do.  I never thought Jacob would, but apparently he does.  He really does. So I dug around and found five corned beef recipes in my cupboard pile.

Here's the first.

One Skillet Corned Beef Hash, from Allrecipes

Does corned beef ever photograph well?

2 T vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 (12 oz) cans corned beef
1 T ground black pepper
5 T cider vinegar

Directions:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  Saute onions and potatoes until slightly browned, then stir in corned beef.  Season with pepper and add vinegar 1 T at a time, cooking for 3-5 minutes in between each addition.  Partially cover skillet, reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring occassionally, for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

We really liked it!  It was very simple and easy to whip up.  I left the peels on the potatoes, because Jacob has been touting the health benefits of potato peels for weeks now.  I also only added one can of corned beef because a) I didn't read that it needed two, and b) corned beef is expensive!  I didn't miss the extra can, but Jacob said he would have liked it.
It has enough flavor, which I wondered about, and it was definitely filling.  We will make this again, especially if corned beef gets cheaper.

Sun Valley Stuffed Potatoes

I have a little pamphlet from Albertsons titled "The Many Uses of Potatoes". Sometime later, I'll add the little information it gives on potatoes, but right now I want to share what we had for dinner last night.

Sun Valley Stuffed Potatoes

4 Idaho potatoes
1 egg
1/4 c. milk
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1/4 c. finely chopped green pepper
2 tbsp. finely chopped onion
1 c. (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. dried leaf basil

Scrub potatoes, dry and prick with a fork. Bake in 425 degree oven 55 to 65 minutes, until soft. Immediately cut slice from top of each. Carefully scoop out potato without breaking skin. Place potato in a large mixing bowl. Beat in egg, milk, and butter; beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake in 350 degree oven 25 to 30 minutes. Yield: 4 servings

Basically, this is a jazzed up twice baked potato. I was a little skeptical because of the onion and green pepper, but the basil covered the taste of onion and green pepper. They were pretty good, and turned out to be quite filling. However, it takes a good amount of time so you have to be on your game about getting the potatoes in the oven to bake the first time.

Big Chubb enjoyed them and said that just one plus our other food filled him up. Little Chubb was excited to scoop food out of the potato skin and eventually ate a decent amount of it, too.

Meat and Potato Squares

 This is a recipe of the month prepared by Northwestern Public Service Company in May 1990.  The same month I was born in!  So obviously I wanted to make this.

1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1/4 c milk
1 t mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 c bread crumbs
1/c chopped onions
16 oz frozen french fries or hash browns (I made my own)

Combine and mix well the first 8 ingredients.  Put half of potatoes in greased 8x8 pan.  Pat meat mixture in layer over potatoes.  Press remaining potatoes on meat.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cut in squares.



This is basically just meatloaf and potatoes  Fairly tasty though.  I wish there would have been something on top of the dish, like cheese or sauce, but I made do with ketchup.  I probably won't make this again.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

It's the holiday season.  That means vacation to the parents, which in turn means more recipes posted here.  I am too poor/cheap to buy special ingredients needed in a lot of these recipes, but Mom isn't.  So today we had this potato casserole.  I've been wanting it for a long time and it goes well with the ham we had.  It was rich and tasty, but we all decided it was incredibly similar to your average funeral potatoes with extra calories.  So I don't think I would spend the extra money to buy all the ingredients.  Still Good though.

Ingredients:

10 large russet baking potatoes
8 tablespoons, plus one tablespoon butter, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 t salt
1.5 t pepper
3/4 lbs. bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
1/2 lb. sharp white cheddar, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3/4 lb. mild cheddar, grated, 3 cups
1/2 cup finely cut green onions
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.  Scrub potatoes well and rinse under cool running water.  Pat dry with paper towels and prick potatoes in several places with a fork.  Place potatoes in oven and bake for one hour to one hour 15 minutes, or until tender.  Remove from oven and cool enough to handle.
When potatoes have cooled, cut each potatoes in half and, using a spoon or melon baller, scoop flesh out of the skins, leaving as little flesh as possible.  Place potato flesh in large bowl and add 1 stick butter, sour cream, heavy cream, salt, pepper and mash chunky smooth.  Add bacon, cubed white cheddar, half of grated cheese, onions, eggs and mix thoroughly.

Butter a 9x13 casserole with remaining T of butter and reduce oven to 375.  Place seasoned potato mixture in prepared casserole and top with remaining grated Cheddar.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges and heated through and the cheese on top is melted and lightly golden.  Serve hot.

Marinated Wisconsin Russet Potatoes

I have a little pamphlet from the Wisconsin Potatoes Taste Tour. It features potato recipes from Wisconsin chefs. Tonight we had this little dish for dinner. This is what Sous Chef Justin Aprahamian from Sanford in Milwaukee had to say about potatoes:

"Wisconsin potatoes are a natural fit with what we do at Sanford--the freshest ingredients prepared simply and full of flavor. What could be fresher and closer to home than Wisconsin potatoes, grown practically in our backyard by farmers who have been developing and growing great potatoes for generations."

Yield: 2-4 servings (definitely 4)

Ingredients

4 Wisconsin Russet potatoes, washed and cut into julienne slices
1 qt. water
1 cup white vinegar
4 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. crushed chili flakes
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
1. In a medium pan add potatoes, water , vinegar and salt, cokke over medium heat until tender 10 to 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and place in a mixing bowl.
2. Make a well in center of potatoes and add the fresh chopped parsley.
3. In saute pan, heat olive oil, add garlic, chili flakes and pepper. When the oil is hot, pour over parsley to lightly fry it, then mix together with potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

 We thought it was an okay recipe, and I'll probably make it again. It was pretty time consuming to julienne the potatoes. Next time I might just cube them into small enough pieces. Also, I will cut the vinegar and salt in half. The potatoes really soaked in the vinegar taste big time! Ben said they reminded him of salt and vinegar chips. I barely made it through what I had on my plate because the vinegar was SO strong. I didn't know how Russell would like them. I thought with the garlic and the chili flakes it might be too hot for him, but evidenced below he gobbled them right up.

PS. He isn't a shorty anymore. He apparently has had a major growth spurt and is now in the 63% for height. But, he is still chubby....