Potatoes, Potatoes and Potatoes!!

Super Simple Basic Recipee #2 Mashed Potatoes, Baked Potatoes and Oven "Fries"

OK, Laura and I seem to be moving forward on a potato thing, but you cannot get much thriftier than basic potatoes. There are a good source of complex carbohydrates and vitamin C (especially if you eat the skins). Here are some super good, super simple ways to make them.

Homemade Mashed Potatoes (makes 2 very large servings)
*1 pound potatoes (any non waxy type such as russets, idaho, yukon gold etc. Not small red potatoes which are better for cold potato salads). Peel skins and cut in quarters. Place in lukewarm water in a medium saucepan with about 1/4 tsp of salt
*Boil on the stovetop about 25 minutes...maybe a bit longer until a fork easily goes through a potato chunk
*While the potatoes are cooking, get the rest of the ingredients together:
1/3 cup milk, 1 tablespoon butter and salt (to taste..add last). Get something to mash the potatoes with initially and your hand held mixer out.
*When the potatoes are done, quickly drain the water (you don't have to be religious about every drop), add the milk and the butter and smash the potatoes a little to break up the big pieces. Then beat them with your hand held mixer until smooth. Add 1/2 tsp salt initially, more later if you want.
*Serve immediately

This is just the super simple basic recipe. You can easily double, triple, quadruple this recipe. You can add a bit more milk or butter. You can replace the butter with a tablespoon or so of cream cheese (this reduces the saturated fats by quite a bit) or you can add several tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese. You can add a tablespoon of shallots, fresh chives, parsley or green onions at the end.
You can use this basic recipe to refill Laura's hollowed out skins for twice baked potatoes. Carefully remove the insides leaving 1/4 inch of potato and skin and use the mashed potato recipe to refill the skins. Rewarm at 350 F. for 20-30 minutes.


Baked Potatoes
This is why we always eat the skins!!
*Scrub the outsides of a baking type potato (non waxy types) under cool water
*Dry them well, poke several holes in the potatoes with a fork
*Pour a little canola oil into your hand and oil the surfaces of the potato, then roll in salt (I really like coarse or kosher salt)
*Bake for 50-60 minutes in a 350 F oven
(This is also a special way to make twice baked potatoes)

Oven Fries
*Allow a medium sized potato per person, minimum
*Scrub the outsides of your potatoes under cool water
*Cut in half lengthwise, then cut the halves lengthwise. You will now have four pieces which you will slice lengthwise in half again.
*Place in warm water for 10 minutes (this makes the outsides crispy)
*Remove from water and dry with a clean towel
*Toss with 1/2 tablespoon or so of canola oil per potato and lay out in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
*Sprinkle with salt (I really like coarse salt)
*Bake 400 F for about 15-20 minutes

I love these. They have no artificial preservatives, no saturated fat and taste divine. Coarse salt really does taste better on these and can be found in your grocers , usually labeled kosher (least expensive) or specialty (most expensive) Many times, it's the little things that make the difference!!!

Super Simple Recipe #1 ..Medium White Sauce for Mac N Cheese and More

White Sauce for Mac n Cheese, Chicken Pot Pie and More


Medium White Sauce
2 Tbsp butter …….Melted in a medium saucepan over medium heat until just bubbly
2 Tbsp flour ……… Add and stir quickly to blend…Cook one minute
¼ tsp salt
1 cup milk………….Whisk in with a wire whisk or a fork ¼ cup at a time
Cook until thickened….about 3-5 minutes stirring occasionally

This is a very easy basic recipe that can be altered easily as long as you keep the ratio of flour and fat the same. To reduce saturated fats you can successfully replace the butter in a white sauce with 50% olive oil/50% butter. You can use skim milk, 1%, 2% or whole milk. You can also replace up to half of the milk with half and half or cream but do NOT boil it after as the cream will curdle. Warm the half and half/cream on the stove top or in the microwave (carefully!) then add to the rest of the sauce after it is thickened. I often use the cream variation of this sauce in making creamed soups. So with this basic recipe, you can make super simple Mac N cheese( see below), the inside of a Chicken Pot Pie(see below), or with some minor variations, creamed soups, gravies, Alfredo sauce and other delectable goodies. You can even make your own cream of mushroom soup to replace the stuff you by in cans!! Although, honestly, it probably won’t get as far as the casserole…it’s just that good. Creamed soups in a later post, Mac N Cheese for now!


For Homemade Mac N Cheese:
*To the medium white sauce recipe, stir in ½ to 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or cut up into thin pieces if you don’t have a shredder) until it is melted and the sauce is smooth. Then add…….*8 ounces of cooked and drained macaroni noodles (either whole wheat or regular. Any noodle that has some body; shells, spirals, wagon wheels etc). You can begin boiling the noodles right before you make the white sauce and they will cook for 5 minutes while the white sauce is cooking. It’s better if you don’t overcook the noodles

THAT”S IT, that’s all. My kids always called this Mac A Cheese……. It was a favorite for lunch or a super fast easy supper. Your kids will love it, especially if they are not used to the highly salted, over processed stuff AND...you can actually pronounce all of the ingredients in it. You can add a bit more salt if you think you need to, some course ground pepper , a little onion (like a tablespoon or so) or some leftover cut up ham, but you don’t have to. You can vary the cheeses in it. ( If you use strongly flavored cheeses like Parmesan or Romano, use less than a cup.) You may also put this in a casserole and bake it topped with crumbled crackers and a little cut up butter over the top, but again, you really don’t have to.


For Chicken Pot Pie (Chicken A La King as my mother called it)
To the white sauce, add 1 cup cut up leftover chicken, a chicken bouillon cube (I use a package of George Washington Seasoning..it boosts the flavor), 2 -3 Tbsp chopped onion cooked in a little oil for 2-3 minutes with one peeled and chopped carrot and ½ cup frozen peas (add them last because they cook really fast)

TA DA!!! THAT’S IT, that’s all. Serve over toast (easiest) or mashed potatoes (next easiest) OR if you want a real treat, divide into four oven proof bowls and place a square of puff pastry over the top. (super easy, but not super thrifty) Bake in your oven according to the puff pastry directions. If you are ambitious, place inside a pie crust. Now we are not talking easy, but we are talking good.