Recipe #23: The best mashed potatoes you'll EVER eat

Not a big story to tell here, since I think the title is pretty self explanatory. When we go out to eat, I almost always prefer mashed potatoes to french fries. I've just had too many mediocre fries that left me wishing I had picked a different side. I've had some good mashed potatoes, but few that really had all the flavor I would have wanted. So, I just had to make my own.

The Best Mashed Potatoes You'll Ever Eat

Cook time: 1 hour
Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
2 lbs. red bliss potatoes
1 stick salted butter
8 ounces sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
6 cloves of garlic, minced*
water for boiling
fresh or dried chives for garnish (optional)

Tools
large pot for boiling
potato masher

Boil water and add potatoes. Continue boiling for 45 minutes. If potatoes are not fork tender, continue for another 15 minutes and check again. Continue boiling until tender.



Once potatoes are done, remove them from the pot and discard the water. Turn off heat.

Place potatoes back into the hot pot, and begin to mash. Add butter, in chunks of a few tablespoons at a time. Continue mashing and mixing until potatoes have absorbed the butter.



Add garlic to pot, and mix. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add sour cream, salt and pepper. Serve warm, and top with fresh chives.



*Comments:
-Garlic: I don't usually use fresh garlic when I cook, unless it's going to be almost raw in the dish. What I use instead is a huge jar of Spice World minced garlic. It saves me the time of having to chop (and have my hands smell like) garlic for any given recipe. For this recipe, if you use the jarred garlic, use three tablespoons.

Enjoy!

Recipe #11: Rustic Dinner Omelette for Two

Sometimes there's nothing better than breakfast for dinner. Most weekends, we try to get as much sleep as we can to catch up for what we've missed during the week, and I'm rarely in the mood to get up and make a big breakfast. But this omelette, aside from being delicious, is so hearty that you can eat it for pretty much any meal. Just a note, when I say you need a cup of "meat" below, I'm purposely leaving it indiscriminate. I used leftover pork from when I made carnitas (if you want that recipe, I got it here and it came out delicious. The only difference was that my supermarket didn't have pork butt, so I used shoulder). You can use pork, , chicken, sausage (Italian, breakfast, turkey, tofurkey... anything you like), or even ground beef if that's more up your alley. Use what you have around. That's the great thing about this recipe -- most of the ingredients are things you probably already have laying around your house. Enjoy!


Rustic Dinner Omelette for Two

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
4 strips maple-flavored bacon (about 1/4 pound)
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cups diced potatoes
3 slices of pickled jalapenos*
6 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese*
2 scallions*
5 tablespoons butter
1-2 cups meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc. as mentioned above)

Tools
large skillet*

Preheat oven to 375. Cook bacon to crisp, remove from pan to drain but do not discard liquid. Add potatoes and onions and cook til soft and translucent (about 10 minutes). Add two tablespoons of butter to pan, cook another 2 minutes. Add meat and bacon, cook for 5 minutes.



While this is cooking, crack 6 eggs into a mixing bowl, scramble. Add milk, cheese and scallions, mix.



Remove skillet from direct heat, allow to cool for two minutes. Add milk/eggs mixture to skillet, fold together carefully but do NOT stir. Top with small amount of cheese.



Place skillet directly in oven for 25 minutes. When time has passed, turn oven off, remove pan and top with three pats of butter. Place back into the oven for 3-5 minutes or until butter melts.



Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. Serve with side of sour cream (optional).

*Comments:
-Jalapenos: This just gives it a little kick. If you don't like the spice, you don't have to use them. Also, if you don't have a jar of the pickled variety around, use about a tablespoon of minced fresh jalapeno.

-Cheese: This doesn't have to be perfect, so don't bother measuring it out. Use about a handful and a half of cheese.

-Scallion: Also known as a green onion, some people think you shouldn't use the green part of a green onion. To me, that's ridiculous. It all tastes the same, and it gives the dish brightness. They're oniony but mild, and cook perfectly into this.

-Skillet: You don't need a huge pan for this -- nothing wok-sized required. My skillet was 10 inches.

Enjoy!