Sweet Potato Breakfast Biscuits

Every once in awhile, it's fun to have breakfast for dinner. We don't do big breakfasts a lot- usually only on Mondays when it's Hubby's day off and we have a leisurely morning. Otherwise, it's a bran muffin and greek yogurt for me and cold cereal for him. Aren't we exciting?

So anyway, that's why I've decided Saturdays are now "breakfast for dinner night". There are just too many great breakfast foods to pass up, so they're moving to the night shift!

Our first in the Saturday breakfast series this month is a recipe from one of my favorite blogs, How Sweet It Is- she always cracks me up and leaves me drooling with her quirky humor and drop-dead-gorgeous photos. This recipe was no exception! Stuff a little bit of sweet potato in a fluffy, tender biscuit, top with pristine poached eggs, bacon (of course), cheese and whatever else your little heart desires, and you've got yourself a mighty tasty breakfast sandwich.

Putting the amazing flavor and texture of a sweet potato in a biscuit is pure genius, and of course, I am a little bit obsessed with poached eggs these days so we know that was a major attraction. There is just something so totally irresistible about those pretty little white packages that spill forth golden goodness at the slightest invitation. Sigh.

Sweet Potato Breakfast Biscuits

(printable version)

adapted slightly from How Sweet It Is

makes 10 biscuits

1 medium sweet potato, cooked and mashed

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 TB sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

6 TB butter, cold and cut into small pieces

1/2 cup milk

To make breakfast biscuits add poached eggs, bacon, cheese and spread of choice

Preheat oven to 425.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine. Add butter and use a pastry blender to cut in till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk and sweet potato, using your hands if necessary, to blend dough together. 

Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/2 in. thickness. Cut using a floured glass or biscuit cutter and place onto a baking sheet. Bake 10-12 min. or until biscuits are puffy and golden. While biscuits are baking, prepare your breakfast sandwich ingredients. Assemble and enjoy!

Spiraled Squash and Potato Bake

Don't you just love yummy beautiful food? Some foods taste delicious and look awful, and sometimes foods don't live up to their looks in the taste department. This pretty dish, however, is a winner on both counts. It looks lovely, veggies curled in a lovely spiral, and tastes fabulous as well.

The idea for this side dish has been floating around Pinterest for awhile, and I think it's actually called a "tian" or something like that, and includes tomatoes. I used golden potatoes, zucchini, and yellow crook neck squash in my version, but I have a feeling experiments involving summer squash, sweet potatoes, red potatoes and/or tomatoes, would be awesome!

Spiraled Squash and Potato Bake

(printable version)

serves about 4 as a side

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 of a med. yellow onion, diced

about 2 golden potatoes, sliced thin

about 1 med. zucchini, sliced

about 1 yellow squash, sliced

shredded Parmesan cheese

olive oil

thyme

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over med. heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until fragrant and transparent, a few minutes.

Lightly grease a pie pan or other round dish. Spread onion and garlic mixture on bottom of pan.

Arrange vegetables in pan, layering in a fairly tight spiral, alternating potatoes and squash. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme, and cover with foil. Bake about 35 min.

Remove foil and sprinkle with Parmesan. Return to oven and bake another 25-30 min. or until browned and potatoes are tender.

Hasselback Potatoes

When I first saw Hasselback potatoes on Pinterest, I was intrigued! They are a beautiful, flavor-filled version of the baked potato (and I guess the name originated in Sweden).

The method of slicing the potato almost all the way through and then baking produces a texture that is crispy toward the top (almost like chips) and soft nearer to the bottom of the potato. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and stuff some garlic in the cracks...mmmm...

What a great new way to serve potatoes!

Hasselback Potatoes

(printable version)

adapted slightly from Seasaltwithfood

makes as many as you want!

potatoes (I used golden), 1 per person

1 clove garlic per potato, peeled and thinly sliced

olive oil

butter

sea salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Wash each potato and thinly slice almost, but not all the way, through. 

Stuff slices of garlic in the crevices.

 Place potatoes on a baking sheet and top each one with little bits of butter. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake about 40 min. or until skin is crispy and flesh is soft.

Best Ever Potato Salad

So. Potato salad...it seems like one of those foods where everyone has one that they claim is the best. Grandma's perhaps. Or Aunt So-and-So's. Or your best friend's mother's. Whoever it is that makes the quintessential salad, we're always sure they've got the corner on the market. For me it is a lady in our church- her traditional potato salad is heavenly (and mind you, these comments are coming from a girl who is a very recent potato salad convert!) and I, unfortunately, have never secured the recipe.
However, having given a shout-out to my favorite traditional rendering, I have to tell you about the salad that blew my traditional socks off. I bumped into it on the internet one day while searching for the perfect recipe to co-star with a grilled cheese sandwich (tune-in May 7 to read all about that delicious episode!). I had potato salad on the brain and was on the hunt for the perfect recipe (I think I'd only made it once before and not very well). When I came across this "Best Ever Potato Salad" it had two things in particular going for it:
1) Challenge was calling my name with the "Best Ever" title tacked on there.
2) It came from the Brown Eyed Baker, who has won my respect through one delicious recipe after another.

The main problem confronting me was the fact that it called for red potatoes, which I was sure I had none. After berating myself for not buying some on my last shopping trip and searching a bit more, unsuccessfully trying to rid the "Best Ever" salad from my mind, I decided to take a culinary leap of faith and make the salad using regular old russets. To my great delight and surprise, upon entering the pantry I found not only a stack of russets, but a bag of reds as well- it seems I had not failed myself at the grocery store after all.
After this, the fact that I had no celery or green pepper seemed inconsequential. I boldly chose instead another green item- a pickle. Pickles are often used in potato salad, I thought, so why not? It worked perfectly, in fact, I think I'm going to keep it that way in my version.
The absolute best part of this salad is the inclusion of, yes, you guessed it...BACON. And, even better, the dressing is mixed in the pan with the bacon drippings!!

 I can testify, this step gives the salad a whole new dimension- this bold, bacony flavor pervading all. This recipe truly would not be worthy of the "Best Ever" category without the bacon. On second thought, what recipe would?
So, be brave and skip Mom's (or Grandma's...or whoever's) salad, just for tonight (but be forewarned- it's addicting!). And don't be surprised if your bold and delicious potato salad doesn't go down in the books as the new "Best Ever Potato Salad" on the block.

Best Ever Potato Salad

(printable version)

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

makes 6-8 servings

4 cups cubed red potatoes

1 TB olive oil

10 slices turkey bacon (if using pork bacon, reserve 2 TB drippings in the pan and omit olive oil)

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 TB dijon mustard

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

2 baby dill pickles, chopped

In sauce pan, cover potatoes with water and boil until fork tender, 8 to 10 min.

Fry bacon in olive oil until crisp. Remove and blot with paper towels. Crumble or chop.

Add mayonnaise, mustard, sugar and salt to bacon drippings and oil in pan. Stir until smooth, scraping pan to include bacon bits.

In a large bowl, combine potatoes, eggs, pickles and dressing. Stir to coat. Stir in bacon.

Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

Baked French Fries

I know the trend of "baked, not fried"potatoes (not to mention other vegetables, chicken and donuts!) has been going on for quite some time now, but just in case you're like me and have valiantly given it your all and still struggle with the crispiness factor, this french fry recipe is for you. It packs all the natural deliciousness of a potato without the added fat and mess of frying in oil BUT...here's the great part! The fries are actually crispy! I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a blog called Lukas Volger's Veggie Madness that made the claim that these are the "perfect" baked french fries. He goes on to share his secrets to crispiness, and after trying it, I can attest to the fact- this is what my baked fries have been lacking!

The first tip is to soak the fries (potato sticks, at this point) in water prior to cooking. Supposedly this washes off some of the potato's natural starch, resulting in a crispier outside.

Ready to be soaked!

Coated with oil

The second tip is to preheat the baking sheet before loading it with fries- thus the fries instantly begin to cook when they hit the hot sheet.
With these tips duly followed, my result was delicious, crisp, crunchy french fries! I am so pleased to have a great go-to recipe for fries that tastes great and doesn't involve hot oil!!

Perfect Baked French Fries

(printable version)

by Lukas Volger's Veggie Madness

4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed

3 TB oil (canola, vegetable or peanut recommended for best results)

salt

Preheat oven to 450.

Meanwhile, cut potatoes into 1/4 in. matchsticks. Place the cut fries into a bowl and cover with cold water. Let stand 15 minutes as the oven preheats.

Drain the potatoes, then cover with water once more and drain thoroughly. Spread potatoes on a tea towel or paper towels and pat dry, soaking up as much water as possible.

Dry out the mixing bowl the fries had been in and return them to it. Toss with oil and salt.

Place the baking sheet in the oven for about 5 minutes to preheat it.

With an oven mitt, remove baking sheet and splash with oil, tilting to coat. Add the fries (watch out! It will sizzle!) and quickly arrange in a single layer.

Bake about 40 min. until browned, checking every 15 min. or so to toss with a spatula. When done, sprinkle with more salt and serve with favorite dipping sauce.

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

I'm so excited! This is my first post with the Crazy Cooking Challenge! November's theme is mashed potatoes, so I scoured the blogosphere for a new and tasty recipe. I adore mashed potatoes. I have recently discovered that I love mashed red potatoes. With the skins on?

And lots of yummy stuff added?

Mmm. I thought it sounded delicious to add cream cheese to the already delightful potatoes, so I searched for a recipe containing that, as well as one limited to the ingredients I possessed (we aren't close to a grocery store and I didn't find my recipe before our shopping trip...). Finally I found a yummy looking recipe on a blog called La Phemme Phoodie. Unfortunately, the recipe called for chive and onion cream cheese (which I'm sure is delicious, but which I did not have!), so I tweaked it just a bit. Since the chive and onion flavor would be missing, I added a couple of cloves of garlic to the boiling potatoes to compensate.

These potatoes are delicious and rich, including milk, butter, sour cream and cream cheese! They are smooth and creamy, and the addition of the cream cheese adds a delightful tang. I cannot accurately call them "Chive & Onion Mashed Potatoes" as she does, but they were delicious nonetheless!! They were a perfect compliment to our cider pork roast and green beans, and they would be more than welcome at our Thanksgiving table in just a few weeks!

Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
(printable version)

adapted from "Chive & Onion Mashed Potatoes" by La Phemme Phoodie

2 lb. small red potatoes, quartered

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. sour cream

1 tub (8 oz.) cream cheese

2-3 garlic cloves, halved

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, garlic and bay leaf. Cook until potatoes are tender, but still firm, about 10 min. Drain and place in a large bowl (or simply return to pan- not over heat)- remove bay leaf.

Combine potatoes with butter, milk, sour cream, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Mash together until smooth and creamy (or desired consistency).

Serves 8 (I halved it for the two of us and we had about a cup leftover)

Chunky Mashed Red Potatoes

Homemade mashed potatoes must be the top of the list for savory comfort food. Some boxed potatoes have a wonderful flavor and consistency, but none I have tasted come close to the amazing texture and flavor of a good batch of the homemade variety. I have been making mashed potatoes from scratch since I was a young teen, but I recently tried a new variation! I absolutely love the flavor and texture of red potatoes, so I switched out my usual russets for a handful of reds. I left the skin on, added a few special ingredients, and I have to say, they were amazing!! Feel free to tweak the flavors to your liking, but give these heavenly potatoes a try alongside your next barbecued pork, chicken or beef!

Chunky Mashed Red Potatoes
(printable version)

a KitchenJoy original recipe

serves about 6

5-6 small or medium size red potatoes, washed and cubed (skin on)

1/4 cup butter

1/4-1/2 cup of milk

garlic powder

salt

pepper

shredded parmesan-reggiano cheese (about 1/4 cup)

Place potatoes in pot, cover with water, sprinkle water with a bit of garlic powder; boil about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain potatoes; mash slightly with potato masher or pastry cutter.

Add milk, butter and garlic powder to taste, blend until slightly smooth (leave some chunks) with electric blender. Stir in salt, pepper and cheese to taste.