This Potato and Ham au Gratin is a fabulously tasty way to use leftover ham and stretch it into more servings than could be achieved by simply plating the meat. Any time this can be done, it provides relief to the grocery budget and provides another main meal option. Continue reading Potato and Ham au Gratin Recipe
A traditional Irish mashed potato dish, Colcannon Potatoes were a staple of the Irish working class for centuries. Made with the simple ingredients of mashed potatoes, cabbage, milk or cream, and butter, additional seasonings such as onion, garlic, and bacon may also be incorporated into dish. Continue reading Colcannon Potatoes Recipe
These tasty Tuna Stuffed Potatoes are the full meal deal. With a filling of potato, tuna, egg, and cheese, all encased in potato shells, these twice-baked potatoes make a great lunch all on their own. Continue reading Tuna Stuffed Potatoes Recipe
Duchess Potatoes are one of the most elegant ways to serve mashed potatoes. To make this recipe, the cooked potatoes are traditionally pushed through a potato ricer (like the one in the photo below) which removes all lumps and makes the potatoes very light and fluffy. Alternatively, if you don’t have a potato ricer, a food mill could be used or the potatoes can be mashed really well with a potato masher but, with the potato masher, they won’t be quite as smooth and fluffy as when riced. Continue reading Decadent Duchess Potatoes
Living in a province known for its potato production, it’s almost inevitable that potatoes are served at many meals on PEI dinner tables. There are any number of ways this versatile veggie can be served and, later in this posting, you’ll find links to some of my favorite potato recipes.
Roasted Potato Stacks are my latest creation involving potatoes. They are very tasty and do plate quite attractively. They are also suitable for serving at buffets.
Because these potato stacks are free-standing when cooked and removed from the muffin cups, they need to be able to stand on their own when plated. The goal is also to see the individual slices of the potato. I recommend choosing potatoes that have a medium starch content, are semi-waxy, and have somewhat firm flesh such as Yukon Gold, or an all-purpose round white potato variety. These are the types of potatoes that will hold their shape after cooking and when plated and they can take the higher heat at which the stacks are roasted without falling apart or becoming mushy. Choosing potatoes that have good moisture content also helps to keep the roasted potato stacks moist. Potatoes high in starch and low in moisture don’t hold their shape as well and tend to break down easier than less starchy or waxy potatoes. For this reason, they are not as suitable for these Roasted Potato Stacks as are their semi-waxy cousins. Select potatoes, about 2” around, so that, when sliced very thinly, they will easily fit flatly in muffin tin cups.
The key to making these Roasted Potato Stacks is to have the potato slices very thin and uniformly sized. I have tested my recipe with three different thicknesses of potatoes – 1/16”, 3/16”, and 1/8” and my preference is 3/16” as the layers of individual potato slices in each stack are still intact and identifiable when fully roasted but they are not so thick as to cause issues getting them cooked.
I recommend using a mandolin for quick and uniform slicing. I have a dandy hand-held mandolin that is slick and easy for this kind of work and it saves the set up of my larger mandolin or the trials, tribulations, and time to thinly slice the potatoes by hand.
Made with seasoned butter and a blend of cheeses, these delectable easy-to-make roasted potato stacks are a great side dish or appetizer.
[Printable recipe follows at end of posting]
Ingredients:
2¼ lb potatoes, peeled, washed, and dried (e.g., Yukon Gold or all-purpose round white variety)
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp liquid chicken bouillon
1 tsp garlic salt
¾ tsp onion powder
2 tsp fresh lemon thyme, chopped
2 tsp fresh parsley, minced
Pinch nutmeg (optional)
½ – ¾ tsp fine sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
½ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
3 tbsp Cheddar Cheese, finely grated
1 tbsp whole milk or cream
3 – 4 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
Paprika (for sprinkling tops of stacks)
Fresh thyme sprigs for garnish
Method:
Position oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.
Butter eight (8) regular-sized non-stick muffin cups with butter. Set aside.
In small, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the olive oil, liquid chicken bouillon, garlic salt, onion powder, thyme, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir well to mix. Stir in the Parmesan and Cheddar cheeses along with the milk or cream.
Choose potatoes that are not overly starchy and that will hold their shape after cooking – e.g., Yukon Gold or an all-purpose round white variety. Select potatoes the size that, when sliced horizontally, the slices will easily fit flat into the muffin cups. Using a mandolin, slice potatoes horizontally into slices 3/16” thick. Place half the potato slices in large bowl. Add half the mixed butter, seasonings, and cheese ingredients. Using hands, toss the potatoes in the mixture until the slices are well coated. Add the remaining potato slices and butter mixture and continue mixing until the potato slices are coated with the mixture. Either create the stacks of potatoes in hands and place in buttered muffin cups or individually stack the potato slices directly in the muffin tin cups, stacking the slices as evenly as possible until they are about ¾ – 1” above the muffin cup rims. The stacks will shrink a bit during the roasting but building them a little higher than the muffin cup rim will ensure a good sized potato stack when cooked.
Roast the potato stacks for about 25 minutes, then sprinkle each stack with additional grated Parmesan cheese and a light sprinkle of paprika. Roast for 20 minutes longer, or until the tops of the potato stacks are golden and crispy, and a skewer or thin knife inserted in center of a stack indicates potatoes are tender and cooked through. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes then carefully run the tip of a knife around the perimeter of each muffin cup to ensure the potato stacks are loose for easy removal. With the aid of a fork, or soup spoon, and the tip of the knife, carefully remove each potato stack and serve immediately sprinkled with additional finely-grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
Yield: 8 potato stacks (Suggested serving size – 2 stacks per person)
Decadent Duchess Potatoes
Twice Baked Potatoes
Best Creamy Scalloped Potatoes
Bistro Style Potato Patties
Potato Salad
Yield: 8 potato stacks (Suggested serving size – 2 stacks per person)
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I love a bowl of rich Irish Stew any time of the year but, for certain, I will make it around St. Patrick’s Day! It’s a filling and tummy-warming stew that is always a welcome sight on the dinner table. Continue reading My Island Bistro Kitchen’s Irish Stew
It’s inevitable, when you live in Prince Edward Island, that you’ll eat a lot of potatoes and find creative ways in which to serve them, including these PEI Potato Patties. That’s because there are lots and lots of spuds grown on our little Island with the rich red soil on Canada’s east coast. Continue reading Bistro Style Potato Patties
When you live in Prince Edward Island, Canada, where potatoes are one of the main agricultural crops, you find lots of ways to serve potatoes. Twice-baked Potatoes, or stuffed baked potatoes, are one of my all-time favorites. I make up big batches of these and freeze them so they are always on hand, ready to be popped in the oven for dinner. Continue reading Twice-baked Potatoes Recipe
One of my very favorite ways to present potatoes is in the form of Scalloped Potatoes. A mixture of potatoes, onions, and milk along with a bit of seasoning and grated cheese make this a great comfort food dish any time of the year. My mother often made scalloped potatoes sometime on the weekend and made enough that we’d have leftovers for dinner a day or two later. To this day, I still believe that this is one dish that is better a day or two after it is made as the flavours really settle in. Continue reading Best Creamy Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
We are familiar with cakes made with vegetables like carrot and zucchini. However, have you ever heard of potato cake?
We Islanders like our spuds, there is no doubt about it. Potatoes are a very versatile vegetable and can be prepared and served in many different ways but have you ever heard of having them for dessert? Well, combine potatoes with chocolate and some light spice seasoning and you have a really tasty cake.
What follows is my creation of a recipe for chocolate potato cake. This is a fairly dense-textured cake so don’t look for it to have the same “foggy” and fluffy texture of a typical chocolate cake mix out of a box! Despite the two cups of sugar in the recipe, it is not overly or sickeningly sweet. The potatoes are cooked and mashed really well before adding them to the cake batter. It is important that they be lump-free as, otherwise, you will have lumps in the cake batter. The mashed potatoes should be warm when added to the batter.
You may find two or three of the ingredients different in this cake recipe. For example, I have added a pinch of cayenne pepper because I find it enhances the depth of the chocolate flavor. The key, of course, is not to overdo it – if you add too much, there will be excessive “heat” in the cake….just a pinch is all it takes. The addition of the espresso powder is also another good way to draw out the flavor of the cocoa and lend a mocha flavor to the cake. I have quite a collection of balsamic vinegars from our local Liquid Gold store here in Charlottetown. One of them is the dark chocolate balsamic vinegar which is delicious when simmered on the stove, reduced down, and drizzled over ice cream. If you have never tried a good quality balsamic vinegar reduction in this way, you are missing out on a delectable treat. I added 1/2 tbsp of this balsamic vinegar to the chocolate cake batter. This is a chocolate all-the-way cake!
I recommend baking this cake in a 10″ tube or bundt cake pan. These pans have a hollow tube in the center of the pan and this allows dense-batter cakes to rise and bake more evenly. There is also less chance of the cake falling in the middle or the outsides of the cake baking too quickly and drying out before the centre of the cake is baked.
The key to making this cake is not to overbake it. Start checking it at about the 40-45-minute baking point. If a cake tester does not come out clean at that point, continue to bake it but check it every 4-5 minutes. If it overbakes, it will be dry.
Chocolate Potato Cake
2½ cups flour
¼ tsp salt
2¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
pinch cayenne
⅔ cup cocoa
¾ cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup warm mashed potatoes
½ cup milk
1½ tsp espresso powder dissolved in ⅓ cup hot water
2 tbsp Swiss Chocolate Almond Liqueur (or your favorite coffee liqueur)
½ tbsp dark chocolate balsamic vinegar (optional, but good)
1½ tsp vanilla
Method:
Assemble ingredients.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line bottom of 10” tube pan with parchment paper. Grease or spray cooking oil on sides of pan.
Sift or whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne, and cocoa. Set aside.
In separate bowl, combine the brown and white sugars.
In bowl of stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy (2-3 mins on medium-high speed).
Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well to incorporate after each addition.
Add the mashed potatoes and beat on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes until batter is smooth.
Add the coffee, liqueur, balsamic vinegar, and vanilla to the milk to make 1 cup of liquid. (Note – if you choose not to add the liqueur and/or balsamic vinegar, replace them with milk so that the liquid measurement equals 1 cup.)
Add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the liquid ingredients, starting and ending with the flour mixture (process is three additions of dry ingredients to two of liquid), mixing well after each addition.
Scrape sides of bowl with spatula as necessary to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
Pour batter into prepared tube pan.
Bake for apx. 40-55 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean and the cake springs back to a light touch. Do not overbake or cake will be dry.
Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ice with your favorite frosting.
Enjoy!
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