Journey Into Deliciousness

Hash Brown Quiche

Grade: A

Time it takes: 1 hour and 5 minutes (10 minutes prep, 55 minutes baking) - but don't forget to take your hash browns out of the freezer to thaw before you get started

Yield: 9" quiche

Source: recipe courtesy of Paule Deen via foodnetwork.com (Hash Brown Quiche)

This was one of the other bits I had wanted to make for Christmas breakfast but couldn't muster the energy to accomplish. But, since I had the ingredients on hand anyway, I made it a couple days after Christmas - when I was feeling much more alive.

I've made this quiche before so I already knew it was tasty. I like the salty flavour of the ham and the egg and cheese combo, plus the hash brown crust is the best. I've had quiches before where there is so much packed into it that it loses the egg taste, I prefer a few add-ins so that you can still tell there is egg going on. But, you can always play around with the ingredients based on what you have on hand. Keeping the structure of the recipe but changing up the embellishments. Different cheese, different meat, throw in a veggie for good measure. Plus a quiche is something you can serve to guests because it always looks so nice, and it doesn't have you slaving in the kitchen the whole time.

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Steak Skewers in the Oven

Grade: A (for the steak) C (for the veggies - but a remedy below!)

Time it takes: 40 minutes, plus overnight marinating (10 minutes easy prep, 20-30 minutes baking)

Yield: Enough steak for 5 skewers

Source: Marinade from The Life of Spice - a food blog (steak marinade and steak kabobs); oven baking technique from foodnetwork.com - courtesy of Emeril Lagasse (Ka-Bam Kabobs)

To go along with the chicken fettuccine alfredo, and to satisfy Chris' tastes, I made steak skewers for Christmas Eve dinner. Since I don't really enjoy steak I didn't try any, but Chris said the he loved the steak marinade and they were cooked perfectly. The only thing was that the veggies weren't done enough for him. I was planning on skewering potatoes with the kabobs and then realized they would definitely not have enough time to cook at 10 minutes. Instead I oiled and seasoned the chopped potatoes and put them on a baking sheet in the oven for 45 minutes at 450 and they came out perfectly. Next time I think I will do a baking sheet of all the veggies I would put on the skewers (mushrooms, onion, and bell peppers) and roast them for about 20-30 minutes by themselves, and keep the steak on the skewers exactly the same. A little more juggling in the end, but everything will be done how it should be that way.

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Oven Bundles

Grade: A

Time it takes: 2 hours (30 minutes prep, 1 hour and 30 minutes bake time)

Yield: 1 bundle

Source: My grandmother would make these all the time, and I just follow her example.

This is my go to, make them all the time, super easy and tasty weeknight recipe. There isn't much prep, the ingredients are simple, and you can pop it in the oven and forget about it for a while

You can certainly tweak the recipe to whatever your tastes are and whatever you have on hand. Season your chicken and then add in some vegetables - onion, carrots and potatoes are pretty standard.

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Mini Twice Baked Potatoes

Grade: A

Time it takes: 1 hour and 25 minutes (45 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking)

Yield: About 35

Source: Pennies on a Platter - a food blog (Mini Twice Baked Potatoes)

I actually made these to go along with my BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches. They were seriously good! Whenever I ask what kind of potato side Chris wants for dinner, he usually says twice baked potatoes. And, I am pretty sure I've only made them a few times because I am a bad wife. Before I started this blog I didn't really research recipes, if I didn't know how to make it then it was a pretty good assumption that I wasn't going to make it. Twice baked potatoes were something I only sort of knew the idea behind, but I didn't really know how to make them super yummy. When I saw this recipe while I was reading through Pennies on a Platter's archives, I was like I better save this one for Chris! It didn't stay too long in the favourites folder either when I realized I usually have all the ingredients on hand.

When I read through the directions, I had absolutely no idea what a steam insert was. Actually I think the image in my head was a pasta strainer when I first read it. And, no it  is nothing like that. It is this little flowered metal thing on legs with holes in it! Put a little water in the bottom of a pot, plop the flowered metal thing in the bottom, get some boiling action, and then plop potatoes on top! Easy, no problems. I am so pro at this cooking thing now...

These were not at all hard to make. And, they have such a cute presentation you could bring them with you to a party for an appetizer or a fun side at a cook out. Also, delicious. They were a big hit around these parts. Hot, pototoe-y, cheesy, and bite-sized ... how could you go wrong?

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Less Mayonnaise-y Potato Salad

 
Grade: A

Time it takes: 4 hours (1 hour prep, 3 hours to chill)

Yield: Serves 8

Source: recipe from Brown Eyed Baker - a food blog

I highly enjoy potato salad. However, I had never made it myself. Sadly I did not enjoy this recipe much at all. But, Chris loved it. So, I figured I would put it on here. I would recommend it if you, like Chris, are not a fan of heavy on the mayonnaise potato salad. It did have great flavour and I loved all the ingredients together, but the dressing just wasn't what I was looking for.

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Shepherd's Pie

Grade: B

Time it takes: 3 hours and 10-20 minutes (50 minutes prep, 2 hours slow cooking, 20-30 minutes baking)

Yield: Serves 4-6

Source: adapted from a recipe at cooks.com

Another inspired recipe from our wedding. Chris ordered the shepherd's pie for lunch at Epcot's Rose & Crown pub. It was the best shepherd's pie either of us have ever tasted - it made me wish I had ordered it as well instead of fish and chips. I tried to find the recipe for it online somewhere, but alas I could not. I knew that it was made with lamb, which if it is called shepherd's pie it is suppose to be made with lamb while it turns into cottage pie if it is made with beef (the internet told me so), and I knew it had carrots. Not really that helpful of information, but I searched for recipes that were traditional English recipes with lamb and carrots.

It was a tad annoying searching for shepherd's pie and coming up with cottage pie 85% of the time - people, name your dishes correctly! Cooks.com is not the most helpful recipe site either, and especially not for the particular recipe I found. All the comments were just random discussion of shepherd's pie vs cottage pie and cheese usage in international cuisine. There were pages on pages of that crap, and I did not find one useful post about the recipe...was it good? did anybody make any changes? any tips? Nothing! It was the most promising recipe I had found though, so I decided to make it.

I wanted to make individual shepherd's pies for everybody - there were six to feed. Along with the scotch eggs, I brought this to the British themed feast. The recipe I used did not have a serving size, so I doubled it and hoped for the best. I used little disposable foil dishes, and doubling the recipe was not enough to fill each with the amount I had desired. Atty and I evenly distributed all of the meat mixture into each and it worked, but I really wished it had been thicker. Next time, I would use the doubled amount and put it into just four dishes.

The shepherd's pie turned out quite tasty, but not as good as the one from Rose & Crown pub at Epcot. If I hadn't had the one from Rose & Crown I am pretty sure I would have loved the one I made, but I know it can be better. I think I need to head over to Epcot and butter up the chef for the recipe!

I am going to post the recipe exactly as I made, in the doubled amount.

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Potatoes Au Gratin

 

Grade: A

Time it takes: 2 hours (30 minute prep, 1 hour and 30 minutes cooking)

Yield: Serves 6

Source: adapted from this here recipe I found over at allrecipes.com

I've sort of made potatoes au gratin before. And by sort of, I mean tossed potatoes and cheese plus random other things into a dish and baked it with the outcome of something not really that good and definitely not resembling potatoes au gratin. This time I decided to go the smart-person route of finding a recipe, especially after repeated failures. Sometimes the toss random things together and call it a meal works, and other times not so much.

Man, what was I thinking not using a recipe - this was fantastic! Had just the right amount of crispy and tasted mmm mmm good. I mean it is hard to go really wrong with cheese and potatoes, but this one went so right! And, bonus tasted like potatoes au gratin.

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Oven Baked Potato Wedges

Grade: A

Time it takes: 1 hour and 20 minutes (15 minutes prep, 30 minute soaking, 35 minutes cooking)

Yield: Serves 2-4 (Depends on how many potato wedges you want - I make this amount for just Chris and me)

Source: adapted from Annie's Eats - a food blog (recipe)

I love french fries. They are little magical golden carbs of deliciousness. Whenever I make potato wedges in the oven they turn out okay - pretty good, but not nearly as magical as the sinfully yummy fast food fries. I saw this technique while browing through Annie's Eats, and knew I wanted to see how they turned out. I even made them the same day that I saw the recipe because I was so excited for them.

Ooooh they were so good. They were crispy while still being soft inside - my potato wedges are never crispy. And, they were done in a lot less time. So, quicker and better equals my new go to potato wedge recipe. They are a smidge more work, as in you have to take off some foil and flip em, but I think I can handle that. And, they aren't fried in all that oil!

But, don't forget to soak them in water beforehand.

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Parmesan Potato Balls

Grade: B

Times it takes: 1 hour and 3 minutes (30 minutes prep plus 15 minutes to form the balls, 18 minutes cooking)

Yield: 2 dozen balls

Source: A recipe on food.com I found via ...and a cookie for dessert - a food blog

When my brother-in-law and his fiance came down for our wedding we all went out to a local Irish pub one night. For an appetizer we got a sampler that included potato balls, and they were out of this world. I'd never had them before - or heard of them, I wasn't even sure what they were when they got to the table. I'd nearly forgotten about them until I found this recipe for potato balls while perusing food blogs, so I bookmarked it to try.

They turned out decently well, I liked the flavour the onion soup mix brought to the table. They just weren't as fantastic as the ones we had at the Irish pub. Chris thought they needed to be a little crispier; for one thing these were baked and the ones at the pub were fried. Forming the mashed potatoes into balls was rather messy - you know, its soft and gets all over your hands. But, they are such a fun side dish and it has the advantage of being baked instead of fried, which is a little healthier and easier.

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