Twice Baked Potatoes

Another weekend  another birthday party dinner, and of course I overdid it again.  Three appetizers, main course including two salads, two desserts.  It was worth it all though as we had a great time and the food was great.  I was looking for an alternative to my usual mashed potatoes and decided to take the extra steps to make the potatoes special.  Twice baked potatoes have always been a big favorite around here and just placing them on the table gets “ahs” all around.

Baking the potatoes instead of peeling and boiling them adds flavor and texture.  You can buy these pre-made at the grocery but come-on, a few minutes more and your kids will thank you for your effort.  Make a ton because they will disappear fast, and they also freeze nicely.

Flame-roasted asparagus

For those of you who have been readers of this post for a while this may sound like deja vu; but I am a really big fan of asparagus, especially peeled asparagus.  I feel vindicated, as most people think I am insane when I suggest peeling the asparagus.  That is until they try it.  My wife was watching a program on PBS on Saturday about Thomas Jefferson and his garden.  A chef was presenting the ways Jefferson had his food prepared and said he always had his asparagus peeled and then roasted; sometimes serving it as an appetizer on toast with butter.

Asparagus is one of those veggies that even kids seem to like.  For some reason they don’t “fight” eating it like most vegetables.  Besides finding a veggie that the kids eat, think about the positive side of peeling, no more looking through all the asparagus in the grocery  for the really thin ones.  Just walk up and grab the big stuff, trust me on this, you will be amazed at the taste and how tender it is once you have peeled it.  Roasting, either on the grill, in the oven or even in a pan will enhance the taste.

I have one more suggestion when preparing asparagus.  Instead of breaking it to take off the white part, try cutting it just where the green begins.  Peel it, the green part and then cut about (3) 1/2 inch pieces off the bottom.  Put these in a baggie and freeze them.  Sometime in the future when you can’t figure out what to have for a Saturday lunch, pull out the pieces of asparagus, add them to 2 cans of chicken broth, some fresh cracked black pepper and some cream, half and half or even a 1/3 cup of instant potatoes for a great quick soap.

For the first 10 readers who sign up for www.emealsforyou.com using the Sponsoring Identifier PEELER-37 not only will you get $5 off the membership price but I will send you an asparagus peeler for free.

asparagus peeler

Flame Roasted Asparagus

Cut bottom 1 -1 1/2 inch off of stem. Peel, yes I said peel the asparagus. Place in bowl, add oil and salt and pepper. Toss, retain bowl.
On a very hot grill, place asparagus crosswise to grill. Grill for 3 minutes. Remove and place back in bowl, toss with oil remaining in bowl. With a vegetable peeler shave the Romano cheese over the top and serve.

Can be made in grill pan on stove top, cook for 4 minutes.

Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

First of all let me say that my wife insists, maybe that is too strong a word, my wife suggests that scalloped potatoes don’t have any cheese in them.  All well and good for normal scalloped potatoes; in fact we have a couple of different “cheesy” potatoes on our website, emealsforyou.com.  These all bring to mind au gratin potatoes, wonderful just cooked potatoes dripping in gooey cheese sauce, almost a meal unto themselves.

Our Creamy Scalloped Potatoes are just that, creamy, deliciously creamy, with just a hint of cheese.  They appear out of the oven gorgeously golden and unresistable.  Melt in your mouth potatoes with just enough crunch and a hint of thyme.  The best part is they are very simple and quick to make.  Watch these disappear from your family’s plates.  By the way, I didn’t hear anything further on the “no cheese in scalloped potatoes” theme from my wife once she tried these.

P.S. We paired these with slow-roasted ribs, corn relish and finished up with some Bourbon Gelato to welcome in the Fall season.

Fried- Baked Potatoes

I was in the mood for something a little different to go with my healthy grilled chicken breast, maybe I went in the other direction a tad too far; but these are worth the occasional indulgence. The idea came from a recipe Michael Chiarello features in one of his cookbooks. I have taken the liberty to use those smaller baking potatoes that are always left in the bag once you use all the large ones.

They really don’t take much time to prepare if you “nuke” (microwave) the potatoes before frying them. A cross between french fries and baked potatoes your family will really like them; crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. Give them a try when you are stuck with the same old potatoes for dinner.

It’s hard to make a believer out of you without you actually trying the asparagus. I promise you this is the best tasting asparagus you will ever have. The reason lies not in the flame-roasting but in the peeling. That’s right, I said peeling. You see what makes this asparagus stand out from the crowd is that it is peeled prior to cooking. Even my wife struggled with the sanity or is it insanity of this procedure.

So let me tell you why you would go the extra step and peel the asparagus. First of all is the fact that nobody really likes the tough outer skin of the asparagus– it’s a bit stringy isn’t it? You go to the market and you spend time picking through the pile of asparagus to find the skinniest stalks to avoid the problem. Now you get home and you cut off most of the stalk anyway, leaving the tip and maybe a little of the stalk… a little wasteful don’t you think?

Enter the amazing asparagus peeler. A simple device designed to peel only the outer most layer of the stalk leaving you with only the tender, tasteful inner soul. No need to pick through the pile anymore… buy the biggest stalks you can find, peel them and you will be amazed at the taste. I am such an advocate of the asparagus peeler that I am willing to put my money where my mouth is. For the first 10 readers who sign up for www.emealsforyou.com using the Sponsoring Identifier PEELER-37 not only will you get $5 off the membership price but I will send you an asparagus peeler for free.

A quick note about cooking the asparagus, try cooking it on the grill. If you can’t grill it you can cook it in a grill pan on the stove or even just a frying pan or even roast it in the oven on a cookie sheet. The main point is to stop boiling or steaming this wonderful vegetable… once you try our recipe I doubt you will ever go back. The photo shows the asparagus with Oven-dried Tomatoes, the recipe appears under Appetizer here on the blog.

Flame Roasted Asparagus

Cut bottom 1 -1 1/2 inch off of stem. Peel, yes I said peel the asparagus. Place in bowl, add oil and salt and pepper. Toss, retain bowl.
On a very hot grill, place asparagus crosswise to grill. Grill for 3 minutes. Remove and place back in bowl, toss with oil remaining in bowl. With a vegetable peeler shave the Romano cheese over the top and serve.

Can be made in grill pan on stove top, cook for 4 minutes.

From the Backyard Soiree (Picnic Meal Plans) at emealsforyou.com