Potato Palooza! Some Of My Favorite Potato Recipes!

We eat a lot of potatoes in this house. I’ve always been a FAN of this starchy tuber, but when No. 2 son was diagnosed with Celiac’s disease a few years ago, potatoes took on a whole new meaning! All I can say is thank goodness for potatoes! There are few vegetables more versatile than the humble potato. It’s delicious fried, baked, boiled, mashed, pureed, roasted, scalloped, and pretty much any other way you can think of. They’re also super cheap and good for you! (As long as you’re not just eating them in “french fry” form). They might just be the perfect food! 🙂 Well, maybe not….but they sure are a lifesaver and a crowd-pleaser in our family.

Recently I have adopted some new recipes into my potato repertoire that I think you are all going to love! I actually started this post quite awhile ago after I discovered “Hasselback Potatoes”, but just as I would get ready to post it I would find another potato recipe I wanted to try! I’m up to four new potato preparations now and I think I’d better post it before the list gets too out of hand.

Let’s start with the Hasselback Potatoes because I think this would make an elegant (not to mention delicious) holiday dinner side dish!

Hasselback Potatoes

adapted from Pham Fatale

Ingredients

• 6 red potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and brush with olive oil.
• For the garlic-flavored butter: Mix the minced garlic and melted butter with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Wash the potatoes (no need to peel). Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5-6 minutes. The potatoes should still be firm. Drain.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut off a thin slice on one side to create a base, then starting from one end of the potato, cut almost all the way through, at about 1/8 inch intervals.
• Place the potatoes on the greased baking pan. Fan the slices of each potato apart and pour 1 – 2 teaspoons of garlic butter over each potato, making sure to get some in between each slice. Sprinkle with some more kosher salt and pepper.
• Transfer back into the hot oven and roast for about 45 minutes at 425°, or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft.

I would be hard-pressed to choose a favorite out of these four potato delicacies…but if I were absolutely FORCED to choose…I would probably have to choose these. The parmesan “crust” on these potatoes is SO tasty. You’ll see what I mean when you try them! Oh…and they’re are SO simple to make! Another major plus factor!

Parmesan Baked Potato Halves

adapted from Fav Family Recipes

Ingredients

• 6 small potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter and pour into a 9×13 inch pan and spread evenly across the bottom. Sprinkle parmesan cheese, garlic powder and seasoning salt over the butter. Place potato halves face down on the butter and seasonings. Place in preheated oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing from pan with tongs. Serve on a plate with a side of sour cream for dipping.

When I took these out of the oven I thought there was no way that the stuff I put on the bottom of the pan was going to create a crust, but sure enough, it did! A mighty TASTY crust!

This recipe is the one I made most recently. I was making steaks for dinner and to me steak must ALWAYS be paired with a potato of some sort. However, I was kind of tired of the same old baked potato as a side dish, so I decided to try this recipe I had seen on Pinterest. When I tracked it down I was less than inspired by its’ name “Yukon Gold Potatoes”. It really did nothing to describe these “crispy on the outside yet fluffy on the inside” mini potatoes. Unfortunately I couldn’t come up with a much better name. I call them…..

Potatoes Cooked in Chicken Broth

Ingredients

• 3 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 to 3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves

Directions

Place the potatoes in a deep skillet and add salt and pepper, to taste. Cover potatoes halfway with chicken stock, about 3 cups, add the butter and cover skillet with a lid. Cook the potatoes in the stock until almost tender, about 5 to 10 minutes, depending upon the size of the potatoes. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the stock evaporates. Now “pop” each potato using a ladle or large spoon, creating a small crack in each, but do not smash. Allow the potatoes to brown on each side, and re-season with salt and pepper, if desired. Place onto a serving platter, garnished with the parsley.

I saved the best for last! Well, at least the recipe I think the most people will be interested in trying out! First of all, I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like potato cheese soup! Second, cooking it in a crockpot makes it so easy, and Third, no boiling or dicing required! This is a great recipe for a busy weeknight!

Crockpot Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 1 bag frozen hash browns
• 2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (or S.O.S. mix equivalent)
• 1/2 c chopped onion (I used dried onion flakes)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened

Directions

Add all ingredients except the cream cheese to your crockpot and cook on low for 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese, cook an additional 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Garnish with shredded cheese or bacon bits, or both!

I hope you have enjoyed this tour through my current potato obsessions. Stay tuned….they are bound to change. Like I said…the potato has got to be the most versatile vegetable in the entire universe….thank goodness!  Do you have a favorite potato preparation? Would you care to share? Please? 🙂