Every year growing up we would go to the county fair, our little town would also celebrate it’s founding, and have a day of education and celebrate the river in our town. When I was older, a new local business started coming to these events, and they had salt potatoes. They were delicious and flavorful. My family also had the regular visit from Schwan’s. We bought “baby bakers” from them regularly, because they were also covered with a very similar flavor. Both used small red potatoes for their recipe, but all I usually have is white or russet potatoes, so I make do. I’ve been making these at home for several years, and work great as a side dish for families or parties, since they are so easy to make. Makes 6 side servings.
Heat oven to 400 F.
Dice up 5 medium potatoes into large chunks, about 3-4 cups. Break apart and place in small baking dish.
Cover potatoes with 1/4 cup oil, 3 Tbsp salt, 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder, and 1/2 Tbsp oregano. Mix with your hands.
I was watching an episode of Kitchen Nightmares yesterday where Gordon Ramsey was working with an upper-scale restaurant. I saw this dish, and I immediately needed to find some way to make it. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com from Chef John. Chef John is one of the more renown and one of the first chefs on YouTube. I was very interested in his recipe, but it required a skillet or cast iron pan that I could then bake with. I do not have either. Someone in the comments mentioned how that just boil it on the stove top, and I figure that can be my way around baking them. I understand that means I may have softer potatoes than what is intended for this dish, but I found these to be absolutely delightful! Even Josh, my potato critique, absolutely enjoyed this dish. It is a wonderfully fancy way to make potatoes, and the flavors from the herbs and broth were so pronounced! I highly recommend!
Wash 3 large potatoes. Cut off the top and bottom, then peel the skin around the outside of the potato. Cut potatoes into halves or thirds (about 1/2 inch thick). Soak slices in cold water.
Get a large skillet and heat it over medium heat. Once warmed up, add 4 Tbsp oil and wait a minute for that to heat. Once oil is hot, remove potato slices from water, dry with a paper towel, then add to hot oil. Fry on the first side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
In a side bowl, make 1 cup of chicken broth.
Flip your potatoes. Add 2 Tbsp butter, and 1/2 Tbsp of Thyme, Rosemary, and garlic powder. Cook for 2 minutes. Add your 1 cup of broth, reduce heat to medium low, cover and let simmer for about 15 minute or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Serve right away.
Casseroles are large meals that are designed to feed many people or for leftovers. This casserole is filling and flavorful. If you choose not to add a veggie, you should serve it with a side of veggies. The onion and ham go very well together, and the butter brings new flavor to the mashed potatoes. This meal is heavy, so it’s not as healthy as a salad, but if you need a filling meal this will do. You can also substituted out the ham for whatever meat you have, and you can add other veggies and/ spices to your taste.
Dice up 1 medium onion (about 1 – 1.5 cups), and dice 2-4 slices of ham (about 2 cups). Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Melt in 4 Tbsp butter, add your diced ham and onion and stir regularly. Heat oven to 350 F.
Prepare instant mashed potatoes as directed on package (microwave or stove top, you may also choose to make homemade). You will need about 4 cups of prepared mashed potatoes.
Place the potatoes, onion, ham, and butter into a 9×11 baking dish. Mix until everything is evenly distributed, pack it down into the pan, and top with shredded cheese (about 3-4 oz). Bake in the oven for 30 minutes uncovered. Let sit at least 10 minutes before serving.
I did a lot of research before starting this recipe. I was interested in how people usually make roux based soups at home. I use mushroom soup in my Tuna Noodle recipe and since everyone says it was easy, I thought I could make other classic bases for recipes, such as cream of chicken or cream of celery. I was looking through my freezer for what meat I could put in this casserole, and by far, I had many packets of Venison Minute steaks. This was steaks that were sliced on a meat slicer. You could easily use cubed up meat instead or even ground burger, but I liked the idea of a steak casserole. I was thinking of making a gravy base sauce, but I didn’t know what that would do to the potatoes, and dark stained potatoes didn’t seem very appealing to me. Thinking of soups, I thought of onions. Steak and onions go well together. So the roux base is done like any other cream soup. Instead of adding minced onion, I could have added sliced onions and onion powder, and 2 cups of milk to get a condensed onion soup (which is similar to cream of celery, chicken, and mushroom made at home). I wanted to reheat the meat a bit before baking, so I did that while the soup was getting up to temperature. I really enjoyed this dish. I served it without waiting and it wasn’t as good as it was a few minutes later, so let it rest a bit. The meat became super tender and just fell apart as you ate it, and the potatoes were done for me by the 50 minute mark.
Wash 6 medium potatoes (4 cups), dice and place in a 9×13 pan. Peel an onion, half and slice into ringlets. Separate and add to potatoes. Mix and set aside.
In a large skillet, begin heating it over medium high heat. If you have minute steaks, you have nothing to do. If you have a whole piece of meat, slice into thin slices only 1/4 inch thick or make 1/2 inch cubes. Add 2 Tbsp of oil to pan. Add meat to pan and cook each side for only 1-2 minutes, until browned. Once cooked, add to side plate for the time being.
Heat oven to 350F. Turn down heat to medium low. Melt 2 Tbsp of butter into the pan, but do not brown butter. Once just melted, add 3 Tbsp flour. Whisk flour into butter, and cook until butter and flour is bubbly. Add 2 Tbsp dried minced onion, and 1 packet of Onion soup mix. Add 4 cups of milk and stir.
Add meat back to skillet and coat. Mix in 2 tsp of garlic powder and 1 Tbsp Onion powder. Heat to a simmer and cook for another 2-3 minutes, then pour over potatoes and onion, even out meat distribution, and add to oven for 50 minutes.
After time, stab a potato with a fork to assure they are done. Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.
My post yesterday explained some of my background with grilling, which was a love hate relationship. I’ve since researched and watched some videos about grilling, and I’ve learned the basics for cooking on a grill. These foil packets are one of the easiest ways to cook a side on your grill or over your fire. The packet makes it so your food steams/bakes safe from the flame until your ready to serve. As if you were baking this in a 400 F oven, this will also take 45-50 minutes to cook.
Take an 18 inch long piece of aluminum foil. Rinse, scrub, and dice 4 medium potatoes (2 cups). Place on foil. Open and strain 1 can (4 oz) of sliced mushrooms, add to foil.
Begin to fold up sides, add 2 Tbsp of oil, 1 Tbsp of salt, and 1/4 cup of Speedie Sauce. Carefully mix, seal, and add an additional 2-3 layers of foil to seal packet fully.
Preheat grill to 400 F. Once in the 400 – 425 F range, place the packet over low/ indirect heat. Cook for 50 minutes before serving.
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