Potatoes

I received this kind of funny video about how to peel a potato very easily. At first, I thought it was a joke but after watching the video I've decided that it might be very useful. I can see using this method of peeling a potato when making potato salad or mashed potatoes. If you need to boil and peel a boatload of potatoes, give this method a try. I'm definitely going to try it since peeling potatoes is one of my least favorite cooking tasks. We all do it but I don't know anyone who really enjoys it. In honor of discovering this new easy method to peel potatoes, I thought I would provide a few great potato salad recipes and an interesting potato ice cream recipe. We haven't tried it yet but I think we will.

Southern Potato Salad
by allrecipes.com

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 potatoes
4 eggs
1/2 stalk celery, chopped
1/4 cup sweet relish
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes; drain and chop.

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil; cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water; peel and chop.

In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, eggs, celery, sweet relish, garlic, mustard, mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Gently mix together and serve warm.


GERMAN POTATO SALAD
by Allrecipes.com

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 potatoes
4 slices bacon
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped green onions
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes; cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop.

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Reserve bacon fat.

Add the flour, sugar, water and vinegar to skillet and cook in reserved bacon fat over medium heat until dressing is thick.

Add bacon, potatoes and green onions to skillet and stir until coated. Cook until heated and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

CLASSIC POTATO SALAD
by Recipezaar.com

Serves 8

Ingredients

8 medium potatoes, cooked and diced
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 celery ribs, sliced
1 cup minced onion
5 hard-boiled eggs
paprika

Directions

1. Boil peeled potatoes in salted water till done. Cool to room temperature.
2. Place diced potatoes in large bowl.
3. Mix next 7 ingredients in another bowl.
4. Add to potatoes.
5. Add celery and onions and mix well.
6. Stir in eggs.
7. Sprinkle a little paprika on top.


GRILLED POTATO ICE CREAM

By H. Alexander Talbot

500g raw russet potatoes, cut into quarters lengthwise
530g skim milk
80g agave nectar
4g salt
370g whole milk yogurt

Cook the potato quarters on the grill until they are charred on all sides. Once the potatoes are grilled, cut them into chunks and put them in a pot with the skim milk, salt and the agave nectar. When the potatoes are falling apart, turn off the heat and fold in the yogurt. Use a food mill to coarsely pulverize the base mixture.

Chill the mixture. We use a pacojet to make ice cream, a device which thinly shaves the frozen mixture into creamy ice cream. In lieu of the pacojet, I would recommend quickly pulsing the ice cream mixture in a blender to smooth the mixture. This process must be done quickly so as not to overwork the gluten in the potatoes. At this point, freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker.


Grilled Idaho® Potato Ice Cream
http://www.idahopotato.com/

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
2 cups cream
4 - 5 each skins of grilled Idaho® potatoes
¾ cup sugar
9 egg yolks

Directions:

Bring the milk and cream to a boil with the potato skins.

Whisk the yolks and the sugar together. Temper the liquid into the yolk mixture and return to stovetop.

Cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Strain and cool in an ice bath. Process in ice cream machine.

Lemon - Cornmeal Cake

I made this recipe last week for D's first Boy Scout Court of Honor. He received his "scout" badge. It was a very nice event. Everyone seemed to enjoy this cake. There wasn't any left over for me to take home so I guess that is a good sign. If you like lemon cake, this is a really good recipe for you to try. I found this recipe in the March 3, 2009 issue of Woman's Day Magazine.

Lemon-Cornmeal Cake

Baking Spray (cooking spray with flour)
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp each baking soda and salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt, stirred to loosen

Sugar Glaze

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. You'll need a 10-cup decorative tube pan or a 12-cup Bundt pan coated with baking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda, and salt.

2. In a large bowl beat butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice with mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until blended. With mixer on low, alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk until batter is smooth.l Scrape into prepared pan; level top with spatula.

3. Bake 55 to 65 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make the sugar glaze: Whisk glaze ingredients in a small bowl just until combined (sugar will not be totally dissolved). Invert cake from pan onto rack; place rack over a baking sheet. Brush glaze all over the hot cake until absorbed (sugar crystals will be evident). Cool completely. Transfer cake to a serving plate and cover. Let cake rest several hours, or overnight, before serving. Store cake covered at room temperature up to 4 days. Cut into thin slices to serve.

Tip: Use lime zest and lime juice for a zesty alternative.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook