Secret Recipe Club

One of my favorite things about participating in a blog hop is the new friends you meet. Secret Recipe Club introduces you to new blogging friends and new recipes! Here's how it works, each month you're assigned another person's blog, you choose a recipe from their blog and post about! Can you keep a secret? If you're going to participate in Secret Recipe challenge, you have to! You can't reveal the blog or the recipe until the posting date! How fun is that!! Secret Recipe Club is the creation of Amanda at Amanda's Cooking!

This month I was assigned the blog, Haggis and the Herring! Haggis and the Herring is a husband and wife blog team who feature "tasty recipes tested in our kitchen – drawing from flavours around the world including our English, European, Mediterranean and South-Asian food experiences." There were so many recipes to choose from, it was hard to narrow it down to just one.

We love roasted potatoes, so after much deliberation, I chose Crunchy Roasted Potatoes and Carrots. In this recipe you boil the potatoes and carrots before roasting. I've seen lots of recipes where you boil potatoes before deep frying them. I cut my potatoes into large chunks instead of a dice. I used 1/2 regular paprika and 1/2 smoky paprika. Mine didn't get very crunchy but maybe that's because I made them on a silpat instead of parchment? We really enjoyed these, they were just a little spicy with a lot of flavor.




Crunchy Roasted Potatoes and Carrots
by Daniel Saraga November 3, 2010
Courtesy of The Haggis and The Herring

Serve it as a side or eat it alone for the pure comfort-food value.
Ingredients
5 or 6 potatoes, diced, (peeled, optional)
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 3/4" rounds
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
to taste salt

Instructions
1. Boil potatoes and carrots in salted water until soft (15-20 minutes).2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.3. Drain and run potatoes and carrots under cold water for 2-4 minutes, drain again and let dry for 2-3 minutes.4. In a small bowl, mix oil, paprika, cayenne and a pinch of salt.5. Toss potatoes and carrots in oil mixture and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.6. Roast for 30-45 minutes, until outside is golden and crispy.
Details
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Yield: 6 servings

From The Good Life

You know how it's still okay to send a thank you note within a certain amount of time? Is there a certain amount of time when it's too late to be posting about a past event? I am going to say as long as it is within a month you're still good, okay?

Our friends Karen and Larry came to visit for New Year's. On Friday afternoon, we went to see Little Fockers. My son Justin and his girlfriend Lily worked on the movie. When Tim and I were in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving in 2009 we were lucky enough to see the heart attack scene being filmed. It was fun to see the scene on the big screen!


We decided to be safe and stay in on New Year's Eve. The final step in our main course was grilling for 10 - 15 minutes. Tim, being a Minnesotan who will grill in cold weather, agreed to grill for me! He scooped out a path and brushed the snow off the grill. Thanks, Tim! You helped make our New Year's dinner special! Here's our menu!

Mixed Grill with Spicy Bourbon Sauce

Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust

Honey Orange Glazed Carrots

Lemon Pots de Creme

One of my food blogging goals for 2011 is to entertain more. This is the perfect menu for entertaining! I will be making these recipes again soon!


When I read the recipe for the mixed grill sauce and saw it contained 3 tablespoons of chili spice, I was concerned. No need for concern, it wasn't spicy at all. I am sure whatever chili sauce you use makes a difference in the spice level, too. I halved the recipe but ended up making a full recipe of sauce. I am glad I did, it was so delicious.




Since there were only four of us, I made the gratin in a 7" springform pan, the size was perfect. The flavors of the two potatoes and gruyere cheese were perfect together.

Not much to say about the honey glazed carrots except they were melt in your mouth delicious. (In the rush to get photos and serve dinner before it was cold, I thought we snapped a shot of the carrots but apparently not.)



After a fairly heavy dinner, the lemon pots de creme were the perfect light finale! I thought the amount of lemon in these was just right. Tim said he thought they were too lemony. I think it depends on whether or not you are a big fan of lemon desserts.

What's your favorite menu for entertaining?

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

This is a family favorite, one you will always find at those holiday or birthday dinners. It’s also a recipe I go to when having dinner for a group. We had these ribs for Father’s Day and I asked Tim what side he’d like to go with them. How ‘bout that cheesy potato thing?, he said.

So the “cheesy potato thing” it is. It was a warm day and I try to refrain from using the oven on hot days. The way my kitchen is designed the heat just hangs in there and makes it miserable. I’ve made these before in my crock pot. The last time I made them, I did an hour on high and then about 3 hours on low. The hash browns didn’t seem done. I cooked these for an hour on high and then 4 hours on low. They turned out more like cheesy mashed potatoes but still were delicious. I think my mistake was I thawed these before I cooked them and I think that caused them to cook faster.

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

2 lbs. hash browns
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cheese soup
1 c. milk
1 c. sour cream
2 c. grated cheddar cheese

Spray the crockpot with non stick cooking spray. Mix together the soups, onion, milk, sour cream and 1/2 of the cheese. Stir in the potatoes. Cook on high for 1 hour. Turn the crockpot to low and cook an additional 2 1/2 hours. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and cook an additional 30 minutes.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tuesday's at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's.

Roasted Dill Potatoes

The dill in my Aero Garden is growing like crazy. I have more dill than I know what to do with. I am searching for new ways to use it. Tonight I decided on Roasted Dill Potatoes.



I adapted my normal roasted potatoes recipe by adding some chopped dill and some garlic. Not over powering, the dill just added a nice flavor to the potatoes.

Roasted Dill Potatoes
4 - 5 New Potatoes, quartered
Olive Oil
1 tsp garlic
2 - 4 tbsp fresh chopped dill
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Combine all in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet. Roast in a 400 degree oven, 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and browned.

Foods We Can't Live Without #1

Everyone has those foods that they can't imagine life without...chocolate, pizza, for my husband it would be red meat.

Costco often has a great assortment of potatoes, including these fun Purple Peruvians.

What is the best potato for salads, sauteing, boiling and roasting?


Round Red, Long Whites, Blues, Purples, Fingerlings. If you want a potato that holds it's shape, you want a low-starch variety.

Which potatoes are high in flavor and lower in fat?

Yellow Finns, Yukon Golds, Maine Whites. These are potatoes with medium starch and can be used for many types of recipes.

What is the best potato for mashing and baking?>

Idaho, also known as Russet or baking potatoes. These potatoes have high starch. Russets make a great thickener for soups.


How to store potatoes?

Ideal storage is in a dark cabinet where the temperature is between 45 and 50 degrees. Do not store in the refrigerator, this turns the starch to sugar.

Well Known Potato Dishes From Around the World

Au gratin - French term for potatoes topped with breadcrumbs and/or cheese.

Gnocci - Italian dumpling that is made with potatoes.

Knishes - Jewish pastries filled with mashed potatoes and other fillings.

O'Brien - Irish dish of diced potatoes cooked with onions and pimientos.

"If you don't love mashed potatoes, you're probably from another planet."

Ethan Becker