Baked Potatoes with Yogurt and Sour Cream

I think the title pretty much says it all. There is really not very much to this recipe. Instead of lumping a load of sour cream on a baked potato, Ina makes a sort of dressing using half sour cream and half greek yogurt.

I only discovered greek yogurt a few years ago. I didn't grow up eating yogurt and never really cared for it all that much as an adult. It wasn't really difficult to avoid since I am also lactose intolerant. It gave me a decent excuse not to eat yogurt despite its health benefits. But then I had some greek yogurt and in the words of the Fresh Prince, "my life got flipped, turned upside down." No! Not in that kind of way where you go live with your millionaire aunt and uncle doing the Carleton dance. But I am pretty sure they have greek yogurt in Bel Air.


We need to bring back Alfonso Ribeiro back to TV, people.

Anyway, here is the mise:


You say potato... I say poTAto. Forget it. Nobody says poTAto. Ignore my dirty oven. I know I have to Easy-Off that shizz.

Ina says to put the potatoes directly on the rack. So I did. I wonder if it makes a difference. I was going to put it in an old pie pan. She also didn't say to fork them, but I did anyway. I don't know if I needed to, but I'd rather not risk potato explosion.

Mix the yogurt, sour cream, chives and S&P together.


Seriously. That is it. EASY. Yay!


The Review:
Pretty good. It was pretty much as I expected. The greek yogurt gives the dressing a slight tang, which is nice, but I can see how some people might not like it. It's actually kind of a plain potato. I under-salted mine, and didn't put anything else on it besides the dressing. Usually I like the whole butter, salt, bacon bits, fully loaded she-bang. I would make the dressing again, but add more stuff to the potato to 'turn up the volume.'

Mashed Butternut Squash

I know I haven't updated in ages after promising to do so. Typical. Not that I haven't been cooking or cooking Ina dishes, or anything like that! This time I was just too lazy to document it.

But on this day, I am feeling sort of Fall-ish, even though its August. It's a chilly August day. I'm dying for some Fall! Pumpkin Spice Latte, apple fritters and scarves. FALL.

I had this butternut squash I bought, intending to make risotto with it, but instead I decided to make this mashed butternut squash recipe since it sounded so good.

Here is the mise en place:


Not too many ingredients. But note how it includes butter. Ahhh...

Squash, meet my Shun. Prepare to die.


Now, that I've dismembered my squash, it is time to roast it.... alive!!!11!!


Okay, this is a really weird, grim road I've gone down. Back to squash just being squash. Here's the roasted squash.


Now, Ina's instructions are to blitz the squash in a food processor. I'm going to do as told, but honestly, the squash is so tender that you can easily mash it with ricer, or a potato masher. I'm guessing that the food processor will make it more into a puree than a mash. I've added in the half and half and seasonings.


And here's the mash. So far so good.


Keeping it warm while I prep the rest of dinner. Man, that is really orange! What happened to the white balance on my camera? Damn my counter for making everything avocado!


The review:
Excellent. I thought the mash might be a little grainy or lumpy since it was in the processor, but it wasn't. It was really smooth and nice. You almost don't need the brown sugar since the squash itself it kind of sweet, but it does caramelize the squash and helps it to brown up. I would definitely make this again since it was easy. I could also see this becoming a really good start to a twice-baked squash recipe. So good.

Parmesan Smashed Potatoes

So why another potato recipe so soon? Well, I actually wasn't planning it, but then Joel and I got inspired by recent Food Network programming and decided to hold our own mini-Thanksgiving for two. I cooked some turkey cutlets with pan gravy, baked up some cornbread, sauteed some green beans and opened that old can of cranberry jelly stuff. Since we were having turkey, I thought it would be appropriate to do mashed potatoes, and the Barefoot Contessa has a few great recipes for mashed potatoes.

First we start off with the ingredients:


I will warn you right now. There is a lot of FAT in these smashed potatoes. I'm not even going to try to cover it up. I think the potatoes will turn out tasty because of the fat, but personally, I think it's excessive. Butter, half and half, and sour cream. That's a lot yo'.

Boil them 'taters. I'm kind of obsessive, I take off all the blemishes and imperfections off of the potato. I know I can leave some of them on, but... anyway, those are the little gouges in the potatoes you see.


While the potatoes simmer away, I'll melt the butter and mix it with the half and half. God. I never have half and half in my house. I don't use it in my coffee. I don't know how else I'm going to use the rest of the carton up.


Shhh. the recipe says to heat it on the stove, but I heated the mix in the microwave.

Here we go! Smashing the potatoes are quite satisfying. It makes you feel like you are truly putting effort into your food instead of just throwing something together to eat. I hear kneading bread dough is similarly cathartic. Here, you can see that the potatoes are pretty dry. I've only added in a little bit of the butter mixture. It should get creamier as I add more fat.


A little while later, the potatoes are smashed sufficiently and are nice mixture of fluffy/creamy. I don't like super fine pureed potatoes and enjoy them when they have a bit of texture. Anyway, now I'm ready to fold in the sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Seriously, I don't think you can make these potatoes any richer. And, I love calorie-laden carbohydrates.


Parmesan smashed potatoes. You can catch a glimpse of the rest of the meal in the background.


The review

The smashed potatoes are excellent. I didn't have a doubt they would be since the ingredients and preparation were very simple. They have a nice smooth texture without being gluey. The use of red potatoes works well. I like the difference that the peels make in the final product. However, as I mentioned above: THIS IS A RICH DISH. I don't think that the use of the three different fats were needed. Basic mashed potatoes contain butter and milk. Sometimes I substitute sour cream instead of the milk. I've never put all three into mashed potatoes before, let alone half and half and a large dose of cheese. This recipe could be significantly lightened with minimal taste discrepancies. Save this one for a special occasion or party.

The recipe makes 6 servings. I used the leftovers to make Shepherd's pie the next night. Potatoes were still quite tasty and didn't become grainy or lumpy overnight.

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

According to Wikipedia, potatoes originated somewhere in the Andes in modern-day Peru. I imagine its discovery went something like this:

Genius potato discoverer: Here Fido! Come here boy!
Fido: Woof!
Genius potato discoverer: Hey you mutt! Stop digging in Francisco's yard! He hates that!
Fido: Woof!
Genius potato discoverer: Why, what is this starchy, tuberous crop you've uncovered?
Fido: *pants*
Genius potato discoverer: *takes a bite of potato* This is delicious! It would be terrific with some ceviche. We should plant and harvest more! Quick, fetch the guano!

Anyhow, this genius discoverer has brought me much joy. I will rarely turn down a potato dish and knowing Ina's penchant for putting rich dairy products in her dishes, I am looking forward to making lovely, delicious potato dishes in the future. We start here with a pretty basic recipe for Garlic Roasted Potatoes.

Now, I've made this plenty of time before because it's easy to make and they incorporate my favorite potato combo: crisp on the outside/tender on the inside. I've made these so often that I think Joel is sick of them. He always tells me I make too many, but what does he know ... leftovers are a wonderful thing.

So here are the ingredients. Simple stuff: potatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley


I like red potatoes. The day I went to the supermarket, the fingerling potatoes didn't look so hot, so I bought the regular-sized reds. I'm impatient so, I chopped them a little smaller so they would cook faster.


Next up is the garlic. I love doing that chef-y thing where you whack the garlic with the side of your knife to remove the skins. I have also done this and had the garlic squirt out from under the knife, hit the wall and ricochet to the floor. So much for smooth chef moves, eh? Anyway, prepare to meet your doom garlic.


I think I've killed it.


Toss the garlic in with the potatoes and add in the oil, S&P. Here are the potatoes, gleaming and oiled ... just like Richard Simmons! (Okay, that's so gross. Even for me. Sorry.)

Dang. Wrong setting on my camera. The potatoes are NOT green. I'll get it eventually.

45-60 minutes and a few turns later: Crisp potatoes!


Sprinkle on the parsley and that's it!


The review:
Excellent. Of course, I'd probably eat it even if it sucked. It's really hard to mess up potatoes. What I love most about this recipe is that you can make it using a bunch of different combinations. Take out the garlic, add some paprika with a dollop of sour cream and its serious good eats.

Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash

I love butternut squash. I love risotto. Mix 'em up, add some heat and you've got a lovely meal.

First up, gather all those ingredients together:


I love risotto because it's very versatile. You can stick in some frozen peas, leftover red or white wine, chicken and it still comes out delicious. I especially love butternut squash, so this recipe was something I knew I'd like.

The first step is to roast the squash. I know Ina enjoys roasting her vegetables and I tend to agree. Roasting the vegetables really brings out the sweetness and magically makes it taste better Don't ask me how - I think it has to do with caramelized sugars blah blah.

Here's the squash before it goes in the oven. Pay no attention to the rather poor knife skills. They're pretty much all the same size though.


About 40-45 minutes later, here is the roasted squash. I must tell you. I could eat this right out of the pan -- and I have. The squash has a little but of olive oil, salt and pepper on it and it's really delicious. Squash isn't very popular in Hawaii, so I didn't have it until I came to college. All those years, wasted!



Next up, risotto! Now, Ina's recipe calls for pancetta. Gotta confess: I'm not that big on pancetta. I feel like I should like it, but whenever I have it, I miss the smokey flavor of regular old bacon. Not that I'd turn it away, but I use bacon in my cooking instead. Ina also mentions that if you can't find pancetta, bacon is perfectly fine to use, so I feel like I've stuck to the recipe. God, whenever you can add some bacon into a dish is a good day.

Here's the shallots and bacon sauteing in some butter and olive oil. I can't hear you right now arteries.


And throw in the rice, wine and stock.


Confession: I don't stir my risotto constantly. Honestly, I've stood there stirring it for 25 minutes straight and I've stirred it every 7 minutes or so to prevent the rice from sticking. It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference in the end product. Since I'm usually making a salad or cleaning up dishes while something is on the stove, I'm happy I don't have to pay it such close attention.

Rachel Ray mentioned a few times on 30 Minute Meals that risotto takes about 22 minutes give or take to cook. She's right. Mine always ends up taking about 25 minutes. Here it is. The saffron has turned it a light yellow, despite my pot and lighting making it look a bit green.


Finish it off the heat with a little bit of cheese and there you go:


The review:
Very good! The squash is lovely and a good texture. It's very soft, but not soft enough so that it falls apart and tastes like babyfood. The saffron adds a nice color to the risotto, but I can't really taste it. The bacon is nice of course. I really don't know if I'd like the dish as much if it had pancetta in it. I think the smokey, salty bacon pairs well with the sweet squash. Joel liked it as well and went back for seconds, a sure sign that he likes it.

Anyway, it's a good start!