What's in the Box? Arugula, Sweet Potato, and Goat Cheese Salad

I take my lunch to work. We don't have a ton of dining options on campus and I don't like having to spend money on food everyday, so I buy lunch supplies during my weekend grocery run.

Coming up with things to eat for lunch, however, can be tedious. No one wants to eat PB&J every day, right? To help you come up with ideas, I thought I'd do a couple of posts on my lunch. So what's in the (lunch) box?

This week it's an arugula, sweet potato, and goat cheese salad. I'm topping mine with pomegranate seeds.

Here's what you need to make at least three of these salads for the week:
1 box or bag of pre-washed arugula
1 medium sweet potato
1 small container of goat cheese

On Sunday or Saturday (whenever you have some time), peel and chop your sweet potato. Toss the cubes with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until tender. Let them cool and store them in a food storage container in the fridge.

I use this little Rubbermaid container (LunchBlox). It comes with a little tray that sits on top of your greens and holds your toppings. That way you can mix everything together when you eat it. It even comes with a little container for dressing (I'm not using a dressing since I've got the pomegranates and cheese, but you can use what you like).

If you don't have one of these, no worries. Whatever container you have is fine---mason jar salads are all the rage! To pack it in a regular container, put the dressing at the bottom of the container. Then put in the greens and then top with some of the sweet potatoes and some of the goat cheese. When you're ready to eat, just mix everything together.

Now, I usually supplement my salad with more things for lunch (a salad this size isn't enough food for me!). I might bring an apple or an orange, a yogurt, and some salted nuts. But I'll post more ideas like that later!

Enjoy your homemade lunch!

Sausage, Kale, and Potato Soup

Sausage and kale is a magical combination. If you haven't gotten on the kale bandwagon and you're looking for a nice introduction, this soup might just be your ticket!

Notes: Use the fat from the sausage to cook the shallots, garlic, and potatoes. My sausage didn't have that much fat on it, so I took the sausage out with a slotted spoon to leave more fat in the pot. If you're has more fat, then you can pour the sausage out onto a plate. That should still leave enough for the veggies.

I like the Yukon gold potatoes because they stay firmer in the soup. If you want to use other potatoes, you might want to add them at the same time you add the kale.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground sausage (I used mild, but you could use hot if you want)
32 oz (4 cups) of chicken stock or water
1 pound small Yukon gold potatoes
2 large bunches of kale
2 shallots (or one small onion)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 small bunch of rosemary
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:

Slice the potatoes, mince the garlic and rosemary, dice the shallots, and thinly slice the kale.

Heat a large stock pot on medium-high. Add the sausage and crumble it. Cook until no pink remains. Remove the sausage from the pot either with a slotted spoon or by pouring it out onto a paper towel lined plate (see notes). Set aside.

Cook the onions, garlic, and potatoes until the shallots just get tender and potatoes are semi-tender. Return the sausage to pot. Stir in the kale until all the leaves are coated. Add in the rosemary. Pour in the chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. Make sure the potatoes are tender before you serve. Enjoy!

Bangers 'n Spud

In 2006, we went to London with Scott's parents. It was a great trip. Of course we had some great pub food, including bangers and mash. I was craving baked potatoes the other day, so I thought why not make a bangers and mash stuffed spud? And so bangers 'n spud was born.

Notes: This dish would be Q.E.D. if you made the potatoes in the microwave. As it stands, though, it's pretty simple. And it only has three ingredients. So, you've got the E. and the D. of Q.E.D.

If you can't find pre-cooked chorizo, you can use kielbasa or andouille. Or you could use fresh chorizo and just increase the cooking time.

This recipe severs 4 people or it will give you a night of leftovers for two people.

Ingredients:
4 baking potatoes
1 lb pre-cooked chorizo sausage
1/2 bag frozen peas
Butter
Salt

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400. Rub a small amount of butter on the outside of the potatoes and season with salt. Prick them with a fork, wrap them in foil, and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Before the potatoes finish, heat a non-stick skillet on medium. Dice the sausage and add it to the pan. Cook until the edges start to brown. Add in the peas and sautee for just a few minutes until the peas are thawed and heated.

When the potatoes are done, slice them open and fluff with a fork. Spoon the sausage and peas into the potato. Serve and enjoy!

Black Bean and Corn Sliders with Bacon Sweet Potato Fries

Summer is waning, my friends! I hate to admit it, but it's true. It'll be September before you know it. That means we need to enjoy it while we can with some summer grill recipes.

Or if you're me you just make black bean sliders and sweet potato fries any time you feel like it---summer or not!

Notes: Don't have a grill pan? Never fear! Just use olive oil or vegetable oil and shallow fry the sliders in a big skillet. The sliders won't have the pretty grill marks, but they'll taste just as good.

I roasted my corn in the husk before I stripped it from the ear. If you want to do the same thing, just trim the loose pieces of husk and the tassel off, run the whole thing under water for a minute, and then stick it right on the oven rack for 30 minutes at 350. The roasted-in-the-husk flavor is awesome. If you don't feel like doing this step, no worries. Just strip the kernels right off the ear straight into the bowl.

I find the easiest way to make fries is to cut the sweet potato in half and then cut each half into strips. Then cut those strips into smaller fry-sized pieces. There's no science to it---just make them look like fries.

I didn't have any crumbled bacon, but I had leftover bacon grease in the fridge from the last time I made bacon. If you don't have any, just use butter or olive oil for the fries. It will work just fine.

Slider buns are fairly easy to find nowadays. I found mine at Trader Joe's, but I've seen them in Target and other grocery stores as well. If you can't find them, any small roll will do.

Ingredients for sliders (makes about 8 sliders):
1 15 oz. can black beans
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 teaspoons taco seasoning
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ear of corn

For fries:
2 large sweet potatoes
6 teaspoons bacon grease, divided
Salt
Pepper
Crumbled bacon for topping (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 450. Line two baking sheets with foil.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into fries. Spread them in one layer on the baking sheets. Pour 3 teaspoons of bacon grease over each tray of fries. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are tender and they start to turn dark brown. Stir the fries about halfway through the cooking time to ensure even browning.

To make the sliders, drain the beans (don't rinse). Strip the kernels off the ear of corn. In a large bowl, mash the beans and corn together with a potato masher. Be sure to leave some of the beans and kernels whole. Lightly beat the egg and add it to the bowl along with the bread crumbs, worcestershire sauce, salt, hot sauce, brown sugar, and taco seasoning. Mix everything together until it forms a thick paste. Form small patties and then let stand 5 minutes.

Heat your grill pan on medium-high. Grill each slider about 3 minutes per side until a crust forms on the outside. Remove from the grill and transfer to a plate. Tent them with foil to keep them warm while you grill the rest.

Top with your favorite hamburger toppings and serve with hot sweet potato fries. Enjoy!

Baked Potatoes in the Slow Cooker + Veggie Pot Pie Spud

When you're busy during the week, the slow cooker is your friend. As it turns out, the slow cooker is more of a friend than I realized. 

Did you know you can make baked potatoes in the slow cooker?! 

This is a game-changer. 

Notes: These potatoes couldn't be easier. They came out great. They were a little brown (probably a bit over done?), but they were fluffy and soft. The skins where nice and tender, so eat the whole thing! The skins have lots of good minerals in them. 

If you're like us, you love a stuffed baked potato! Having them in the slow cooker means that all you have to do when you get home is make the topping. An easy and healthy weeknight meal awaits!

Ingredients:

4 Russet potatoes

Butter

Salt

Aluminum foil

Directions: Rub each potato with a very small amount of butter and sprinkle with salt. Wrap each one in foil. Put them in the slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low. 

Need a serving idea? How about veggie pot pie spuds!

Ingredients:

1 can chicken stock

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

1/2 bag of frozen mixed veggies

1/2 bag of frozen lima beans

Salt

Pepper

Directions: In a 2-quart sauce pan, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook for just a minute. Whisk in chicken stock and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in all the frozen veggies. Cook until the mixture thickens and the veggies are tender. 

When the potatoes are done, spilt them open and top with pot pie mixture. Serve and enjoy!

Q.E.D.: Roasted Sausages and Potatoes

For you, I have a wonderfully simple Q.E.D. entree. Not only does it take only 30 minutes, it only has 6 ingredients (2 of which are salt and olive oil and you probably already have those in your kitchen). This is a perfect weeknight meal that you can pop in the oven and tend to only minimally. And the end result is delicious and satisfying!

Notes: This is just barely Q.E.D. because it takes 30 minutes of cooking time minus the prep, but the prep is so easy, I think it counts. 

I used Yukon gold potatoes, but you could use the red skinned or fingerling potatoes if you like those better. If you have really small ones, you wouldn't even have to quarter them.  

Serve these with your favorite green vegetable or even a salad. I made brussel sprouts with mine. You could use a steam-in-the-microwave bag of frozen veggies for a really easy side. 

Ingredients:

1 pound (1 package) of brats, sweet, or hot Italian sausages

2 pounds small potatoes

1 onion

1 tablespoon dried Italian herb blend

Salt

Olive oil (about 2 tablespoons)

Directions: Heat oven to 450. 

Remove sausages from fridge. Quarter the potatoes (or half the small ones). Slice the onion. 

Arrange the potatoes and onions in one layer on a baking sheet or in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and Italian herb blend. Toss the potatoes and onions to coat with oil and seasoning. 

Pierce sausages all over with a fork. Place them on the baking sheet.

Roast for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the sausages brown. Flip the sausages halfway through cooking.

Enjoy!

Pot Roast Spud + Slow Cooker Chuck Roast

Lots of my posts start out talking about our favorite restaurants and this one is no different.

McAlister's Deli in Lake Charles fed Scott throughout the two years we lived apart. He probably ate there three times a week or more. One of his favorite dishes was their pot roast spud: it's a baked potato with pot roast and gravy poured on top of it. It's easily something you can make at home, so I decided to try it using the slow cooker.

Notes: The slow cooker wins again! The pot roast is delicious: the meat is super tender and flavorful. You can use this in a number of different ways and it makes enough (at least for us) for plenty of leftovers. Having cooked meat in the fridge is such a help during the week when you have to get dinner on the table. It's so versatile, you can use all week without getting bored!

I have tried several methods for cooking baked potatoes. This is the one that works best for me. Every time I've tried it some other way, the potatoes are never cooked all the way. The salt and butter just makes the potato skin that much tastier, but you can omit it if you'd like.

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Chuck Roast
1 3-pound chuck roast
2-3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon ground thyme
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cumin
Pepper to taste

Directions for Slow Cooker Chuck Roast

Slice the onion and put the slices in the bottom of the slow cooker. Whisk together the thyme, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin to form a paste. Rub the paste into the chuck roast. Put the roast on top of the onions in the slow cooker. Set for 8-10 hours on low.

When the roast in done, use tongs or a fork to shred the meat.

Ingredients for Pot Roast Spud
1 Russet potato per person (this recipe will serve 2 people with leftovers or 4 people with no leftovers)
1/2 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 large onion
1 pint mushrooms (I used cremini)
1 cup beef stock
2-3 cloves of garlic
2-3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Shredded cooked chuck roast (however much you want)
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup of milk
Salt
Pepper

Directions for Post Roast Spud

Heat the oven to 400. Prick potatoes with a fork. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and rub them with butter. Wrap them in foil and bake for 1.5 hours.

While you're waiting, slice the mushrooms and mince the garlic

When the potatoes are nearly done, heat a large skillet on medium high and add three tablespoons of butter. Add in the mushrooms and cook until they start to give off liquid. Add the garlic and Worcestershire sauce.

Sprinkle in flour and stir to coat. Whisk in the beef stock and milk. Allow the mixture to thicken a little. Stir in the mixed vegetables and slices of beef. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

When the potatoes are done, slice them open and fluff the insides with a fork. Scoop the pot roast mixture over top. Serve and enjoy!

Eat Food, Save Money: Making Leftovers Less Leftover with Beef Stew Baked Potatoes

If you're learning to cook or trying to eat at home more often, that means eating leftovers. Now, I'm not opposed to leftovers. If you make something that tastes great, who wouldn't want to eat it one more time? But, leftovers can also be kind of boring. One way to get over the boredom is to use your leftovers in another dish. 

Enter beef stew baked potatoes. 

I made a big pot of beef stew in the slow cooker (I just realized I need to post that recipe). It was great and it made a lot, so we had leftovers for a couple of days. One day we ate regular leftovers, but the next night I topped a couple of baked potatoes with the beef stew. It doesn't seem like much, but even a little tweak like this can break the monotony. 

You could do this trick with pretty much any leftover stew you have. You could also do it with curry or stir fry, provided you don't have rice in either of them (that would probably be a bit too starchy). 

Ingredients:

Leftover beef stew (you need about two cups for two people, but if you have more or less, that's fine)

2 medium-sized baking potatoes 

Salt (optional)

Butter (optional)

Directions: Heat the oven to 400.

Prick the potatoes all over with a fork. Rub them with a little butter and salt (optional). Wrap them in foil and bake them for 1 hour and 15 minutes right on the oven rack. 

Right before the potatoes done, heat the leftover beef stew in a pot on the stove or in the microwave. When the potatoes are finished, slice them open and fluff the insides with a fork. Scoop the warm beef stew on top and serve. Enjoy some not-so-boring leftovers!

Veggie Baked Potato with Mushroom Gravy

Winter has set in here in PA, so it's time for some cold weather comfort foods. There isn't much that's more comforting than a baked potato topped with veggies.

Notes: This is a dish that's easy to customize. You can use any combo of veggies that you like.

If you're not big on gravy, top the potato with cheese or salsa.

I give you my favorite potato-baking method. I think baking them this way gives the skins lots of flavor and they come out tender and perfect every time.

I wrote the recipe for two people, but you can easily double it to feed four.

Our camera battery was dead, so I don't have any terrible pictures for you.

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized Russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
1 large broccoli crown
4-5 carrots
1/2 pint of mushrooms
2 tablespoons of flour
1/3 cup of beef or mushroom broth
1/3 cup of milk
6-7 tablespoons of butter (divided)
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Heat the oven to 400.

Rub the outside of each potato with 1/2 a tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle salt on the potato. Wrap each potato in foil and bake for about an hour and half until tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, peel and dice the carrots and cut the broccoli into small florets. Add about a tablespoon of butter to a large skillet on medium-high heat. Sautee the carrots and broccoli until tender (about 10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Move the veggies from the pan onto a plate and set aside.

Turn the heat to high, add 2 more tablespoons of butter. Sautee the mushrooms until they start to brown. If there isn't much liquid in the pan, add in the remaining tablespoon of butter. Add in the flour and stir to coat. Whisk in the broth and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat back to medium and let the gravy thicken. (At this point you can add the broccoli and carrots to the gravy if you want. If not, just leave them on the plate.)

When the potatoes are done, split them open and fluff the insides with a fork. Top them with veggies and then add a couple of ladles of mushroom gravy. Serve hot and enjoy!

Broiled Portobello Burgers with Crispy Potato Coins

Happy July, everyone!

When you think July, you think grilling. Nothing says Fourth of July like a cook out with burgers and brats. It's the perfect time to be outdoors!

But is it really? I mean, if your July is anything like ours (and the rest of the country), it's HOT. You may say, "Why yes, no need to make the house any warmer by heating up the oven." But your house (probably unlike ours) has air conditioning. It's OK to turn the oven on. Think about the poor person watching the grill. She has to stand outside in the heat next to a giant open flame. No fun for her! And no fun for your guests who have to slather on sunscreen and fight off bees, mosquitos, and flies.

Nay, I say to you! Make this July 4th an indoor affair. Buck the system! Fight the man! It's what our forefathers would have wanted. Win everyone over to your indoor revolution with this recipe.

Notes: My choice of bread for the burgers was a bit...well, comical. I really wanted to put them on English muffins and as far as taste goes it was a good choice. But the burgers were much larger than I anticipated; I thought they'd shrink more. So there was a very skewed mushroom-to-bun ratio. Other than that, these were delicious!

I topped these with sliced tomatoes, baby spinach, crumbled goat cheese, and mashed avocado mixed with pesto sauce. You MUST try it.

If you want to make the potatoes with a vegetarian fat, you can always use butter or coconut oil. I'm sure it will be tasty, but there's just no replacing that bacon fatty goodness!

Ingredients for the burgers (serves 2):
2 large portobello mushrooms
2 scallions
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon herbs de provence
Salt
Pepper

Ingredients for potato coins:
1/2-3/4 pound of small Yukon gold or fingerling potatoes
2 tablespoons bacon fat
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon herbs de provence
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Preheat your broiler (mine only has one setting, which seems to be high)

First, make the marinade for your burgers. Slice the scallions and garlic and add them to a bowl or a zip top plastic bag. Pour in the oil and soy sauce and season with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence. Whisk or shake to combine. Clean your mushrooms with a wet paper towel, remove the stems, and add the caps to the bowl or bag making sure that they are well coated. Let stand about 10-15 minutes.

Thinly slice your potatoes into 1/4-1/8 inch thick coins. Heat the bacon fat over medium high in a large skillet. Peel the garlic cloves and let them brown in the fat while it heats up. When the garlic is golden brown, remove it and discard. Lay the potato coins in the skillet as best you can in one layer. Let them cook on one side until they develop a nice golden crust (approx. 7 minutes). Season with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence. Then, as best you can, flip them over just once and do the same with the other side (approx. 5 minutes).

Once you get the potatoes in the pan, put the mushrooms under the broiler. They'll take about 8 minutes to cook. Start them gill side up and flip them every two minutes or so.

Top your mushroom burgers with your favorite burger toppings and enjoy your indoor celebration!

Photo courtesy of Scott -- he had to work for his dinner!

(Almost) Vegan Gnocchi with Kale and Fava Beans

Ladies and gents, it's time for some fine dining here in the professor's kitchen!

As my cooking skills expand and improve, I find I'm getting pickier about restaurants. Don't get me wrong -- I like simple food. But if I go out to a nice restaurant, I have high expectations. If I plan to pay a lot of money for dinner, I want it to be a meal that I can't make (or make as well) myself.

Case in point: a friend arranged a lovely private dinner at a local eatery for a group of us. The food was, for the most part, quite good. One of the side dishes, however, was supposed to be gnocchi. Trust me, nothing about this dish was gnocchi. I knew I could do better myself, so I started planning this dish.

Notes: This bad boy is a labor of love, no doubt about it. It's great for a weekend or a day off, but don't plan it for week night.

My new ingredient in this dish is fava beans. I've never used them before, but the co-op had some and my curiosity triumphed. They were delicious! They take a little prep work, but they really aren't hard to use. Here is a great run down of how to prepare them. There are really only two steps.

Step one: Remove the beans from their pod.

Step two: Steam the beans in simmering water for about 3 minutes to loosen the outer casing. Remove the beans from the water and let them cool. As they cool, the outer casing will buckle and you'll be able to peel it off, revealing the emerald green bean inside.

Shelled fava beans on the plate

Once they're fully shelled, they're ready to put in whatever dish you want. Soups, dips, or in my case, pasta!

You can prepare the fava beans and the gnocchi ahead of time if you were entertaining with this dish. And boy would it be an impressive meal to show off!

The dish is "almost" vegan because I sauteed everything in butter. But it would be vegan (to my knowledge) if you used coconut oil or a vegan butter substitute. The gnocchi themselves are vegan because I used my chia seeds instead of eggs. They worked great!

I froze half of my gnocchi since I was just making dinner for two. We ended up with almost no leftovers. So I would cook the whole batch if you're cooking for four.

Ingredients for the gnocchi (adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen's recipe):
2 pounds of Russet potatoes (I uses three large potatoes)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 tablespoons water
1 cup all purpose unbleached flour

Ingredients for pasta:
1/2 bunch of stemmed kale leaves
1 cup shelled fava beans (see notes)
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary
5 tablespoons of butter
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake your potatoes for about an hour until they are fork tender. Let them cool some (just enough so you can handle them) and peel them. Grate the cooked potatoes over the large holes of a box grater or pass them through a ricer or food mill into a large bowl. Add salt.

In a small bowl, add three tablespoons of water to one tablespoon of chia seeds and let stand ten minutes. Add the chia mixture to the potatoes and stir to combine. A little at a time, add the flour to the potatoes. Mix to combine and keep adding flour until the dough comes together and no longer sticks to your hands.

Once the dough comes together, turn it out on to a floured surface and knead it just like bread for about three minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and then divide it into six smaller balls. Roll each ball into a rope about 3/4 of an inch thick. Using a pairing knife, cut the rope into 1 inch pieces and place them on a baking sheet (you'll fill two baking sheets).

Traditional gnocchi has little ridges. To make the ridges, roll the gnocchi pieces down the tines of a fork. Keep rolling and cutting until you use all six dough balls.

Put the gnocchi in the fridge while you prep the pasta ingredients.

Fill a stock pot with water and heat it on high. Chop the rosemary, mince the garlic, and finely slice the kale. Add the butter to a large skillet and heat it on medium. Add the rosemary, garlic, and kale, season with salt and pepper, and saute while you cook the gnocchi.

Once the water gently boils, drop the gnocchi in the water (carefully) half a baking sheet at a time. When the gnocchi floats to the top, remove it from the water and add it to the pan with the kale. Once all the gnocchi is cooked, add it all to the skillet and turn the heat up. Add in the fava beans and saute just until the gnocchi starts to brown slightly. Serve immediately and enjoy fine dining at home!

Potato Gratin with Spring Vegetables

Spring has arrived ever-so-slightly here in Philly. It's still mostly cloudy and not exactly warm, but I'll take it! Spring weather also means spring vegetables.

Notes: I think I should have sauteed the asparagus along with the leeks. My final product came out very watery probably because the veggies gave off too much liquid. Next time I make this, I might just use two or three leeks instead of asparagus. The flavor was good, but I definitely wanted it drier. I wrote the recipe with the asparagus sauteed. I got the basic gratin recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:
4 Yukon gold potatoes
1 bunch asparagus
1 leek, cleaned
2 cups whole milk
3-5 oz. of melty cheese (Gruyere, Fontel, Fontina, etc.)
3 tablespoons butter plus more for the baking dish
Salt
Pepper
Butter

Directions: Heat the oven to 350.

Slice the potatoes on a mandolin set to 1/8 or thinly slice them with a sharp knife. Set aside.

Slice your leeks into thin rings and your asparagus into small pieces. Add the butter to a skillet and heat it to medium. Saute the leeks and asparagus until they are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Be sure to drain off any excess liquid. When they're done, take them off the heat and set aside.

While the veggies are going, grate your cheese. Now you're ready to assemble!

Start by buttering the baking dish. Layer the sliced potatoes overlapping slightly like shingles. Season the layer with salt and pepper and sprinkle on 1/3 of your grated cheese. Add half your veggies. Do another layer of potatoes, 1/3 cheese, and the other half of your veggies. Season that layer with salt and pepper too. Add one more layer of potatoes (reserve the last of the cheese). Pour the milk over everything so that the top of the milk reaches the bottom of the top potato layer.

Bake it uncovered for an hour. About halfway through, push the top layer down so that it stays dry. When you have 15 minutes left, add the rest of your cheese. Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Hasselback Potato

Move over boring baked potatoes, there's a new Russet in town.

I discovered this delightful recipe over at Everybody Likes Sandwiches. It solves the age-old problem with baked potatoes: how to make the skin edible. I love potato skin, but the standard way of baking potatoes somehow doesn't lend itself to delicious skin -- too dry and it tends to separate from the flesh of the potato. I may never go back to standard baked potatoes. I'm so disappointed that I haven't been eating these all my life!

Notes: Hasselback potatoes require a little knife work. You want to make thick-ish potato chip slices 3/4 of the way through the potato without cutting it all the way through. I would err on the side of caution: make shallow cuts to start with and then go back and make them deeper as needed. You want the potato to move a little like an accordion.

Ingredients:
As many Russet potatoes as you have hungry people (in my case, just one)
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Preheat the oven to 425.

Be sure your potato is scrubbed clean, since you'll be eating the skin.

Make slices in your potato from end to end. You want them about 1/4 of an inch thick or about the size of a thick potato chip. Slice 3/4 of the way through the potato, but be sure not to slice all the way through.

Once your slices are done, sprinkle salt and pepper on top of of the potato and in between the cuts. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Put the potato on a foil-lined baking sheet or in a glass dish and bake for 45-50 minutes until it's fork tender. Halfway through the cooking, drizzle with more olive oil for crispier skin. Enjoy your new favorite baked potato!