Scalloped Potatoes

This is Mom's recipe, although it's not really a recipe as much as it is an assembly. The ingredients are basic and you probably have them on hand any day of the week, although I will confess to having to go to the store for milk today. Total bummer, but worth it in the end. When we were kids, scalloped potatoes and ham were a favorite meal. This is basically that dish without the ham and served as a side. They are creamy, buttery and wonderful. I'm partial to the top layer that has a little bit of a crispy bite. The is the most basic variety, but it's easy to change it up by adding in some veggies or cheese or meat. It's good with roasted poblanos and fontina, or cheddar and ham, or proscuitto and mozzarella and fresh basil. Once you master the basic recipe, the sky is the limit on the different varieties you can make.  Here's what you'll need:

  • Yukon gold potatoes
  • butter
  • flour
  • milk
  • salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

One of the most important things about making theses potatoes is to try to make all the slices the same thickness so that they cook evenly. I use a mandolin which cuts them exactly the thickness I set it for and it's about ten times faster than doing it by hand. Just be really careful about your hand while you're using it. It's not a time saver if you cut yourself and have to go to the hospital... 

After you've sliced all your potatoes, it's time to start layering. Spray your casserole with nonstick spray and arrange your first layer of potatoes. You'll want them to overlap and if your potatoes are really thin like these, go ahead and do 2 layers.  

Next, season that layer with salt and pepper. It's important to season each layer as you go. 

Now sprinkle with flour. You want to have a light layer of flour covering the potatoes. 

Now dot with butter. I cut about a teaspoon off of the stick, then pinch little pieces off and drop on the flour. 

Just keep repeating those layers until you've used all the potato slices. 

Now pour on the milk. You want enough milk so that you can see it just below the top layer of potatoes. 

Place the casserole on a foil lined baking sheet. Don't skip this step. Almost every time I make these, some of it boils over and you don't want that mess in your oven. Place the pan in the oven, uncovered, for about an hour. I say about because it's going to depend on how thick your slices are and how many layers you have. You can check for doneness by sticking a fork in them like you would a baked potato. 

When they are fork tender and golden on the top, take them out of the oven. At this point, you basically have a pot full of molten hot lava, so be very careful. Wait at least 15 minutes before you serve them.  

Enjoy! 

Lynn

Chicken Parmesan

Oooh La La, right? Not really. This is a super simple recipe that uses store bought bread crumbs and sauce. I've made it all from scratch before, only to discover that it's just as good with the store bought ingredients, so why bother, I say. It's one of those assembly type recipes. Don't tell anyone though because they'll never guess by the taste. This is great for company too. It can be made ahead and heated and served so that you can spend time with your guests instead of in the kitchen. Here's what you'll need:

  • boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 for every 2 people)
  • 1 jar good spaghetti/marinara sauce (I use Bartolli)
  • italian style bread crumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • parmesan cheese, shredded
  • olive oil and butter

 

You can see by the picture that I made this even simpler by buying my chicken breasts already sliced. If you have whole chicken breasts, slice them first.

Heat a 50/50 mixture of olive oil and butter in a skillet. I like to use my electric skillet for this.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Mix the eggs in a shallow bowl.

Add the bread crumbs to another shallow bowl.

Spread a little of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish.

To make this easy, set up an assembly line like this:

Take one piece and dip it in the egg dish. Allow the excess egg to drip off, then dredge the chicken in the seasoned bread crumbs. Shake off the excess crumbs.

Add the dredged chicken to the hot skillet and fry until brown, then turn and fry the other side until it's brown. The chicken doesn't have to be fully cooked yet.

Place the chicken in the casserole with the sauce and top with parmesan and then mozzarella and more sauce. Repeat this process with the remaining chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees about 30-30 minutes until the cheeses are melted and the sauce is hot and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Lynn

                Chicken Parmesan

  • boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 for every 2 people)
  • 1 jar good spaghetti/marinara sauce (I use Bartolli)
  • italian style bread crumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • mozarella cheese, shredded
  • parmesan cheese, shredded
  • olive oil

Cut each chicken breast in half, horizontally, so that you end up with 2 very thin pieces. 

Mix the eggs in a shallow bowl.

Add the bread crumbs to another shallow bowl.

Spread a little of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Season all the chicken with salt and pepper. Take one piece and dip it in the egg dish. Allow the excess egg to drip off, then dredge the chicken in the seasoned bread crumbs. Shake off the excess crumbs then fry the dredged chicken a skillet in the olive oil, until browned on both sides. The chicken doesn’t have to be cooked through at this time.

Place the chicken in the casserole with the sauce and top with parmesan and then mozzarella and more sauce. Repeat this process with the remaining chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees about 30-30 minutes until the cheeses are melted and the sauce is hot and bubbly.

 

Chipotle Pulled Pork Pizza

Here's another use for the leftover chipotle pulled pork. This was made with a portion that I had frozen in a zip top bag. I decided to make this at 5 this afternoon and by 7 we had a homemade pizza better than anything we could have ordered. Normally if I am planning to make pizza, I make the dough early in the day so that it has plenty of time to rise, but this worked out just fine.

I added fresh rosemary and red pepper flakes to the dough to give the crust a little extra zing. I also went very lightly on the cheese because we are still recuperating from the holidays and so I have been cutting back wherever I can without compromising the flavor. Feel free to add more cheese if you're so inclined. We didn't miss it at all. The spinach is also of the frozen variety. This entire pizza was made with either staples that I always have on hand or something that I pulled from the freezer, but you would never guess that by the taste. Here's what you'll need:

  • 1 recipe pizza dough ( I added about 1 tsp of red pepper flakes and 1 TBL fresh rosemary)
  • olive oil
  • ricotta cheese
  • chipotle pulled pork
  • 1 shallot
  • parmesan cheese, grated
  • fresh rosemary, chopped
  • serrano pepper
  • frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess moisture

Start by rolling out the pizza dough. We like it pretty thin, but if you like it thick that works too.

Drizzle the crust with olive oil. I added a little red pepper infuse olive oil as well.

Add the pulled pork.

Add the spinach.

Thinly slice the shallot and separate into rings and add to the pizza.

Slice the Serrano pepper and add. I leave the seeds in because we like spicy food, but remove the seeds if you want a milder flavor. 

Mince the fresh rosemary and add.

Now add as much ricotta as you want. I just spoon on dollops.

Top all of the ingredients with the greated parmesan.

Bake on a pizza stone in a preheated 500 degree oven until the crust is brown.

At this point I should say that I can't live without my pizza stones. If you want a crust that is really crisp on the outside but still tender on the inside, you need to use a pizza stone. Cookie sheets and the metal pizza pans just don't do the trick. I keep my stone in the oven all the time so I don't have to worry about storing them. They also have the added benefit of keeping the temperature of the oven even.

Enjoy!

Lynn