Potato Pancakes

The key to these potato pancakes is to let them cook long enough to get good and crispy.  The best time to make these is right after you've finished frying up some bacon.  Frying the potato pancakes in the leftover bacon grease adds a ton of flavor.

Potato Pancakes
Inspired by Allrecipes.com

2 c shredded potato (about 1 good sized russet)
1-2 T finely diced onion
2 eggs
1 T + 1 tsp flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
oil (preferably bacon grease)

1) Squeeze as much moisture as possible out of the potatoes.
2) In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onion, eggs, flour, salt and pepper; mix well.
3) Add enough oil to a large skillet to cover the bottom (3-4 T); heat over medium.
4) Plop 2-3 T of batter in skillet; use spoon to spread batter into a thin pancake.
5) Fry on each side until golden brown.

Potato Salad

This is a Mama K original....best potato salad ever!

Potato Salad

5 russet potatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
3 eggs, hardboiled and chopped
1/2 c mayo
1/2 c sugar
3 T apple cider vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste

1) Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with salted water. Boil until fork tender, about 20 minutes.
2) Drain potatoes, let cool and cut into cubes.
3) Combine potatoes, onion, pepper, celery and eggs in a large bowl.
4) In a small bowl, combine mayo, sugar and vinegar.
5) Mix dressing into potato mixture.
6) Add salt and pepper to taste.
7) Refrigerate for several hours to allow flavors to meld.
8) If the potatoes absorb a lot of the dressing, make another half batch and mix in.

Chickpea Potato Curry

This curry isn't what I expected from a curry, but it was really tasty! Very quick and easy for a weeknight dinner. We served it over rice, but it was so hearty we found that rice wasn't really necessary.

Chickpea Potato Curry

2 1/2 c low sodium chicken broth
2-15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
14 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes with chiles (or add a 4 oz can of green chiles)
12 oz Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T unsalted butter
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1-2 tsp salt (depending on your chicken broth, you may not need any)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 T cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cayenne

1) In a large pot, combine all ingredients.
2) Simmer vigorously over medium heat for 35 mins or until the potatoes are tender.

Cheese and Broccoli Baked Potatoes

This is definitely a more sophisticated cheese and broccoli baked potato than I'm used to (no cheez whiz!). It was very tasty and this recipe made enough topping for probably four potatoes instead of two (although we loaded it on two anyways). We weren't sure this would be enough for dinner, so we made BLTs and a couple ears of corn. Way too much food....

Baked Potatoes

2 baking potatoes
olive oil
kosher salt

1) Preheat over to 400 degrees.
2) Pierce potatos skins with fork.
3) Spritz with olive oil.
4) Sprinkle on kosher salt.
5) Bake for one hour.

Cheese and Broccoli Topping

2 T butter
2 T flour
1 1/4 c milk
salt & pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
1 c Jarlsberg or other swiss cheese, grated
1 small head of broccoli, steamed

1) Melt butter over medium heat.
2) Whisk in flour and simmer for 2-3 minutes; do not brown.
3) Stir in milk and bring just to a boil.
4) Add salt, pepper, cayenne and simmer 2-3 minutes.
5) Remove from heat; stir in cheese until melted.
6) Chop steamed broccoli and add to sauce.
7) Spoon over baked potatoes.