Red White and Blue Potato Salad

Made with local baby blue, red new, and dutch yellow potatoes with local baby red onions that are caramelized to heavenly sweetness. Mixed with a lemony aoli style dressing with crunchy and fresh local cucumber. Zesty and colorful, this classic side gets local and patriotic to enliven your next 4th of July picnic.

Potatoes
1/2 pound purple/blue baby (small) potatoes
1/2 pound baby new potatoes
1/2 pound baby dutch yellow or yukon potatoes
3 tablespoons kosher salt

Caramelized Onions
1/2 pound baby red onions
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup water


Dressing
1/2 large english (seedless) cucumber
3 tablespoons good quality mayo
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 teaspoons grey poupon or similar mustard
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Special equipment- potato brush scrubber

Peel and slice the onions into half moons. In a large stainless steel saute pan on medium high heat, heat the olive oil until it shimmers and smokes slightly in the pan. Add the onions and salt and saute slowly, adding a little water when needed (when there are sticky brown bits on the pan) to deglaze. Cook onions for approximately 20 minutes, or until they are dark brown, and very soft and sweet.

While the onions are cooking, get started on the potatoes.

Wash and scrub all potatoes under cold running water. Halve or quarter the potatoes so they are bite sized (about 2 inches in diameter) and all roughly the same size. Fill a large pot with cold water, and add the potatoes and 3 tablespoons of salt. It may seem like a lot of salt, so if your pot is on the small side- use a little less. Your pot should be large enough for the potatoes to comfortably bubble around like they are in a big jacuzzi.  Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender and drain.

While the potatoes are boiling, start the dressing.

In a large bowl, whisk the mayo, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Dice the cucumber and mix in.

When the potatoes are done, drain them, and place them back in the hot pot for a second or two to wick off the excess moisture. Pour the hot potatoes into the bowl with the dressing, cucumbers and caramelized onions and mix well. Test for seasoning, and add if needed. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight. The longer this potato salad sits in the fridge, the tastier it gets!

Easy Easter

For Easter, we decided to do something simle and delicious. My older sister was in town for a short visit with her friends, so I didn't want to suck up too much time by doing something complicated. We decided on Potato Leek soup, a salad made with greens from our garden, biscuits and lemon meringue pie.

For the soup I pumped up the flavor by adding caramelized onions as a garnish, and the time spent on them was worth every golden brown bite. Intense, sweet and savory, caramelized onions are one of those things that it pays to do slowly, correctly and patiently.

For the pie I used 2 types of lemon and lots of zest to pump up the pucker factor. I love the pairing of the fluffy sweet egg white meringue with the punch of the lemon filling on a crispy crust.

I feel like I have been making these 2 recipes my whole life, and the more I make them the more I love them. My Grandmother was famous for her lemon meringue pie, and I’m fortunate to still have her recipe, in her dainty cursive on a yellowed and faded index card from 1989. I love the crinkly, foamy and sea like sound it makes when you cut into it and nothing beats this homemade pie filling.

Caramelized Onions (takes about 45 minutes to do it right)

2 large Vidalia/sweet onions

2 tbl vegetable oil

Tap water

This recipe makes about a cup of caramelized onions. you can start with one onion, but these are so good, i always make extra for use later on.

Cut the onions in half lengthwise, and discard the tops and bottoms, and the paper outer covering. Slice the onions thinly (half moon shapes)

While you're slicing, heat a stainless steel pan over medium heat with 2 tbl vegetable oil. (Do not use a non-stick!)

Add all the sliced onions to the pan once the pan is hot and stir. Don’t worry about overcrowding the pan- the amount of onions will reduce by 4, and you'll end up with less than you think. Stir occasionally until the onions start to stick. if you notice that there is starting to be a brown layer on the pan (called "Fond") add about 3 tablespoons water to the pan and scrape the bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon.

Keep doing this stir/water treatment until the onions turn dark brown all over and are sweet and sticky with caramelization. The water is to prevent sticking/burning. Do not turn up the heat the pan to speed up the process- it won't work. You want these onions to cook low and slow, but don't worry- it they will be worth the wait. Great for pizza toppings, as an addition to pasta, on a crustini for an appetizer, or on almost anything savory you want to eat. These are addictive.

Leek and Potato Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil

(special equipment- immersion blender, or a blender with a large cup)
1 yellow onion, julienned
2-3 large leeks, green parts discarded, white/light green parts chopped into half moons and soaked in cold water to remove any grit/sand.
3 whole, peeled garlic cloves
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
32 ounces vegetable stock (low sodium)
10 ounces heavy cream (omit if you want this recipe to be vegan. it will be almost as good)
salt and white pepper

In a large soup/stock pot, heat oil on medium heat. Drain the leeks- being careful not to pour the sandy water back on them. Add the leeks to your pot and stir. Slice your onion finely, and add to the cooking leeks. Add the whole peeled garlic, and stir. Cook until the onions are translucent, but not brown. If your onions/leeks start to brown- turn down the heat. Once the onions are translucent, add diced potatoes and vegetable stock. The vegetable stock should cover the vegetables and potatoes. If it isn't enough- add water until the potatoes are just covered. Bring the soup to a boil, and reduce to medium low/low and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender.

Using an immersion blender (or transferring soup in batches to a blender) blend the soup until smooth. Taste for salt and pepper, and add if needed. If you are serving immediately add the cream, and blend together until rich and smooth. Test again for salt and pepper, and add if needed. This soup is also excellent cold.

Garnish with caramelized onions.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Prepared pie dough (you can make your own, but i bought a pre made dough from the grocery store. it isn't cheating as long as the filling is awesome) and 1 pound of pie weights, dried beans or rice

Filling
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup lemon juice and the zest of the 2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Meringue. (we like it piled high!)

6-7 large egg whites- room temperature

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

separating eggs

Preheat the oven to 400

Roll out the prepared dough in a 9 inch pie plate. Using your fingers, make a decorative edge. Using a fork, prick the dough all over so the crust doesn't bubble. Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper on the dough and put the pie weights or beans/rice on top to weigh the dough down. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. if your crust is not getting brown in the middle- remove the pie weights and bake for an additional 4-6 minutes until the crust is just golden. let cool and prepare the filling.

Lower the oven temp to 350

In a medium sized sauce pan on medium heat, combine sugar, corn starch, salt, water and milk. Stir until corn starch lumps are dissolved, and bring to a low boil until the mixture has thickened greatly. (Should look like pudding) Temper in the eggs slowly, and stir until completely incorporated. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes on medium low. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract and lemon extract. Stir well. Pour filling through a sieve to remove any possible lumps, cover filling (pressing wrap to the filling to prevent the formation of a skin) and set aside.

In a clean, dry mixing bowl. Add egg whites and cream of tartar to a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.

Whip the mixture on high until foam is created. SLOWLY add granulated sugar, and continue to whip on high until stiff peaks are formed, and egg whites are glossy and firm but not too dry!

Add the filling to the shell and smooth.

Add the egg whites to the top of the pie making sure to smooth the egg whites out so that the crust is completely sealed (or whites will shrink!). Using the back of a spoon or spatula, make peaks and dips in the egg whites for decoration. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until the egg whites are golden brown.

Let cool completely, and then refrigerate if you can wait to eat it.

Super Cute food

You may not know me, but know this. I LOVE cute things. Nothing improves my day or my mood more quickly than looking at, making or petting cute things. My love of cute is almost as strong as my love of food, and it just turns this sarcastic sourpuss into a baby talking fool.


Mupcakes


Don't adjust your monitor-- yes, that is meatloaf made to look like a cupcake. I almost wish i had gotten a picture of them lookin all pretty- but seriously we ravaged these little "mupcakes" as i call them- so a picture of the mupcake carnage was apropos. I served my mupcakes with a side of corn and herb biscuits from the Martha Stewart baking book (excellent), and to finish, old fashioned marble cake.


Mupcakes
1 pound organic extra lean ground beef
1 stalk celery, cleaned and diced finely
2 med carrots, cleaned and diced finely
1 yellow onion, cleaned and diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced finely
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/4 cup skim milk
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
2 tsp salt salt and 1/2 tsp ground pepper (1/2 for veggies, 1/2 for meat)
olive oil
1/4 cup ketchup (or catsup-- what is the difference?)


preheat oven to 400


spray a cupcake pan with vegetable spray lightly and set aside. (don't bother using paper or those foil cups-- they get all greasy and gross from the fat in the meat anyway)


in a medium pan on medium high heat, heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. when oil is hot, saute the carrots, celery and onion together for 4-5 minutes. add salt, pepper, minced garlic, and saute until golden brown. deglaze the pan with the sherry, and set aside to cool.


in a medium sized bowl, whisk together egg, milk, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, add cooled veggies (hot veggies will scramble the egg-- not yummy) and stir. Add meat and mix quickly with your hands. don't over mix- which will make the mupcakes really tough, and not in the Roseanne Barr tuff on the outside, soft on the inside kind of way.


Using your fingers- fill the cupcake tins with the meat and veggie mixture and press down in the center of each with your thumb. the mixture should make exactly 12 little meat cakes. Paint some ketchup over the top of each little meat cake (just like mom would do), and bake for 20-25 minutes or until done through. (a meat thermometer should read 165 and no more)

While the meat cakes are cooking- work on your potatoes


Mashed potato "frosting"
6-8 large red potatoes, peeled, and cut into 6 pieces per half a potato
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup skim milk
salt and pepper


starting with cold water and a generous amount of salt, boil the potatoes until they are fork tender. while the potatoes are cooking, add together rest of ingredients (except for salt and pepper) and microwave until hot and mixture is lump free. drain the potatoes, and mash the potatoes in a ricer (much smoother/less gummy), and add milk mixture. mix and season with salt and pepper. scoop the potatoes into a pastry bag- fitted with a large plain or star tip. (make sure there are no lumps- because seriously- i busted my bag wide open because i tried to make those potatoes submit to my will) pipe the potato onto the top of the little meat loafs as you would frosting. at this point you can stick them under the broiler for a minute or 2 for a little fancy, or just sprinkle on a little chopped chives, or a little fancy colored salt like i did- looked just like sprinkles! i used some fancy pink salt my older sister got me a while back.


serve and smile

Marble Cake with Cheater icing
I adapted the Joy of cooking's Buttermilk Layer cake for this.


a little extra butter and flour is needed for greasing pans
2 1/3 cups cake flour
4 tablespoons buttermilk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp--- if your butter isn't at room temp-- just mix it with the paddle in the mixer for a couple extra minutes- starting on low- and moving to high for a couple minutes.
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup semi sweet morsels
1 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans and set aside. On top of some parchment paper (for easy mixing) Sift together the cake flour, buttermilk powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a 2 cup measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, skim milk, vanilla and almond extract.

Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and on medium/high speed , beat the butter until creamy- adding a 1/3 cup of sugar at a time until the mixture is light yellow and really fluffy. once its all fluffy, alternate 1/3 of the liquid with 1/3 dry until well incorporated, but don't over mix!


Remove about 1/3 of the batter, and put in a medium bowl. in a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate chips 10 seconds at a time and stirring in between until smooth. whisk in the chocolate into one of the bowls, and mix well.


Add vanilla batter to the pans 1/2 in each, an smooth over the batter in the pans. add chocolate in dollops over the top of the batter. using a butter knife, swirl in the chocolate batter with the vanilla batter, but don't over mix. you just want a marbled pattern.


Bake until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then unmold onto a rack and stick in the fridge to cool completely before frosting.

Cheater frosting
1 stick room temp butter (see above if cold)
1/3 cup unflavored Crisco (your guests will never know- and don't need to either)

1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 drop almond extract
1-2 tablespoon/s milk

3/4 pound confectioners sugar

beat the butter and crisco together with a paddle attachment until smooth. replace paddle with the whisk attachment, and beat until fluffy. Add salt, vanilla and almond and mix well. turn the mixer to low, and add in confectioners sugar. add in milk until the mixture is smooth and pliable. turn the mixer to high, and beat for 2-4 minutes, or until the mixture is really fluffy. ice cake immediately.