Purple Potato Salad

So, on Monday, I decided to perfect my smoked brisket ability, but that's a story for another blog. I will say that's what prompted me to want to make potato salad (and the fact that I have so many potatoes to use up from our garden). We grew red, gold and purple potatoes and I hadn't cooked with purples before so I decided this was a good time to use them up. Of course, you know me, I went to google to search for a recipe and the first one that popped up was from Food Network. I really like Tyler Florence's recipes, so I knew this one was a winner. 

A few changes/adds: Added turkey bacon. [I had some already cooked and ready, but definitely prefer pork bacon.] Added just a touch of cane sugar to balance out the salt and vinegar. Didn't use Parsley. [I really need to grow some indoors during the winter; I'm not really a fan of dried herbs.] Added sour cream for extra tang and creaminess. Used spicy brown mustard which gave it even more kick. 

So, if I'm blogging this, it means it ranks as one of my top favorite recipes for potato salad. [I have another one with pickles and red potatoes so that makes 2 favorites. :) ]

Please give this one a try!

2 pounds small purple potatoes

1 purple onion, diced

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 lemon, juiced

Salt and pepper, to taste

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/purple-potato-salad-recipe-1938543

Baked Corned Beef and Cabbage

Wow what a week! Coronavirus is turning everything upside down. The positive is that I've had more time to get back in the kitchen and type up the recipes I've been trying. This week was St. Patrick's day, so I managed to snag a brisket from the grocery store and cook up some corned beef and cabbage in a 13x9 pan. It was sooooo yummy! I know I have a splash of Irish in my genetics and I can't get enough potatoes and cabbage in my diet. One word of caution-don't add salt if you buy pre-seasoned corned beef. It is already plenty salty enough in the end. [I ended up having to add rice on day 2 for a Corned Beef, Cabbage and Rice stew in the crockpot-so good!] I will post the Pistachio Pineapple Dessert I made to go with it separately.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/27024/baked-corned-beef-and-cabbage/

Zucchini Tater Tots (Airfryer)

Since this month is garden harvest which means lots of zucchinis and potatoes. I'm absolutely thrilled to find this recipe. I boiled the potatoes and added in the shredded zucchini with a little bit of salt and pepper. I omitted the oil and rolled them into balls instead of cylinders (much easier). The airfryer is my top purchase of the year. It has re-introduced things like eggrolls, french fries and wontons. It's so nice to eat things that taste "fried" and doesn't require heating up the house with the oven.

https://www.shelikesfood.com/4-ingredient-zucchini-tater-tots

Ham, Potato and Broccoli Cheese Soup

Well, it's a rainy/snowy day; that's how Colorado does spring. Don't know what it is about cold, dreary weather that makes soup taste so good. I used 2 ham steaks and cut them up; used my handy dicer on my KitchenAid mixer for the potatoes (makes perfect cubes); and had fresh broccoli that needed using up. In general, I cook healthy dinners, but tonight, I didn't hold back with the cream and cheese--it's the only way to truly make comfort food. :) Thumbs up from the hubby...I don't think this soup will last long. ;)

https://themccallumsshamrockpatch.com/2015/01/05/broccoli-cheese-soup/

Sausage, Potato and Sauerkraut Soup (Instant Pot)

I think we're averaging one (ground) sausage recipe per week. I definitely need to keep finding good German Sausage recipes. I loosely based my soup on this recipe. First, I sauted the sausage in the instant pot then added the rest of the ingredients. We still have potatoes from our garden and I used a jar of my homemade sauerkraut. I also added carrots. The bay leaf and caraway seed made it taste amazing. The hubby also added sour cream and cheese at the end. Using the instant pot, I was able to get all cooked in under 30 minutes!  Delish!

http://deliciousfoodhomemade.com/polish-sausage-sauerkraut-and-potatoes-crockpot/

German Skillet with Mustard Cream Sauce

After processing our hogs, I ended up with quite a bit of ground German sausage. It's the first time I've ever really used it in cooking so I'll be trying various Pinterest recipes for the next few months. The hubby would say, "you don't have to keep looking, just make this one over and over." He ended up eating 2 big bowls of it last night and again for breakfast this morning. Hehe. 

I did make a few adjustments. One of my most favorite attachments for my KitchenAid stand mixer is the Dicer/Slicer. It makes perfect little potato cubes (which makes it faster to cook and easier to eat). I first cooked the sausage in a pot with onions and garlic then added the potatoes with some chicken broth. After allowing that to cook for about 30 minutes, I added the sauerkraut, brown mustard and regular milk for another 15 minutes. Finally I added the heavy cream and cooked 15 more minutes. No salt needed due to the sauerkraut, chicken broth and sausage, but I did add some black pepper and white vinegar for extra kick. [German sausage has red pepper flakes so it was plenty spicy, but not too much--perfect for the hubby and me.]

https://www.foxvalleyfoodie.com/german-skillet-mustard-cream-sauce/

Slow Cooker Apple BBQ Ribs

Recipe #2 countdown of my bushel-full of Macintosh. This was an out-of-this-world recipe and thank goodness it was in the crockpot because we ended up having an extra busy, but productive day around the ranch. I used onions from the garden as well as applesauce from the Yellow Transparent apples. I added potatoes to the bottom (also from the garden) and garlic & pepper, for a well rounded meal. Probably one of the best rib recipes I've had in a while. :)

http://cincyshopper.com/slow-cooker-apple-bbq-ribs/

Baked Potato Soup

The potatoes are starting to come in from the garden! I was craving baked potato soup, so I found this recipe on Pinterest. I used it loosely and probably didn't really need a recipe, but it was a nice reference point. I often review several recipes for the same dish to see what I want to incorporate into mine. I ended up adding peas (also from the garden), shredded cheeses (leftover Queso, Sharp Cheddar and Mexican blends), cream of mushroom, fresh mushrooms, salt and pepper, omitted the butter, flour and heavy cream, and doubled the sour cream. Of course the hubby had to add Franks ;) So delicious!

http://ashleemarie.com/loaded-baked-potato-soup-recipe/