One of my most favorite foods is potatoes, and when I was a child no one would pass the potatoes to me until all others in the family had what they wanted, because I'd surely eat all the rest! I have discovered, over the years, that other vegetables can taste great, and it's all in the way they're prepared, so here are some of our favorite recipes for them.

Gratin Of Yukon Gold Potatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 Tbsp. Unsalted butter

1 lb Yukon gold potatoes

2/3 C. Grated gruyere cheese

1 tsp. Olive oil

1 Tbsp. Fresh thyme

3/4 tsp. Salt

1/8 tsp. Freshly-ground black pepper

1/3 C. Low sodium chicken stock

4 thyme sprigs; for garnish

Directions:

Heat oven to 400° F. Butter a 9-inch round or oval baking dish. Slice potatoes 1/8-inch thick and combine thoroughly in a mixing bowl with 1/3 cup Gruyere, the olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper. Arrange potatoes in a neat overlapping pattern in the baking dish. Pour chicken stock over potatoes and sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Bake until potatoes are tender and the cheese and potatoes are starting to brown, about 45 minutes. Garnish with thyme sprigs. Source: "Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Oct 1994"

Candied Carrots

These are great, especially if someone in the family doesn't like carrots.
Ingredients:
8 Carrots, scrubbed, trimmed, cut in strips

2 C Water

2 tbsp Sugar

3 tbsp Butter

1 tsp Salt

Directions:
Melt butter in saucepan, tilt to coat sides, and add rest of ingredients. Stir and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer ‘til liquid reduces to syrup. Serve with syrup spooned over. Variation: Substitute Maple Syrup for sugar and add 1 tsp. Cider vinegar.

Here's another alternative - just cook carrots and pour this glaze over...

Carrot Glaze

2 tbsp Cornstarch

1/3 C Orange Juice

1/3 C. Brown Sugar

1 C Water

Mix all ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil and cook until thick. Pour over cooked carrots, turning to glaze all carrots.

My Potato Salad

This is a summer favorite, and there is a real secret to making it taste great, so read carefully….

Ingredients:
8 or 9 russet Idaho potatoes work best

1 large red onion, chopped

Several stalks of celery sliced in thirds, chopped small

10-12 large eggs, hardboiled

Best Foods mayonnaise

Salt

Directions:
Scrub potato skins and place in large pot of cold water. Bring to boil and cook with skins on until fork tender. Remove from water with tongs and place on paper towels to cool until they can be handled. DO NOT LET THEM GET COLD. Potatoes cannot absorb salt unless they are warm, so the secret to great potato salad is to peel and cut them up while they are warm, and salt them well immediately. I also mash them with my fingers at this time. This is the only way I have found to get the flavors of the sauce to blend well with the potatoes. While potatoes cook, place eggs in large saucepan in cold water. Bring to boil and boil them, 15 minutes - I time them. Immediately remove from heat and plunge saucepan under cold water, rinsing twice and filling pan to top with cool water, until water and pan feel cool. Let eggs sit in water a few minutes, and then crack shells in a rolling motion first one way, and then the other. In this manner they usually peel well. Jim recently bought me an egg slicer, and it was not expensive, but it sure is a handy little gadget. It seems to take a lot of time out of preparing eggs. In one motion the egg is sliced into thin slices, and then all it takes is one cut the other way for each. Very handy! Salt the eggs separately when placed into the potatoes. Add onion, celery, mayonnaise, and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours, and you’ll have great potato salad.

My Macaroni Salad - Revised!
Jim and I have this very often in the summer. It is good with many things, or all alone. We take it to potlucks, we take it on camping trips so we don’t have to cook as much, we have it with barbecue. It’s simple and good tasting!

Ingredients:
1 (7 oz.) pkg. salad macaroni (about 2 C.)
8 hard-cooked Eggs
1 C chopped Celery
1 C chopped Onion

1 can whole or sliced large black olives

1/2 bell pepper, sliced thinly (optional)
1 tbsp. chopped fresh Parsley
1/4 tsp. Ground Pepper
2/3 C Mayonnaise

Directions:

Cook macaroni; use a BIG pot of water, and use 1 Tbsp. salt when you drop the macaroni in. Cook to al dente (almost done, but still with a bite to it); drain, rinse under cold water and cool thoroughly, about 30 minutes. Chop 7 eggs, reserving one for garnish. In large bowl, combine macaroni, eggs, celery, onion, parsley and pepper. Add mayonnaise, toss gently. Chill 3 hours or more. garnish top with reserved egg slices.

Fern's Fried Carrots
RECIPE: Boil carrots until tender, drain, dip in well-beaten egg, then roll in fine cracker crumbs. Fry in deep fat until golden brown. [This recipe is over 50 years old -- believe me, the kids will never know they're eating carrots!] Note- I have no idea where I got this recipe, I don't know anyone named Fern as far as I recall, but it sounds good. Marcie

Scalloped Potatoes and Onions

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
Salt & Freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 pounds all purpose potatoes peeled and cut into Ľ” thick slices
1 cup grated cheese, mixed Colby and Monterey Jack
2 cups Carnation Evaporated milk, as it comes from the can
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and season with salt and pepper and stir until the onions begin to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add thyme and garlic and cook 1 minute. Spread a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the prepared dish, slightly overlapping the slices. Season with salt & pepper and top with a layer of the onions. Follow with more layers of potatoes and onions. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Add evaporated milk, top with cheese and cover with foil. Bake until nearly all the liquid has been absorbed, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until golden brown and bubbly, an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. This is soooo Yummy!

My Potatoes in the Foil

I don’t know where I got this recipe, but I’ve been making these for a very long time. I often used to have these with baked beans and wieners, since they worked well in the oven together, and the flavors go together well. This dish is easy, delicious, and doesn’t even dirty a dish!

Ingredients:
4-6 potatoes; peeled, cut as for French fries.

4-5 slices American cheese, or sharp cheddar cheese*

3-4 tbsp. Butter, cut into tablespoons.

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heavy-Duty Aluminum Foil

Preheat oven to 400ş

Directions:
After potato slices are prepared, rinse thoroughly in colander, and spread out on large rectangle of foil. Season well with salt and pepper, then gather into loose pile and top with slices of cheese cut into 1-inch strips. Dot with butter, and bring two long ends of foil up to center, folding together several times. Fold short ends over each other and bend upward, forming a package that will not leak. Place in center of center rack in oven, and bake for 45 minutes. Foil can be placed in a dish for serving, without soiling the dish. These reheat well if you should have any left (I never have any left).

*Update: Recently we've been slicing the potatoes, and I've tried different cheeses - a mix of Italian cheese (pre-grated in a bag) and a mix of Colby and Jack cheese. They were great! I just cover the potatoes well with the grated cheese before enclosing in foil.

Roasted or Grilled Leeks and Carrots

Ingredients:

2 leeks
4 large carrots
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
Directions:
Wash the carrots and leave the skin on. Slice direct down the middle to create two long halves. Cut the leeks and half and remove the green portion. Place them in a pitcher of water to soak for 30 minutes. This will remove most of the dirt. Rinse them once more and wipe clean. Preheat the grill (or oven) to medium heat (375° F. Oil the grill and drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the leeks and carrots open side down and grill for 5-10 minutes until they are tender and nicely charred. If roasting in oven bake until tender, about an hour. Serves 4.

Mashed Potatoes w/Scallions & Sour Cream

I had not eaten any flavored mashed potatoes until I went to Alaska, and we went to the Princess Hotel there, which has a very good gourmet restaurant, on a day when they had an “All-Alaskan” buffet. They served mashed potatoes that were sort of similar to these, and they were wonderful, so it inspired me to come up with something similar. This is it! It’s a great dish to serve to company.

Ingredients:
10 Yukon Gold Potatoes
6-8 Scallions (Green Onions), cleaned, cut into ˝” slices

3 Cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp Butter (plus ˝ C)
Salt

Freshly ground Black Pepper
1 C Sour Cream
˝ C Whole Milk
Directions:

Peel potatoes and quarter. Place in pot of cold, salted water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook ‘til tender, 15 - 20 minutes. Melt 2 tbsp butter in large sauté pan. Add scallions and garlic, and sweat (sauté at lower heat) until soft. Transfer to blender jar, puree with sour cream in blender and set aside. Add additional salt and the pepper to potatoes at this point. Mash potatoes with a masher or blender, thoroughly. Heat scallion/garlic/sour cream mix, ˝ cup butter, and milk but DO NOT boil. Add to potatoes and whip with electric hand mixer. Do not over-beat. Check seasonings. Can be reheated in microwave before serving.

Sami’s Green Beans

This Recipe first came to me from my Aunt Sami. She made it to see if my grandfather (who would only eat fresh green beans) would eat them canned, and it worked! He really liked them. I did too, and my family wasn’t crazy about green beans, so I began fixing them this way all the time, and they ate them right up.

Ingredients:

1 can Green Beans (cut any way)

Ľ small onion, chopped

Garlic Powder to taste

1 slice bacon, cut into four sections

Salt and Pepper to taste

Water (or bean liquid) to top, but not covering beans.

Directions:

Place beans in small saucepan, including liquid – add more water if necessary. Add onion, garlic powder, bacon, and seasonings and mix. Cook uncovered at med-high heat, to reduce liquid. Ideally, they cook until the liquid is almost gone, about 15 minutes at my altitude. Watch them carefully and stir often to make sure they have liquid and don’t burn. You will be rewarded with a great green bean dish!

Roasted Vegetables
This recipe came about accidentally after seeing something similar done on TV, when we didn’t know what we wanted to have with roast chicken one night. It is amazing how different veggies taste when prepared in this way, they are all very sweet and delicious!

Ingredients:

6 red potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes

˝ head of cabbage

4 carrots

1 head of garlic

2 onions, cut into wedges

Broccoli flowerets

Cauliflower flowerets

Other vegetables as desired

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Directions:

Clean and cut potatoes into quarters (no peeling necessary), clean carrots and cut up, making sure that carrots are a bit smaller in size than the potato pieces, so they’ll cook in approximately the same time. Remove whole garlic cloves from head, peeling them; cut onions into wedges, and if you love onions you might want to increase the amount of these – we do. Core head of cabbage and cut into wedges about 1-1/2” in diameter across largest portion, being careful to keep them together – if they separate, they’ll burn. Place potatoes and carrots into large, flat Pyrex or other baking dish (at least 9x13 or larger), trying not to pile all atop one another too much, but spreading them out. Drizzle olive oil over the top, and place into 400ş preheated oven. Roast for about half an hour, checking for doneness then, as time will depend on the size of pieces used. When they are near done, remove dish from oven, add cabbage, garlic, and onions. Drizzle more oil over top, and return to oven for another 15 minutes or so. The cabbage and onions should just be beginning to crisp around the very edges. Mound in serving bowl, and prepare for a taste treat! Note: you are going to be limited only by how much room you have in a baking dish for these veggies. We have two large, flat Pyrex dishes we use, because they do not work well if they are packed on top of each other, it hinders the baking time.

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