Recipe Review from 3/29/21

Birds are migrating through this week, specifically the junco's, and the chickadee's have started their Twee-dee call in earnest. One day was warm enough that the peepers thawed out and a few brave souls were peeping. It'll be another month yet before they really get going. And we were able to enjoy our first afternoon cocktails on the porch! Lovely, just, lovely.

Amnicon Falls State Park, WI  Fall 2020

The Meal Plan:
Sat (L) leftover farro (S) Minnesota "poutine"
Sun (L) clean out fridge leftovers (S) gumbo w/potato salad
Mon (yoga) gumbo
Tues (Bkgrp) gumbo
Wed (yoga) gumbo
Thurs (7am Y mtg) pizza  gumbo with rice
Fri - Chicken with coconut milk  pizza

Lunches - crustless quiche (aka - egg bake)


BEST Potato Salad (Gimme Some Oven) I may have made this previously...not sure. So I'm posting it anyway because this was simple, fast, and doesn't use extraneous ingredients like mayo and sour cream or yogurt. I also simplified by cooking the potatoes in the instant pot and while they were cooling, did the same to the eggs. Faster, less water, less monitoring, less clean-up.

I did have to halve this recipe because I didn't have 3lbs of potatoes on hand. Which is not a bad thing since there's only two of us and eating 3lbs of potato salad for a whole week? Yeah, it's a bit much.

So I used 1.75 lbs of Yukon Golds, sweet relish for the dill pickle, a table spoon of white onion because that's what I had on hand. Other than halving and cooking in the instant pot, I assembled as directed. Recommended!

Photo from Gimme Some Oven

10-12 servings (with amounts below)
3 pounds Yukon Gold, Russet, or red potatoes*, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup dill pickle relish (optional)
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 hard-boiled eggs, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
half of a small red onion, thinly sliced
sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
optional toppings: smoked paprika or Old Bay seasoning, chopped fresh chives, (extra) sliced hard-boiled eggs

Place the diced potatoes in a large stockpot and add enough water so that the potatoes are covered by 1 inch. Cook over medium-high heat until the water reaches a boil. Then reduce heat to medium to maintain the simmer, and continue cooking the potatoes for 5-8 minutes or until the potatoes pierce easily with a fork.

Drain the potatoes in a colander. Then return the potatoes to the stockpot, drizzle evenly with the vinegar, and let the potatoes rest for 20-30 minutes or until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, whisk together the mayo, celery salt, mustard and pickle relish in a medium bowl until evenly combined.

Once the potatoes are ready to go, add in the mayo mixture, diced eggs, celery and onion. Toss gently until evenly combined.

Taste and season with salt and pepper, to taste. (Also feel free to add in a tablespoon or two of pickle juice if you would like.)

Transfer the potato salad to a serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to chill.
Serve chilled, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.


Easy Crustless Quiche (The Kitchn) vegetarian option
In Minnesota-land, we call this an Egg Bake. A bit putzy in that I used some Italian sausage I had in the freezer and had to saute it, then I sauteed the mushrooms (need to get that extra liquid out), then I wilted the spinach (so much water in spinach!). Sausage in one end of the pan, diced (frozen) potatoes, mushrooms and spinach over everything. Cheese on top, pour in egg mix and bake. So, yeah, a tich putzy on the front end.

On the back end - I have pre-made lunches for two for four days. Awesome!

Photo from TheKitchn

10 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Any assortment of mix-ins such as:
About 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh greens, such as arugula or baby spinach
About 1 cup cooked vegetables, such as zucchini or eggplant
About 1 cup frozen hash browns or shredded potatoes
About 1 cup finely grated cheese, such as Gruyère, Swiss, or cheddar
About 1 cup cooked meat, such as bacon, ham, or sausage
About 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh herbs, such as Italian parsley or chives

Heat the oven to 375°F and prepare the baking dish. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Whisk the eggs. Place the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until fully beaten.

Whisk in the milk, salt, and pepper. Add the milk, salt, and pepper, and whisk until frothy.

Add the mix-ins. Stir in any mix-ins such as meat, cheese, vegetables, or herbs. At this point the casserole may be refrigerated overnight, or frozen. (If freezing, thaw overnight before cooking and proceed to bake as directed below.)

Bake for 45 minutes. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until puffed around the edges and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.


Shrimp Stock (modified from Kevin Belton's Big Flavors of New Orleans and TLC in the Kitchen) **INSTANT POT**
I made SHRIMP STOCK! (Me! Dancing around the kitchen!) The ingredients and mental gears meshed this weekend and I realized I had not only the time, but also the ingredients to make shrimp stock for gumbo. I combined two recipes here - Kevin Belton's and TLC in the Kitchen. I think, like chicken stock, there's some basics and it's fluid around those basics.

You need shrimp shells, onion, celery, carrot. Optional - bay leaf, peppercorns. And it seems an acid like white wine or cider vinegar is called for.

With the instant pot it's assemble, walk away, come back, strain and use.  Seriously,  it's that easy. Where it's *not* easy is the timing - the shrimp need to be thawed to peel to allow for one hour of active IP cooking, and about 1 hour of natural release. So, planning ahead is imperative.

Would I do this again? Absolutely! The stock was a beautiful golden color and smelled fantastic. So looking forward to using it that gumbo!
What I did:
shrimp shells and tails from 2 lbs of shrimp (shrimp went into gumbo)
1/4 of an onion, WITH the dry outer skin included
tops of about 4 celery stalks (with the leaves)
six baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise
6ish whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
splash of cider vinegar
6 -7 cups of water

Assemble everything in the steamer basket (not necessary, can do without) and place in Instant Pot. Pour water over everything till just barely covered (was about 7 cups for me).

Set manual/HIGH PRESSURE for 1 hour. Let natural release. Strain solids from liquid (feed everything but the onion to your chickens!), let cool and set liquid aside in the fridge until ready to use.

I ended up with 2 qts and 1 cup of stock.


Minnesota "Poutine" (Scifi with Paprika's kitchen)
This was my riff on poutine. I had tater tots in the freezer, I was feeling like some good comfort food, so I grabbed some cheese curds (Ellsworth Creamery) and made a small batch of gravy. MMmmm...tater tots with melty cheese curds smothered in gravy makes me happy.

Bake desired amount of tater tots according to direction on package.
Break cheese curds into bite sized pieces (so they melt better)
Make gravy (or used jarred)

When tots are done - either divide into individual portions or assemble on a larger platter, layering curds and tots. Pop back into oven (turned off) to warm the cheese curds, about, oh, 3 minutes or so. Remove, drizzle gravy over the top and serve with extra gravy on the side.