The Literate Chef

Posts Tagged ‘yukon gold potatoes’

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Portuguese Kale Soup

In Recipes, Soups on October 15, 2012 at 7:40 PM

Portuguese Kale Soup

(Yield – about 5 quarts. Active preparation time 1 hour, unattended cooking time 2 hours)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion coarsely chopped
7 cloves garlic, minced
6 15oz. cans Cannellini Beans, rinsed and drained
3 lbs. Chouriço, or Linguiça sliced about ¼ inch, or less, thick
4 qts. water
1 cup Beef or Chicken Broth
1 & 1/2 lbs. Kale, (2 medium sized bunches) remove leaves from stems, rip leaves and discard stems
1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced and diced in 3/4 inch pieces

Procedure:

1.    In an 8 quart pot, heat olive oil on medium.
2.    Add onion and garlic, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 5 minutes.
3.    Add 3 cans of the beans, stir well and cook 5 minutes.
4.    Add sausage, raise heat to medium, cook 3 minutes.
5.    Add water and broth, stir well and bring to a boil.
6.    When soup is at a full boil, add kale and potatoes, stir well and return to a boil.
7.    Reduce heat to medium and boil uncovered for 1 hour.
8.    Mash 1 can (2 cups) of the beans in a food processor and stir into the soup.
9.    Add the remaining 2 cans of beans to the soup and stir.
10.    Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for an additional hour.

Serve as a meal along with warm, crusty bread. Leftovers may be frozen in 1 or 2 quart containers to serve as additional meals during the long, cold, winter.

Please see: My Cousin Vinny to the Rescue

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Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

In Recipes, Vegetables on November 10, 2011 at 3:56 PM

Ingredients:

4 to 6 Yukon Gold Potatoes, washed and quartered
3 tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsps. chopped fresh rosemary

Preparation:

  1. Per-heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Fill a 3 qt. sauce pot with water up to 2 inches from top and bring to a boil.
  3. Add quartered potatoes and par-boil for 10 minutes.
  4. Heat olive oil in a cast iron frying pan over medium heat.
  5. Add rosemary and stir.
  6. Drain the potatoes and quickly add to the frying pan, stir to coat evenly with rosemary-olive oil mixture.
  7. Place frying pan with potatoes in oven and cook for 75 minutes, turning several times to evenly brown the potatoes.
  8. With a slotted spoon remove potatoes to paper toweling and toss quickly to eliminate excess fat. Serve at once.

Please see: Roast Loin of Pork

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Sunday Chicken Dinner – No Leftovers!

In General Articles on October 31, 2011 at 6:55 AM

Last weekend, one of our daughters and her family came for a visit. As working parents with a toddler and an infant, she and her husband do not have a lot of time to prepare big meals. So when she expressed a desire for a Sunday chicken dinner, we willingly and lovingly headed off to the market to get the fixings: large roasting chicken, vegetables, potatoes and, of course, dessert.

We settled on a seven pound Bell & Evans organic chicken and a colorful medley of fresh vegetables, which we decided to roast in keeping with the autumn season.  Fingerling Potatoes, which are easy to prepare and have a great taste, were in stock so we chose them over Yukon Gold, which we frequently use, and Idaho and russet. Several herbs to enhance the chicken, vegetables and potatoes were obligatory, and for their healthful aspect, fresh berries for dessert. Preparing berries is quick and easy and seemed like a good counterpoint to all of the cooking required for the other dishes.

To accompany this autumnal feast we chilled a bottle of sparkling Crémant de Loire from the Loire Valley region of France, and to enrich the berries, a pint of heavy cream. We were so focused on cooking and eating this feast that I only remembered to take a photograph as we were clearing the table.

Here it is – No Leftovers!

No Leftovers!

The recipes for these delicious dishes can be found at:

•    Roasted Chicken with Tarragon & Lemon Zest
•    Roasted Herbed Vegetables
•    Fingerling Potatoes Roasted with Rosemary
•    Berry Compote

The beauty of this meal is that the vegetables and potatoes can both be cooked at the same, during the last hour that the chicken is roasting. and the prep for these two dishes can be done while the chicken is in the early roasting stage.

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Papa’s Hearty Beef Stew a la Burgundy

In Beef, For Moms on the Go, Meat, Recipes, Stews on October 27, 2011 at 11:11 AM

Ready to Eat

Makes about 5 quarts-preparation time including stove-top browning is 1½hour. Total oven cooking time is 2½ hours. Please refer to A Hearty Stew for Those Chilly Autumn and Winter Nights for some preparation tips.

Ingredients:

1 cup of flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
5-6 lb. roast (bottom round is an excellent choice) cut into cubes of about 1¼ – 1½ inches
½ cup of canola oil
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and coarsely chopped
5 cups of Pinot Noir or red Burgundy wine
1 quart of beef stock
2 lbs. of Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed to 1½ inches
24 pearl onions (about 1 lb.) outer skin peeled (see step 1 below)
1 16 oz, package of baby carrots
¼ cup of each of coarsely chopped fresh sage and fresh thyme
1 tbsp. whole black peppercorns, crushed
1¼ lbs. cremini mushrooms, stems removed, large caps halved or quartered
1 small (6 oz.) can tomato paste

Preparation:

1.    Prepare the onions – bring small pot of water to boil, blanch onions for 30 seconds, rinse and cool, cut off root end and peel outer skin layer.
2.    In the meantime, peel and cube the potatoes, prepare the mushrooms and chop the herbs and garlic.
3.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4.    Add flour, salt and pepper to a gallon size Ziploc® bag.
5.    Add beef, about 10 pieces at a time, to bag and shake well to coat with flour.
6.    Heat canola oil in a large casserole, preferably enamel coated cast iron French or Dutch Oven.
7.    Add the floured beef cubes to the casserole and brown them in one layer without crowding, for 8 or so minutes on high heat, turning the cubes several times.

Browning the Beef

Fully Browned Beef

8.    Remove browned beef and set aside, add more beef cubes and continuing browning until all the beef is done. If beef sticks to the casserole, or the flour base begins to burn, add a bit more oil.
9.    Add the garlic and lightly brown in the remaining oil and fat.
10.    Add one cup of wine and with a spatula, deglaze the pot. Add a second cup of wine and continue deglazing.
11.    When the second cup of wine has boiled down for about 1 minute, return all of the meat to the casserole to coat it well. Reduce heat to medium.
12.    Add beef broth and stir well, cover and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes, stir well, cover and place in the pre-heated oven for ½ hour.
13.    Add the remaining three cups of wine and the onions, stir well and return to oven covered for another ½ hour.
14.    Add the carrots, herbs and black pepper, stir well and return covered to the oven, for a third ½ hour.
15.    Add the mushrooms and return covered to the oven an additional ½ hour.
16.    Add the tomato paste and return to oven uncovered for a final half hour ½ hour.

The Finished Product

When ready to serve the stew, serve it with a crust baguette and a good red wine, such as a Brunello de Montalcino.

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