Think Pink (Salt) For Your Potatoes

It wasn't that long ago that there was just plain ole table salt. The famous jug with the girl in the rain slicker comes to mind, pushing her iodized and non-iodized versions. But then there was also Kosher salt, which only chefs and those minding Kashrut seemed to know about. And then along came sea salt, and gourmands everywhere rejoiced with the salt options. Oh gosh, but it didn't stop there. Salt, you see, is the new "it" gourmet product. There is gray salt, rock salt, smoked salt, flake salt, and finally the one I feature in today's recipe, pink salt. Phew!

One of my favorite side dishes is oh so easy that it is almost a crime that I'm posting this recipe (almost, but not quite). If you like salt (there may be a joke in there...) then you will enjoy making vegetables this way and can pocket this as a potential new way to prep some Thanksgiving veggies. While salt is not necessarily the most heart healthy of all the spice choices, all things in moderation--it's not like I'm telling you to keep a salt lick on hand or anything. Besides, salt is experiencing a renaissance period all its own as evidenced by the above list of salty options.

While I make my own concoction of rosemary and pink sea salt ahead of time (and keep it around for every opportunistic occasion), you can just make enough for each batch of veggies. If you can't find pink salt use regular sea salt so you still get good texture. Pictured is a mixture of small russet potatoes and fingerlings but this preparation works well for potatoes large and small of all types and also for beets and turnips.

While the recipe below is for two servings, you can make a small batch or a big batch. I've made enough for one serving, or two, or twelve before. Just keep in mind that one serving of potatoes is about the size of a baseball. Potatoes are rich in potassium and low in sodium (which is good, 'cause, um, we're going to put salt on these) and a fairly healthy food option when baked or roasted.

Rosemary Pink Sea Salt Potatoes
--potatoes (1 baseball=1 serving), either chopped into large chunks or sliced in half
--1 TBSP olive oil
--2 healthy pinches pink sea salt
--2 healthy pinches rosemary, fresh or dried

In a plastic bag combine the potatoes with the olive oil. Shake well to evenly coat the potatoes. Grab one healthy pinch of the salt and one healthy pinch of the rosemary and add to the bag. Shake more to get the spices moved around.

Pour the bag onto a baking sheet or into a cast iron skillet and spread the potatoes out. Use the remaining pinches of salt and rosemary to sprinkle over the potatoes.

Bake at 400 degrees for a minimum of 30 minutes. The salt will cause the skins of the potatoes (or beets or turnips) to wrinkle and brown. You want the outsides a little crispy, but the insides melt in your mouth tender. I usually cook mine for however long it takes me to make the other items of the meal, which on average means about 40 minutes.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2
Estimated Calories: 176 per serving

Squash: Roasted and Stuffed

It's squash season and different squashes that I've never heard of before keep arriving from the farm. One got delivered yesterday called a Turban Squash. It looks more like the little toadstool guy from Super Mario Brothers, but I bet it tastes delicious... I haven't cooked that one up yet, but I did recently stuff some Carnival Squash with a tomato and spinach concoction...

This is hearty enough to serve on it's own as a vegetarian meal or will make a lovely companion to a slab of tasty meat.

Roasted Tomato Stuffed Squash
--4 tomatoes, whole
--2 TBSP olive oil
--dried oregano
--1 carnival squash, sliced in half and seeds removed
--cooking spray
--garlic, minced
--1/2 small onion, diced
--1 dry cup fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried

Using a paring knife, cut out the core of the tomatoes but only down about 1/2". Make x's on the bottom of each tomato. Coat with 1 TBSP of the olive oil and dash with oregano. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the skins are easy to remove.

In a separate baking dish, spray the squash halves with cooking spray and simultaneously roast cut side down.

Once the tomatoes are done, remove them from the oven. Flip the squash so that it is now cut side up and continue roasting until a fork slides easily into the thickest part of the squash.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high and add the remaining 1 TBSP olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and saute to translucency, 2-ish minutes. While the garlic/onion mix cooks, remove the skins from the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the skillet and mash with a fork. Add the spinach and toss regularly so spinach gets warmed and wilted but not soggy. Remove pan from heat.

Remove the squash from the oven and place on a plate. Stuff each squash half with the tomato and spinach mixture and eat everything except the squash stem and skin.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 1 hour
Serves: 2
Calories: 272 per serving

Fabulous Fall Colors, Fantastic Fall Vegetables

We're knee deep in Autumn; by now the leaves have changed to a rainbow of colors and are falling all around us. Halloween brought critters in costume, marching through piles of leaves and pumpkins, and wandering away full of sugar. It's my favorite time of year for many reasons, but not the least of which is I get a cheap thrill out of eating food that matches the landscape around me. The Fall food color-scape is a bevy of rich jewel tones--vibrant reds, brilliant yellows, energetic oranges.

Root vegetables and those that grow low to the ground thrive this time of year, so fill your plates with potatoes, beets, carrots, squashes, and onions. Today's recipe throws another fall flavor--apple--into the mix and gives this dish even more depth. I served mine with some roasted chicken over brown rice but you could easily make this a vegetarian meal or a Thanksgiving side dish as well. Even better, roast a chicken in the middle of this sea of root vegetables and baste with extra apple cider.

Apple Cider Roasted Root Vegetables
--5 whole garlic cloves
--1/2 large onion
--2 medium sized beets, washed and greens removed
--1 honey crisp or gala apple, cored
--5 small potatoes (or more if you use fingerling potatoes)
--3 medium-large sized carrots, scrubbed and greens removed
--fresh sage
--(optional) 4-5 small tomatoes
--2 TBSP olive oil
--salt & pepper to taste
--4 TBSP apple cider

Roughly chop all the vegetables (except for the garlic, leave that whole) and the apple into chunks. If you opt for small tomatoes, leave those whole (as pictured) so the skins come off easier. Using your hands, rip the sage into large pieces.

Place all the vegetables and the sage into a plastic bag. Pour in the olive oil and shake vigorously to coat all the vegetables. Sprinkle a little salt and crack a little black pepper into the bag. Again, move the items all around so the salt and pepper do a little disco on the mixture.

Pour the contents of the bag into a glass oven-safe dish. Pour the apple cider evenly over the mix. Bake at 400 degrees until vegetables are tender, tomatoes are soft and skins come off easily, and potatoes begin to get a lovely brown crust (45-ish minutes). It's okay if things are a little pink, that's just the beets sharing the love.

Eat!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 189 per serving

Rapini On The Ready

Rapini--also known as broccoli raab, raap, or rabe--is a green similar to kale or turnip greens that adds beautiful color and texture to dishes. It melds well with the flavors it is combined with and is a great source of vitamins and minerals. You could easily substitute kale, turnip greens, collards, or another hearty green.

Today's dish can be used as a side or a main dish and can be made for a carnivore easily by adding meat. As the season shapes up and your garden becomes overwhelmed with fresh tomatoes, substitute the canned tomatoes for a fresh look and taste!
Garlic Rapini with White Beans and Tomatoes

--2 Tbsp olive oil

--garlic, minced

--1 bunch rapini, roughly chopped

--red pepper flakes

--1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes

--1 can (14.5oz) white/cannelini/great northern beans, rinsed and drained
Heat the oil in a wok or skillet with deep sides over medium heat. Saute garlic for a few minutes before adding the rapini and a few shakes of red pepper flakes. Saute for 5-ish minutes until the rapini is wilted. Remove to a plate.

Add the can of diced tomatoes and the beans and stir together to mix. Turn heat up to medium-high and cook for 10-ish minutes or until tomato sauce begins to reduce.

You can serve the dish either by spooning the bean/tomato mixture over the rapini, or by dishing up the beans and tomatoes and then placing the wilted garlicky rapini on top.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook not a doctor...
Serves: 2 as a meal; 4 as a side dish
Cook time: 15 minutes
Calories: 378 as a meal for 2; 189 if serving 4 as a side dish

The Rise and Fall of Bacon Mashed Potatoes

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we gather with friends to do what has become known as "Thanksgiving Run Thru". This is this a great opportunity to see as many of our friends as possible, and the leftover potential is awesome.

We also get chance to try out new recipes before serving them to our families at the big event. My addition to the menu was Bacon Mashed Potatoes and I have to say that they were just "good". I used a recipe from Food Network's 50 Mashed Potatoes booklet and it had me drooling in anticipation, but left me wanting more once we made them.

Bacon Mashed Potatoes:

2 lbs. Yukon golds or russets

1/2 stick of butter

1 cup hot milk

1/2 lb. chopped bacon

2-4 tablespoons bacon drippings

salt & pepper

Cover 2 lbs of whole potatoes with cold water; simmer 45 minutes.

Cook bacon until crisp then chop. Retain 2 - 4 tablespoons of drippings. Set bacon and drippings aside.

When potatoes are fork tender (stick a fork into one, if it goes in easily, they are done) drain, peel and add butter, milk, bacon drippings and 3/4 of the chopped bacon and mash until smooth and fluffy. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Put into a bowl and garnish with the rest of the bacon.

I made my dish with the Yukon golds which I happen to prefer over the russets. I find the russets to be a bit grainy. Since I was timing the dish around the standing time of the deep fried turkey, I cut the potatoes into cubes to have them cook faster and left the skins on as well. I ended up adding almost a full stick of butter and an extra tablespoon of the drippings. I used a hand masher rather than a hand mixer to keep a bit of texture (read as "slightly lumpy") although either method will work when mashing.

The end product was less than stellar. The flavor just was not there. I expected the salty smokey bacon and the creamy butter to blend into a mouthwatering delight that would have me undoing my belt and loading up the seconds, but alas no. So needless to say we had regular mashed on Thanksgiving. Since we all know everything is better with bacon, I plan on trying this dish again and tweaking the ingredients a bit to hopefully get better results.

Who knows, maybe a thick cut maple bacon, peeled potatoes and a hand mixer will do the trick.

Table 6 Inspired Brussels Sprouts

Table 6 is one of those Denver restaurants that doesn't really need the help of any food writer. The place wins awards all the time (Best of Denver, Top of the Town), and is consistently written up in magazines (Food & Wine, Esquire).

I've eaten there several times over the years but never for brunch. This weekend I changed all that.

Table 6 has brunch Saturdays and Sundays. The brunch starts a little later than most of its fine dining counterparts and runs from 10:30am-2:30pm. The menu changes throughout the season to accommodate the freshest ingredients and seasonal spreads.

We ate Table 6's version of a Benedict: delicious crumpets layered with shredded ham and fresh made hollandaise, swimming along side perfectly poached soft yolk eggs.

I love bennys but hate pre-poached eggs. There's nothing worse to do to a Benedict than force it to live with the shame of an egg that (because it was poached hours ago) is gummy and chunky in the middle.

The eggs at Table 6 are soft poached inside the shell (our waitress, Karen, informed us). Which means each egg is made per order and lovingly placed with the crumpet each and every time. It is a preparation where you can truly taste the difference.

Feeling the need for something "healthy" and green, I also ordered the fried brussels sprouts. I personally would probably eat shoe leather if it was fried, but the sprouts were more sauteed than oil soaked. As I dug my fork in, I noticed each layer gave the hint of a different flavor. First the cheese, then truffles, then a lemon finish.

Here's how I replicated them (not nearly as awesomely) at home:

Fried Brussels Sprouts

--1/2 lb. small brussels sprouts
--olive oil
--garlic
--lemon juice
--shredded manchego cheese
--truffle oil

Rinse the sprouts and remove and discard the outer leaves. Break sprouts up into leaves and smaller chunks of leaves (I chopped mine in half).

Heat olive oil on medium high heat. Saute garlic and sprouts until crunchy and browned. Add olive oil as necessary. While cooking, dash in lemon juice to taste.

Remove from heat and top with shredded manchego. Dot with truffle oil.

Eat!

Mashed Potatoes Get A Second Life

By now you're probably sick of eating leftovers. You've gotten creative and made turkey noodle soup, turkey tetrazinne, turkey casserole. I'm over cranberries and pecan pie. And one person can only eat so many mashed potatoes in one setting!

This year Kathryn and I both decided to make mashed potatoes with bacon included. And once she returns from Thanksgiving in New York we'll all get to see and read about what other goodies she made.

I attended multiple Thanksgiving celebrations and schlepped the potatoes with me to each stop. But with so many other options and all the side dish competition, a heavy portion of those pork mashers came home with me. Cooked bacon gets chewy after a time and these potatoes are past their prime so it's time to get creative.



Potato Pancakes
--vegetable oil
--leftover mashed potatoes
--salt & pepper
--flour

I took my trusty cast iron skillet and added about a 1/2" of vegetable oil and heated it over medium heat.

If the potatoes are plain I'd add salt, pepper, fresh garlic, onion, cayenne or whatever you like to make 'em pop a little.


While the oil heats, fashion the mashed potatoes into cakes. Dredge the cakes in the flour so they are covered in flour (this gives the oil something to stick to and helps keep the potatoes from becoming a hot gooey mess).


Fry pancakes til golden brown, turning so both sides are nice and crisp. Drain on a paper towel and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Great for breakfast!