Welcome to Week 10 – cannot believe we are half way through the Stoneybrook Farm 2010 share!!! The potatoes from our CSA market basket are getting more and more plentiful and the size has increased as the season is lengthening. A new item, to us anyway, popped into the box this week – Star of David Okra. It is larger than the “normal” okra we're used to seeing. My son suggested making Gumbo – and with the tomatoes and okra at hand...that's a great idea...stay tuned!
You may notice in this week's picture a cup of coffee – I enjoyed this rich and very aromatic cup of when I went to pick up my CSA share at Stoneybrook. I was really pleased to learn that the beans are roasted locally! Just one more reason to go visit!!
In the newsletter from Stoneybrook Debbie publishes her simple way to prepare okra saying they are crunchy not goopy – so I really need to step up and try it this week. Pretty easy dish – slice potatoes and okra thinly, stirfry in butter and/or oil until brown then sprinkle with salt...voila!
For our family mashed potatoes are some what of a religious experience....they go with just about everything and our kids love them. That being said, mashed potatoes seem to stump a lot of us because they can turn out lumpy or have a glue-like texture. Thankfully my Mother-in-law provided the cure for ever having less than stellar mashed potatoes! I did add my own tweak here and there, but really is a pretty simple method and since preparing them this way they turn our wonderful every time.
INGREDIENTS:
5 pounds redskin, yukon golds or russet potatoes (your choice)
Chicken Stock – (homemade is great, but if not on hand use 2 large containers of your favorite store brand)
Water
Sour Cream
Cottage Cheese (small curd)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder (if you like)
Seasoned Salt
Fresh Parsley or Chives
HOW TO:
Prepare your potatoes by skinning ½ and leaving the skins on the other half of a 5 pound bag then cut them into quarters. Place in a large stockpot and add the 2 cans of chicken stock, if it doesn't cover the potatoes, then add water to top it off.
Boil potatoes till a knife stuck through the largest one slides in and out with no resistance. Drain well in a colander.
While potatoes are boiling mix in food processor or blender:
Approximately – 11/2 cup sour cream and 1 1/2cup cottage cheese with 1 TBLSP salt and 1 TBLSP pepper, add 1 Teaspoon garlic powder if you like. Blend them well and set aside.
When the potatoes are done and drained, while still hot put them into your mixer (use the paddle not the whisk) and start mixing the potatoes and your wet ingredients together a bit at a time. What you are looking for is smooth, but not totally lump free (because we like them with a little texture). If you don't think you have enough of the wet mixture, make more. If its not salty enough, add more...and so on.
Put in a serving dish and sprinkle a bit of Seasoned Salt on the top and if you like add a bit of chopped parsley or chives. These are great to make the day before - especially at Thanksgiving time when you don't have enough time to do everything you need to do anyway. Just cover and refrigerate in an oven-safe container, then just heat at 350 degrees for about 45 min to 1 hr and serve.
Enjoy!
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl, I went to pick up my share yesterday, and mentioned to John that I would love it if someone started a blog to share recipes each week. I'm always looking for new recipes, particularly since I've been eating far more vegetables than ever before! I'm looking forward to following your blog. I told John he should share your blog in next week's newsletter. Hope that's ok!
ReplyDeleteBTW - I get a half share and struggle to eat everything between my husband and I. But I noticed you are cooking for more people. It would be helpful if you could mention the numbers of servings in your recipes so that I could cut them down to serve 2. Thanks!