Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

These potatoes are actually the inspiration for one of my more popular posts on this blog: Twice Baked Potatoes...Sort Of. My mom has been making these potatoes for years, and she probably got it from someone at church or something. They are FABULOUS--salty, rich, cheesy, creamy, bacony. The perfect side dish for beef or pork. At first my mom made them with fresh potatoes, but eventually changed over to using instant mashed potatoes. I'll put that version at the end. The recipe she sent me also calls for twice the cream cheese, sour cream, and milk. I'm not sure if that's just because the instant mashed potatoes produce a greater volume, but my version filled up a 9 x 13 inch pan perfectly.

Besides tasting out of this world, these potatoes are awesome because you can make them the day/night before and refrigerate. The next day you just pop it into a 350 degree oven to heat through and then add the cheese and bacon. Super easy and great for taking to dinner elsewhere.
So if you're looking for a delicious and convenient potato side dish, look no further. This is it. If you're looking for something light on calories, though, you may need to move on.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

 Ingredients:

• 4 pounds red potatoes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, cubed and softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced

• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup jarred bacon bits (or a half-pound of bacon, fried and chopped into pieces, or chopped into pieces and fried)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash, dry, pierce, and bake potatoes for about 1 hour, or until potatoes yield when squeezed with an oven-mitted hand.
• When potatoes are done, carefully remove them from the oven and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl if you're going to be using a hand mixer).
• Break up potatoes with a potato masher or other tool that will break them up into rough chunks.
• Heat the milk a little bit in the microwave and then pour into the bowl with the potatoes. Add the butter and salt. With the paddle attachment on the mixer, turn the mixer on low speed and mix until milk is basically incorporated. 
• Add the cream cheese and sour cream. Mix on low at first and then turn up to high and beat until creamy. Scrape the bottom and the Add green onions and mix to incorporate.
• Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Spread the potatoes into the pan. Cover pan with aluminum foil. At this point you can do one of two things: 1. put the potatoes in the refrigerator until the next day, and then bake them in a 350 degree oven for 60-75 minutes; or 2. place back in the oven, reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until potatoes are piping hot.
• When potatoes are heated through, remove the foil and sprinkle top with the shredded cheese and then top with the bacon bits. Return to oven for 5 minutes.
• Serve.
• Refrigerate leftovers, if you have any.
• Makes about 12-16 servings

Twice Baked Potato Casserole under the cheese

MAKE AHEAD MASHED POTATOES (Mom's Version)

Ingredients:

• 6 Cups water
• 1/4 lb butter (I sometimes omit this fat)
• 4 teaspoon salt
• 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, cubed and softened
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (16 oz) container of sour cream
• 1/2 cup green onions sliced thin
• 1 (15.3 oz) Hungry Jack Mashed Potatoes (flakes: any brand will do)

Topping:

• 3 cups of grated yellow cheese
• 1 lb cooked bacon (cut into 1/4" pieces and refrigerate until next day)

Instructions:

1. Heat water, butter, salt, to boiling in a 6 quart Dutch oven. Remove from heat. Add cream

cheese, milk, and sour cream, stirring until cream cheese melts.

2. Stir in potato flakes and green onions, mixing until all ingredients are well combined. Spread mashed potato mixture into 13 x 9-inch glass pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Make ahead: refrigerate until next day. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour covered or until bubbling around the edges. (It takes longer to bake when refrigerated) Allow another 20-30 minutes. I sometimes microwave potatoes to bring up the heat before putting in the oven

4. Cheese and bacon topping: when fully cooked, sprinkle cheese and bacon over potatoes and cover to melt. If potatoes are ready too early, reheat in microwave.

This recipe has 47 gazillion calories and is absolutely a crowd pleaser

Mr. Yoshida's Style Sauce

 

Tasty Mr. Yoshida's style teriyaki sauce

Mr. Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce is what I would call a classic teriyaki sauce--sweet and salty and delicious. It's widely available on the West Coast, but I've only found it once here in Iowa--at SAMs Club when it had accidentally been shipped to our local store. I can order it from Amazon, but since even with two-day shipping I can't get it here in time for my husband's birthday dinner, which I just found out will be Teriyaki Brisket. 
At first I made this without all the water, and only 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, but it was way too strong. Adding the cup of water and two more tablespoons of cornstarch mellowed it out perfectly. This isn't exactly like Mr. Yoshida's, but it's close enough for me. I'm excited to try it on the brisket and will share those pics later. If I can remember.

Mr. Yoshida's Style Sauce
     --adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

• 6 quarter-sized slices of fresh ginger
• 6 green onions, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 bottle (15 oz.) Kikkoman Soy Sauce
• 1/2 cup Mirin

• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

• Mix the corn starch and water in a bowl or liquid measuring cup and set aside.
• In a medium to large size heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, add all of the ingredients except for the corn starch and water. Stir occasionally as it comes to a boil. When it boils, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir the corn starch and water mixture and then stir it into the sauce. Simmer for another five minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Allow sauce to cool in the pot for an hour or so, then strain into a jar or bottle for storage. Refrigerate.

Makes 4 cups


 

Hawaiian Bread Rolls

 

Hawaiian Bread Rolls

Spring break means sleeping in and doing what I want. And what I wanted to do today is bake something new and blog about it. I've toyed with the idea of making Hawaiian style rolls since my husband LOVES King's Hawaiian Bread, but today is the first time I've done it. They turned out awesome too. Not exactly like King's Hawaiian, but awesome nonetheless. They're so soft and tender in the middle, and just slightly sweet. I may even add a little more sugar next time. They'll be great for little sandwiches and for breakfast and just to enjoy with dinner. 
I'm glad I've finally made these. Now I'll just have to make some more and freeze them because, honestly, they take a little bit longer than the usual rolls I make. Perhaps I'll have to invest in the King Arthur Flour's recommended SAF Gold Instant Yeast. You can stop reading now. I'm just rambling. Go try these rolls.

Hawaiian Bread Rolls
    Adapted from Kingarthurflour.com

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons water

• 2 3/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 3 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes (or 2 tablespoons potato flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup pineapple or pineapple/orange juice
• 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten (keep egg white in fridge for brushing dough later)
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Instructions:

• In a large mixing bowl, mix the 1/4 cup flour, instant yeast, and water. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes to rest. (Please note that the next time I do this I am going to skip this step and add the yeast to the dry ingredients, and then cut in the butter. Then I will stir the wet ingredients into the dry. This is all because I don't think my sponge worked smoothly into the dough through my hand kneading.)
• In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 3/4 cup flour, potato flakes, and salt.
• Add the butter, juice, eggs, sugar, and vanilla to the "sponge" that's been resting. Try to mix those ingredients as well as you can. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until a sticky dough forms.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth, adding only enough flour so the dough doesn't stick to the work surface. When dough is smooth and springy, return it to the large mixing bowl. Cover and allow to rise for about 2 hours.
• Spray a 9x13 inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• Turn risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pulling up around the edges, form the dough into a nice purse. Gently press the purse down into a circle about an inch or inch and a half thick. Cut into 16 equal pieces. 
• Form each of the pieces into a little purse and set aside. When all of the pieces are purses, go back to the first and form into a nice tight little ball. (Click here for a short video of how I do this. You'll need to scroll down a little to get to the video clip.)
• Place dough balls in a 4 x 4 array in the greased pan. Cover lightly with a piece of plastic wrap that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Allow to rise until puffy, about 1 1/2 hours.
• While rolls rise, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mix the egg white with 1 tablespoon water. Brush tops and sides of rolls with egg wash.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until deep golden brown and internal temperature reaches 190 degrees on a digital thermometer.
• Remove rolls from oven and allow to cool about 3 minutes before turning them out onto a cooking rack to finish cooling.

Makes 16 rolls

I'm not a fan of the "sponge" in this recipe and won't be doing it next time.

Risen dough

Dough balls set to rise

Risen dough balls

Browned, glossy, and fabulous baked rolls

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal tastes like a fresh baked peanut butter oatmeal cookie.

One of the reasons I never expect to make a living at this blogging thing is that I really don't have the time or mental space to think of recipes just to blog about them. I make food because I want to eat it. And because I want other people to eat it too, when it turns out delicious. 
This morning I decided that the Baked Oatmeal I've been making for a little over a year now could taste really extra special with the addition of a bit of peanut butter. 
This thought came to me early in the morning--fortunately allowing me enough time to execute my experiment before having to go to church for coffee bar duty where I would be tempted to eat yummy Asiago bagels with cream cheese. I'd like to say that my serving of this oatmeal helped me to resist, but the siren call of the bagels was too much, and I ended up having half a bagel. Just half though. That's okay, right?
At any rate, bagel eating aside, this little baked oatmeal experiment turned out perfectly. My house smelled like fresh baked peanut butter cookies, and the peanut butter added a nice nutty richness to the baked oatmeal I've already come to love.
If you've never tried baked oatmeal, you really must give it a try, whether you're a fan of regular oatmeal or not. It's not mushy at all, and it tastes to me like a big fluffy oatmeal cookie doused in heavy cream and milk. The oatmeal comes out al dente, and the sugar and honey make is awesomely sweet--not sugary, just sweet.
If I were a fan of jam, I might have added a dollop of strawberry jam to the top of this, but since I'm not, I added the chopped almonds because I could--and because they're delicious.  
So here's the recipe. I've said more than enough. Enjoy. 

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 tablespoons flax seed meal (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 5x7 inch pan and set aside.
• Mix together brown sugar, oil, peanut butter, honey, eggs, and vanilla.
• Add oatmeal, flax meal, baking powder, and salt. Mix thoroughly and then stir in milk.
• Pour into the prepared pan, sprinkle with the final teaspoon of sugar and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven.
• Serve with milk, nuts, fruit, or whatever sounds good with oatmeal.
• Leftovers can be refrigerated and warmed up in the microwave easily. I also wrap single serving portions in foil and freeze. When I want to use it, I open the top of the foil and bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or until heated through. Sometimes I'll microwave it a little at the end to get it hot.

Makes 4 servings
Recipe is easily doubled--just use a square 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan.

Quiche

Quiche

Quiche is one of those things I only make once or twice a year because it's only my eating buddy Ezra and I who enjoy it. There's something so comforting and satisfying about a pie crust holding a savory mixture of eggs, cheese, and meat--and an occasional vegetable. 
Although it's not difficult to make, per se, it does require a lot of pots, pans, and dishes in order to make it really yummy--and I didn't even make my own pie crust this time. Although homemade crust is better, I can still fully enjoy a quiche fix using store-bought pre-fabbed crust.
You can really add any other ingredients to the basic recipe. After looking at several recipes online, it seems that 1/4 cup of milk for each egg is the ratio you want for the liquid. Some recipes call for milk, others for cream. I generally use some combo, but whole milk is great too.
So that's it. This quiche you see here is being served to my friend Kara along with some Orange Cinnamon Pull Apart Loaf for dessert. Mmm. I'm off to eat.

Quiche
      -adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked pie crust
• 1 cup small broccoli florets 
• 3/4 cup cubed cooked ham (about 1/4 inch cube)
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup whole milk, preferably room temperature
• 1 cup medium cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Either prepare a pie crust or use a store-bought pie crust, preferably with no sugar. Prick the crust all over with a fork, and blind bake it for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the filling. Turn oven down to 375 degrees.
• Place the broccoli in a microwave-safe container, add about 1 tablespoon water, cover and microwave on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Carefully remove from microwave and pour some ice cold water over the broccoli to stop the cooking. Remove broccoli to some paper towels to drain and wait.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, and then add the onion. Cook until onion is soft, but not necessarily browned. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Remove onion and garlic to a small dish to cool.
• In a medium bowl or large glass measuring cup (the 1 or 2 quart size), beat the eggs with the milk. Add the cooled onions/garlic and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste.
• Layer the ham, cheese, and broccoli in the pie crust (I have the cheese in the middle layer, although I don't know that it matters). Pour the egg mixture evenly over the ingredients in the pie crust. 
• Place unbaked quiche on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 375 for about 30-35 minutes, or until center no longer jiggles like a liquid when the pan is gently shaken.
• Remove quiche from oven and allow to cool about 20 minutes before serving.
• Refrigerate any leftovers.

Makes about 6 decent sized servings

Garlic Butter Sauce

Garlic Butter Sauce is fabulous on pizza crust.

Garlic butter and bread, such a happy pairing. I've always enjoyed these two together, but here in Des Moines we have a pizza delivery place called Northern Lights Pizza. They have these amazing breadsticks served swimming in a salty peppery garlic butter sauce. Warm, puffy logs of soft pizza crust with just the right amount of butter, salt, pepper, and garlic. Mmm. I always eat too many. 
Since we've been trying to eat homemade food more lately, I finally tried making my own garlic butter sauce, and it's surprisingly easy to make an equally delicious sauce at home. 
We enjoy dipping our crust from Bubbly No Knead Pizza in this sauce, and it tastes pretty awesome spread on fresh hot homemade baby French Batards (need to post that recipe still).  
Any place you like a savory butter, this would work, in my opinion. So good.
What's nice about it, too, is that you can keep it in the refrigerator, and it firms up to a very soft butter consistency, so it's spreadable out of the fridge. At room temperature, it's mostly liquid, and good for dipping.
So here you go. Another simple and delicious way to enjoy butter and garlic together.

Garlic Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:
Place butter and olive oil in a small saucepan or saute pan over low heat. While butter melts, mince the garlic. Add garlic to melted butter & olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Cook on low for one minute and then turn off the heat and allow to sit until cool. 
Serve with pizza (crust) or hot bread.
Cover and refrigerate leftovers. Use within about 10 days.

Makes about 2/3 cup
 

The sauce becomes semi-solid upon refrigeration.

Orange Cinnamon Pull-Apart Loaf

Orange Cinnamon Pull-Apart Loaf

I got to make a Trader Joe's run this afternoon and lucky me, they had Sky Valley Heirloom Navel Oranges. Of course I bought a bag and ate two of them on the way home. As I did so, I got it in my head to make this pull-apart loaf. Actually, at first they were going to be orange cinnamon rolls, but then I recalled all the Pinterest pics of these pull-apart loaves. (Check out the beautiful loaves on How Sweet It Is--her pics are so much better than mine.)
My goal was to make something that tasted like Pillbury Orange Sweet Rolls, and oh my goodness, I think I did it. I really think the keys to the fabulous orange flavor is the orange zest AND the orange extract. If you're going to do this, be sure to get the orange extract because it ads the extra orange punch you want. Seriously. Do it.
Now, I know the recipe below seems strange. I mean, one Orange Cinnamon Pull-Apart Loaf and then Dinner Rolls is a strange combo, but I had some leftover Carnitas that I wanted to use for pulled pork buns, and I thought these Basic Bread Dinner Rolls would be perfect. (They were.) 
You can certainly double the pull-apart loaf ingredients and make two pull-apart loaves, but just be sure you have a way to share if you do that. It's super easy to eat way too much of this stuff. It's taking all of my willpower to not pull off a couple of more pieces right now.
The bread is tender but not too soft--the end pieces being crusty, chewy, sugar glazed bites of heaven. The glaze is very orange-y with an extra brightness thanks to the orange zest. Despite all of the glaze, I don't think this loaf is over-the-top sweet. It's very sweet, but in a happily satisfying way. The cinnamon perfectly balances with the orange, allowing the orange be the star flavor.
I plan to make this again for my church small group Saturday. It is this plan that is helping me maintain any sort of self-control. Hopefully I'll get some better pics too.
So here you go. Enjoy.

Orange Cinnamon Pull-Apart Loaf and Dinner Rolls
      --somewhat inspired by How Sweet It Is

Dough/Roll Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz) sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/4 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 5-6 cups (20-24 oz) King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 2 cups (16 oz) room temperature water

Additional Pull-Apart Loaf Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• zest of one orange
• juice of same orange
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange extract 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, place 2 cups of the flour along with the sugar, yeast, dry milk, and salt. Stir to combine dry ingredients and then break the butter up with your fingers and add to the dry ingredients. Pour in the water and with a spoon or bowl scraper (preferably), mix the water into the dry ingredients. You will have a soupy, lumpy mixture. 
• Add another cup of flour and mix and chop in the flour. Add another cup of flour, and mix and chop it into the dough. At this point, add another half cup, mixing and chopping the flour in. Dough should be soft, but firm, and only a little sticky, or tacky. If the dough is still rather loose, keep adding flour, a small amount at a time, until it's soft, but firm, and only a little tacky (like I said earlier).
• Turn dough out onto a very lightly floured surface. Knead dough by lifting the top up and folding it forward onto itself and press back gently with an open hand. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, and bounces back quickly when gently poked. 
• Place dough back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise at room temperature for about an hour, or until puffy and nearly doubled.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• When dough is done rising, turn out onto a lightly floured surface, pat down to deflate, and cut in half. Use a standard loaf pan (9 x 5 inches) for the pull-apart bread, and a standard cake pan for the rolls. Spray your pans with nonstick cooking spray (or, alternately, butter the pans well).
• To form the rolls, pull the edges of the dough half to the top/center of the dough and pinch to make a dough purse. Flatten into a disk shape and cut into eight equal portions. Take each portion of dough and shape it into a little dough purse. Form each dough purse into a smooth ball. I recommend watching the video in this post to see how to get a smooth ball. Place dough balls in the pan. 
• For the pull-apart bread, on a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to about 3/8 inch thickness and about 12 x 20 inches in size. Spread melted and cooled butter all over the surface of the dough, right to the edges. Mix cinnamon with the half cup of sugar and sprinkle all over the buttered dough. Cut dough lengthwise in thirds so that you have three long strips. Lay the middle strip on top of one of the sides and then lay the other side piece on top of that. Dough will stretch and deform, just try to make them fit. Once dough is layered, cut into eight somewhat equally sized pieces. Stack up half of the dough and place stacked dough sideways into pan. Stack remaining dough and place in pan.
• Cover pans loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 30 minutes at room temperature, until about doubled and puffed.
• Bake for 25 to 40 minutes, or until outside is a deep golden brown.
• While bread bakes, make the glaze by mixing together the orange zest and juice, powdered sugar, and orange extract.
• Remove from oven and then remove the rolls from pan and place on a cooling rack. 
• Run a knife or spatula around the edge of the pull-apart loaf. Turn out and place right side up on a serving plate or a cooling rack set over a sheet pan. Pour glaze all over the loaf, making sure to get every nook and cranny.
• Serve rolls and loaf hot.

Makes 8 rolls and one pull-apart loaf

It does not look pretty at this stage. Still delish though.