Roasted Salmon with Crispy Potatoes and Broccoli

Another one to try from January 2015 issue of Women's Day magazine.

1 large head broccoli, cut into small florets, (about 6 1/2 cups)
1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 in. thick rounds
1 large red onion, cut into 1/4 in. thick wedges
3 T. olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 lb skinless salmon fillet, cut 4 - 5 pieces


1/4 cup Earth balance dairy free, egg free, soy free mayonnaise
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2 small clove garlic, mashed into a paste

Heat oven to 450 degrees F.  On a rimmed baking sheet, toss together the broccoli, potatoes and onion with oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Spread in an even layer and roast for 15 min.
Season the salmon with 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper, nestle it among the vegetables and continue roasting until the vegetables are golden brown and tender and the salmon is opaque throughout, 8-10 min. more.
Meanwhile, mix the mayo, lemon juice and mashed garlic together in a bowl.  Serve this with the fish and vegetables.

Shepherd's Pie

Another good old comfort food- Hannah Certified~!

This recipe made just enough for about 6 servings.  You can easily double the batch to feed more like 8-10.

The potato topping:
4-5 russet potatoes (3/4 lb.), peeled and quartered
1/4 cup beef or chicken broth, we use Pacific Foods Free Range Chicken Broth
2 T. Earth Balance soy free buttery sticks
1 T. potato starch
1/2 T. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

The meat and vegetable filling:
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 carrot, peeled and diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 lb ground meat, beef or turkey
2 T. potato starch
1/4 cup beef or chicken broth
1 tsp. Coconut Aminos
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 T. ketchup
1 tsp. freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. freshly chopped thyme leaves
1/2 c. corn
1/2 c. peas

Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan over high heat.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and boil until potatoes are tender, 15-20 min.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the meat and vegetable filling.  Heat a large saute pan over med-high heat.  Add the chopped onion, diced carrots, minced garlic and ground meat.  Cook and stir until vegetables are soft and meat is browned.  Drain any excess fat from the pan.

Sprinkle the potato starch over the drained browned meat.  Add broth,  Coconut Aminos, seasonings, corn and peas.  Cook and stir until sauce has thickened slightly.

Spread the meat mixture into a casserole dish.  We used a 2 1/2 quart, deep dish Corelle casserole.  Use any casserole dish you choose.  Just keep in mind, the more shallow the dish the more probability of boil over in the oven.  You may need to place a sheet covered in foil or parchment paper under the casserole dish to catch the boil overs.

For the potatoes:  In a large mixing bowl, add the broth, Earth Balance soy free buttery sticks, potato starch, salt and pepper.  Drain the potatoes.  Add the potatoes to the mixing bowl.  Mash everything together until the buttery sticks are melted.

Spoon the mashed potatoes on to the top of the meat mixture.  Begin with smaller spoonfuls around the edges, smoothing out the seal the edges.  Continue placing spoonfuls in the middle and smoothing to form and mashed potato top crust.

Place the casserole dish in the oven. (use the baking sheet under it if you used a more shallow dish.)  Bake 25 min. until the potatoes are nicely browned.  Remove from heat.  Allow to stand 15 min. before serving.

YUM!

JoJos

A gluten free version of a grocery deli food.

1/2 cup gluten free flour
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
8 small potatoes, peeled or not
olive oil

Heat oven to 450° F.

Combine the flour and seasonings in a large plastic bag, ziploc or bread bag.  Peel the potatoes, if desired.  Quarter the potatoes into 4 wedges.  Place potatoes in the bag.  Allowing the bag to stay filled with air, zip or twist the bag closed.  Shake, shake, shake, turn, flip, flop, until all the potatoes are covered with the seasoned flour.

Cover a large sheet with foil.  Lay out the floured potatoes one cut side down onto the tray so they do not touch each other.

Bake 15 min.  Remove from oven, flip the potatoes onto the other cut side, drizzle now with olive oil.  Bake another 15 min. until golden brown.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

This is a very easy way to make flavorful potatoes and a nice change from baked or mashed potatoes.

Potatoes of any kind, russet, white or red, as many as you need to feed who are going to feed
Olive oil
Dried rosemary
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Wash and scrub the potatoes clean.

If you are using russet potatoes, dice them.  Here is a pictorial guide- how to dice potatoes:

 On a cutting board, with a large sharp knife, slice the potato in half lengthwise.

Keeping the two halves together, roll the potato 1/4 of turn so the halves are one on top of the other.  Cut down through each half, cutting them each in half, creating a 4 part potato.

Keeping the four parts together, rotate the potato so your knife is at one end.  Cut about 1/2 in. from the end down through all four parts.  This will cut of 4 diced pieces of potato.

Continue moving your knife in 1/2 inch from the cut end of the potato, cutting down through all 4 parts.

This will continue to cut of 4 diced potatoes with each cut of the knife.

Until you are at the end of the potato, when you will end up with 8 diced pieces of potato if you have spaced your piece to allow a decently sized end section.

One regular sized russet makes about 1 serving of diced potatoes.

If you are using smaller red or white potatoes, depending on their size, you can leave them whole, cut them each in half or in 4th's if the the potatoes are on the larger size.

Place potatoes in a large enough bowl to allow room to toss the potatoes without having them fly out of the bowl.

Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes, and toss or stir the potatoes.  Sprinkle the oiled potatoes with rosemary, salt and pepper.  Toss again to distribute the seasonings among all the potatoes.

Spread the potatoes out onto a cookie sheet, tray or large casserole dish large enough to hold all the potatoes in a single layer. 

Place the tray in the preheated oven.  Roast the potatoes for 10-15 min.  Pull the tray out and stir up and flip the potatoes over.  Return to oven and continue to roast for another 10 min. or until potatoes are soft and somewhat golden brown.

Remove potatoes from the tray and place in a serving dish and serve immediately.   Yum!  

Mom's Homemade Hashbrowns

Mom's Homemade Hashbrowns

Less expensive than frozen store bought hashbrowns.  Tastes better too!

Makes approx. 8" circle of hashbrowns, serves 1-2

2 smallish potatoes (not bakers)

salt

pepper

onion powder

oil

Ketchup

Good hashbrowns start with rinsed and dried shredded potatoes:

Scrub the potatoes clean.  DO NOT peel the potatoes.  Shred the potatoes with your chosen method into a large colander.  I use a Salad Shooter.  (A hand grater or food processor works well too.)  I place the colander in a bowl approx. the same size.  Fill the colandar/bowl with cold water and swish the shredded potatoes to remove the extra starch from the potatoes.  Raise the colander out of the bowl, discard water and repeat the rinse processes once more.  Drain the potatoes well and dry the bowl.  

On a flat serve, lay out a large hand towel.  Place a large dish towel (lint free) on top of the hand towel.  These towels will dry the potatoes quickly.  Shake the colander well over the sink to get as much water off as possible.  Dump shredded potatoes onto one side of the towel set-up.  Fold the other side of the towel set-up over the potatoes and pat the potatoes dry.  Use the towels to stir up the potatoes to get them nice and dry.  Carefully pick up the towel with the potatoes and funnel the potatoes into the dry bowl.  Add salt, pepper and onion powder to taste.  Mix well.

Great Hashbrowns continue with a preheated pan:

Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add a bit of oil (to brown the potatoes).  Wait a minute for the oil to get hot.  Add the rinsed, dried, seasoned, shredded potatoes.  Use a spatula to pack, flatten and round up the edges for a clean edge.  Reduce heat slightly to medium-low.  Slowly cook the hashbrowns  10-15 min. until golden brown around the edges.

Beautiful Hashbrowns are flipped with a dinner plate:

Place a dinner plate over the hashbrowns.  Flip the skillet. Hashbrowns will flip out onto the plate.  Replace the skillet, as a bit more oil.  Allow to heat a minute.  Slide the hashbrowns, browned side up now, back into the hot oiled skillet and brown the 2nd side another 8-10 min.  

When golden browned and crispy on the outside- cooked on the inside- slide the hashbrowns out onto a clean dinner plate.  Cut in half with a sharp knife if sharing with another person.  Serve warm with ketchup and Easy Crispy Bacon.