SAND-iego: Twice Baked Potatoes with Mozzarella, Basil, & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Thanks to the lovely SDMom I found myself with free tickets to the US Sand Sculpting Challenge and 3 Dimensional Art Expo.  

This was such a cool and unique experience.  Tons of sand was brought in, and artists spent days shaping it into extravagant and beautiful shapes. 

 The competition lasted the entire Labor Day weekend.  We went on the second day, so most of the sculptures had been completed.  Only a few were still taking shape.

Thatkid enjoyed watching the sculptors at work.  I think it gave him ideas for our next beach day.

 But we spent most of the time running around and checking out the finished works.

One of his favorites was the pirate treasure.

One of my favorites was "The Scream", which featured what appeared to be a wave, screaming at a woman, blown back by the power.

This one was a window, through which smaller portions of the sculpture could be seen.

Optical illusions, or trompe de oeil were featured in a number of the pieces. 

This was one of Thatboy's favorites.

Thatbaby wasn't very entertained by walking around and looking at sand sculptures.  Which is fair, he's  just a little guy.  Luckily they had other things to keep the kids entertained.  Like a giant sand pile with buckets and pails.

Thatbaby decided to try and turn himself into a sand sculpture.

And Thatkid?  Well he suckered us into a different kind of activity.  First, we loaded him into a plastic bubble,

Then pushed him into a pool of water.  Actually, most kids got pushed in.  Mine was so excited he ran himself in, sans pushing.

 The competition really embodied everything great about San Diego.  A family-centric activity with something for just about everyone, with sun, sand, and water. 

Some combinations just go with each other - like SAND sculptures in SANDiego.  Or peanut butter and jelly.  Or mozzarella, basil, and tomato. Which is what I decided to use to create a really basic, delicious dinner.  (I thought of a sand-wich, but that seemed a little too on the nose, plus no one likes to eat sand....except Thatkid.)  The twice baked potato is a family classic for me.  Thatdad used to make them every New Year's Eve.  His were filled with cheddar and mushrooms.  Frankly, I like my Italian version better!

Twice Baked Potatoes with Mozzarella, Basil, & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

4 russet potatoes

8 garlic cloves

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup basil leaves, chiffonade

4oz sun-dried tomatoes

1 1/2 cups buffalo mozzarella, diced 

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake the potatoes for about an hour, until tender.
2. Place the garlic cloves in a baking pan, pour the oil over and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes while the potatoes are cooking.
3. Mash the garlic and add the basil, mozzarella, and tomatoes.  
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Make an incision in the center of each potato and open it up.  Fill with the cheese and tomato mixture.  Return to the oven and bake another 8-10 minutes. 

Fall Cleaning - Papas Rellenas

TMIL is coming next week to celebrate Thatbaby's birthday.  Some people do spring cleaning, I do a heavy maintenance fall cleaning in preparation for her visit.  This cleaning has involved me staying up late at nights after Thatbaby has gone to bed and lunches and dinners have been made, scrubbing floors, bleaching sinks, and cleaning out the fridge and pantry.

In the spirit of keeping things clean, I've been trying to use up things in said fridge and pantry.  So when I bought the bag of russet potatoes to make the stuffed baked potatoes earlier this week I knew I needed to find a way to use the rest of the bag.

In reality, this is just another form of stuffed potatoes.  Skinless stuffed potatoes.  Skinless stuffed potatoes filled with cooked, spiced meat.

Thatbaby was a little hesitant to try, but after he saw me sneak a bite of the filling, he wanted to try some too.  And then he was eating the filling by the spoonfuls.  By the time dinner rolled around he was thrilled to get some potato in there also.

Papas Rellenas

2 russet potatoes

2 eggs

canola oil

1/2 lb ground beef

12 green olives, chopped

3 hard boiled eggs

1 onion, diced

1/2 cup raisins, minced

1 jalapeno, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 cup beef broth

1 cup flour

1 cup panko

1. Cover potatoes with water in a pot and bring to a boil.  Boil for 20 minutes.  Once cool enough to handle, peel and mash.
2. Add 1 egg and some salt and pepper.  Refrigerate overnight.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp canola oil in a medium skillet. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
5. Add jalapeno and cook another 3 minutes.
6. Add ground beef and cook until browned.
7. Add raisins, cumin, and paprika and cook for another minute.
8. Add the beef broth and olives and cook for 3 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and stir in the hard boiled eggs. Let cool.
10. Place flour in a shallow bowl, remaining egg, beaten in a shallow bowl, and panko in a third shallow bowl.
11. Divide dough into 6 even portions.  Take one portion and flatten it.  Spoon filling into the middle and fold the dough over the filling, rolling to create a smooth oval.  Repeat with remaining portions.
12. Heat 2 inches of canola oil in a pan to 350 degrees.  Dip each potato roll in the flour, then egg, then panko and place in heated oil.  Fry about 2 minutes per side, until golden.

Good Eatin'

One of my Channukah presents from Thatboy was Alton Brown's newest book, Good Eats 3: The Later Years.  I now have the complete set.  Along with the magnets and sock puppets they come with.  

It was one of five cookbooks I received for the holidays.  Which makes me feel a little guilty.  I have shelves full of cookbooks I don't really make as much use of as I should.

So I was inspired to dig in and try to start making more recipes from them.  Beginning with this one.  It's not from the newest Good Eats - although I did use that one to make a couple of dishes earlier this year.  This is from the second Good Eats book, one that I really haven't busted out as often as its older or younger brother. 

Middle child syndrome - it's not just for people.

Potato soup, as I mentioned earlier this month, is one of those dishes that's easy to make and is a surefire crowd pleaser.  This potato leek variety comes from the "Sprung a Leek" episode of Good Eats, which obviously focused on that green stalky vegetable.  Some tips from that episode:

1. AB recommends storing leeks in the refrigerator by rolling them up in bubble wrap.
2. When buying leeks, look for tight whites and bright greens.
3. AB includes tips for how to clean leeks.  I'll include the video so I don't have to type it all up - it's right around 3:30.

As usual, I mistakenly cut this recipe in half.  I have got to stop doing that.  Especially because I love leftover soup.  And this would have been great to have a second day.  Or third.

Leek Potato Soup (From Good Eats 2: The Middle Years)

1 pound leeks, cleaned and dark green sections removed, approximately 4 to 5 medium
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Heavy pinch kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
14 ounces, approximately 3 small, Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced small
1 quart vegetable broth
1 cup heavy cream 

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon white pepper 

 

1. Chop leeks into small pieces.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes.
2. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the potatoes and the vegetable broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 20 minutes. 
4. Turn off the heat and puree the mixture in a blender until smooth. Place back in saucepan over low heat.
5. Stir in the heavy cream, buttermilk, and white pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. 

Chips Ahoy

A couple of months ago my food processor went kaput.  I can't say it was entirely the fault of the food processor.  I might have been partially to blame by not checking the garbage disposal before turning it on.  

But let's not point any fingers.  

Luckily, since I've been such a good girl this year, I got this brand new shiny toy for Channukah.

It's got far more bells and whistles than my old food processor.  Including multiple slicing disks of varying sizes.  I've been putting off getting a mandoline for years because I am completely short on kitchen space.  This means that I have several things I'd like to make but just don't have the capability without something that can slice super thin.  Because we all know that sure as heck isn't one of my strong skills.

I'm in love love love with my new food processor.  Especially because it is whisper-quiet.  But I really love being able to use it to make things I've never dreamed of before.  Things that require paper thin slices of potatoes.  Because thick slices of potatoes just don't make potato chips.  They make french fries.  And when you're layering potatoes, thin slices work so much better so each bite has the appropriate proportion of potato, sauce, and cheese.

I made the potato chips on a night that Thatboy was going out to dinner with friends.  I wasn't smart enough to wait till after he left though and with each pass through the kitchen another couple of chips disappeared.  He seriously considered staying home.  Who would have thought the allure of sandwiches and chips for dinner would keep a man from his friends.

I learned from my mistake and made sure these scalloped potatoes were available on a night he was home for dinner.  And yet, served as a side, he didn't have room for them.  Figures, right?  Don't worry he made short work of them the next day for lunch.

Potato Chips 

2 russet potatoes

canola oil

salt

1. Peel potatoes and slice them very thin.  This is where I used the thin slicing disk in my food processor.
2. Soak the sliced potatoes in cold water for an hour.  Pat them with paper towels until they are very very dry.
3. Heat several inches of oil in a pan until a candy thermometer indicates the oil is 390F.  Add the potatoes without crowding and fry, moving and turning them until they are golden brown.
4. Lift out and drain on paper towels.  Toss with salt.
   

 

Scalloped Potatoes

3 russet potatoes

 2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 cup hot milk

cayenne pepper

salt

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1.  Peel potatoes and boil until tender - about 20 minutes.  Slice the potatoes very thinly.  Hello new food processor!
2. Melt butter in a skillet over low heat.  Stir in the flour until a paste forms and starts to bubble.  Slowly pour in the milk and stir until the sauce thickens.
3. Stir in the cayenne and salt to taste, the egg yolk, and the cheddar.  Keep stirring until the cheese has completely melted.
4. Spread a thin layer of the sauce over the bottom of a casserole dish.  Place a layer of potatoes on top of the sauce.  Continue alternating sauce and potatoes, finishing with the sauce.
5. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top and bake for 25 minutes.
   

Creamy Potatoes

You might have noticed I've been doing a lot of cooking with potatoes lately.  It's a winter thing for me.  In terms of seasonal produce, potatoes are just about as seasonal as it comes.  Potatoes spend all summer growing and storing up starch, getting as fat as a bear preparing for hibernation.  This growing and storing of starch makes them especially filling when the days are cold and the nights are long.

I love potatoes for thickening soup and stews.  But where I come from, they are a pretty typical side dish.  Thatboy grew up with rice as a side dish for most meals, but we always had baked potatoes, or stuffed potatoes, or oven fries.  

This is a combination of those two things.  These skillet potatoes use the potato's natural starch to create a creamy sauce, thickening the beef broth.  It makes the perfect side, a nice change from your typical oven-cooked potato.  And dicing the potato makes it cook fast enough for a weeknight.  Gotta love surface area to volume ratios.

Creamy Diced Potatoes
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
3 Yukon gold potatoes, diced
1/4 cup beef broth
salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Cook the onion until translucent.
2. Add the potatoes and mix well.
3. Stir in the beef broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered for 10-20 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tendered.
4. Season with salt and pepper.

Ready for another cake?

As you may or may not have noticed, this blog has been inundated with sweet recipes.  3 cakes in one month?  Pretty unusual for a girl who claims to be more into savory than sweet.  But the holidays are a time when we all overindulge.  

Now that it's January there are far fewer baked goods in Thathouse.  There's a chocolate chip banana bread in the fridge Thatmom brought up last week, but other than that, nada.  Now we go back to the savory and the only cakes you'll find round these parts are the occasional pancake.  (Although to be fair, I haven't made pancakes in ages.)

But savory cakes I can definitely get behind.  They make great side dishes.  Technically this could be considered a baked mashed potato dish, because really, that's all that is.  Mashed potatoes, formed into a cake, and then baked until brown.  The eggs serve two purposes - the yolks act as a nice binder, and the whites, folded in, give it some rise.  Then you can cut it into slices and serve it just like a cake.  Without the frosting of course. 

Potato Cake
2 baked potatoes
1 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 egg separated
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375. Scoop out the inside of the baked potato.
2. Add the butter, cream, egg yolk, salt and pepper to the baked potato guts and beat until smooth.
3. Beat the egg white until stiff.
4. Heat the potato mixture over medium heat, gradually mixing in the egg white.
5. Form the potato mixture into a loafish shape. Place on a baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes until browned.

For Art's Sake

Let me just begin by noting that when the inlaws told us they wanted to come visit, they specifically asked if they could come down "when there was something happening in San Diego." I shouldn't be too surprised, because the only times they've come to visit us is when we had a major event like a wedding or graduation. And even then, they tried to have us schedule events around trips they wanted to make to the symphony, or other local attractions.

"Have them come the last week of April" I told Thatboy. San Diego is just buzzing with activity that weekend! And now I regret that statement. More than anything. Because I didn't realize that when they said they wanted to go to San Diego activities, they meant - they wanted to go for 15 minutes or less. So they could get back to the hotel and sit and read and nap. Boo. Hiss. So I got to miss one of the most fabulous weekends in San Diego. Blah.

The plan for Saturday was to go to the Little Italy Art Walk. An event that happens once a year. But TMIL also wanted to squeeze in a trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Which is open year round. And which they could have gone to on one of their days without Thatboy and I. Because contemporary art on the street isn't NEARLY as good as something in a museum. Because, you know, if it's in a museum it's brilliant. Just like Sunset Magazine.

Once a year, Little Italy is transformed.

4 streets are closed off, along with all the streets that connect them, of course. And rows of artists of all media. It's amazing.

After the first block, TFIL turned to us and asked when we could move on to the next activity. He was done with this. He doesn't like contemporary art. When Thatboy asked him what kind of art he likes, he was unable to answer. He said he likes "art that's done well." Thatboy asked what medium he enjoyed. TFIL replied "any medium that's done well." Thatboy asked if he liked a certain age or genre of art. TFIL doesn't. We decided (between Thatboy and I) that TFIL doesn't like anything that gives people pleasure. He doesn't like television, movies, fiction books, music that has lyrics, and apparently art. Fun times.




In addition to really great art, there was also musicians. Thatboy got sucked in to watching these guys for a while.

And because I'm a shopper at heart, I had to get something. Well, I didn't have to. But I walked right by these little birdie pictures and WANT. So I picked up a print to take home.



How adorable are those chubby little chicks? The artist is Marna Schindler and she specializes in animal prints. I don't usually love animal prints, but I seriously love these birds which she calls "Little Buddies." I want to get them for everyone I know.

After we saw about half the festival, TFIL could take it no longer. He really wanted to move on to the next activity. Thatboy pointed out the next activity would be looking at more art. TFIL said "yes, but it's a different style." To which I pointed out that it was actually the same style as what we were viewing that he hated. But off to La Jolla we went! To sit in traffic because UGH La Jolla on the weekends.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is tiny. TMIL was concerned she wouldn't be able to see it all before it closed. I assured her she'd be able to see it multiple times in the time we had. TFIL was disgusted by almost every exhibit and at one point went and sat in the lobby.

This is the exhibit that greets you as you enter. It's animatronic, so the sculpture actually moves, as though it were doing the tagging. Which fooled me at first!

My favorite part of the museum is the sculpture garden. Thatboy and I usually do a quick tour of the current exhibition before heading out here for a while.



Because it's our favorite view in La Jolla.



I mean, sure, you can walk along the cove. And I've done that on many occasions. But from the MCASD garden you get the water framed with palm trees and flowers.

And even some fun sculptures.

Plus Thatboy likes to climb on everything, which is encouraged, even though it's still technically a museum.



And even when you're not looking at the water, it's still a pretty cool view.



With bright colors that just make you smile. After the museum, we dropped the inlaws off for their required nap/reading time. I put up dinner and spent some quality bitching time where I both gave and received. Apparently it does not help the situation when I start acting like a childish brat. Who'd have guessed? And then the inlaws came over for dinner.



Pot Roast
TMIL makes a great pot roast according to Thatboy. But according to Thatboy, I make it better. Even when using her recipe. This is not her recipe. I didn't want to show her up. But this makes an impossibly tender, fall of your fork meat. And I love the flavor V8 gives it. I know a lot of people use tomato sauce, or tomato paste, or even ketchup, but V8 is the way to go.

2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 lb boneless chuck roast
3 Tbsp shortening
1 onion, sliced
2 tsp thyme
1 cup V8
1/2 tsp Tabasco Sauce

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and pepper. Rub all over the roast.
2. Melt the shortening in a dutch oven. When hot, add the roast and brown on all sides.
3. Lower the heat and add remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer 3 hours, turning half way through.


Brussels Sprouts
I LOVE brussels sprouts. So does TMIL. Thatboy? Not so much. But I used their visit as an excuse to make a veggie I don't get to make so often. This is a super basic way to make them. Just drop them in boiling water and boil for about 9 minutes. Then toss with melted butter, salt, and pepper. This way they retain some of their crunch - which I love.


Potato Pancakes
Since the hash brown went over so well, I thought I'd try Fannie Farmer's recipe for potato pancakes. They were a hit. TMIL got so excited when I brought these to the table!

3 medium potatoes
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1 egg, beaten
salt
4 Tbsp oil

1. Peel and grate potatoes. Place them on a double thickness of paper towels, fold the towels around them, and twist and squeeze until most of the moisture is extracted.
2. Put the potatoes in a bowl, add the flour, cream, egg, and salt, and toss until well mixed.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Put about 2 Tbsp of the potato mixture in the pan and press and shape with a spatula into a flat pancake. Repeat until the pan is full, but not crowded.
4. Cook each pancake 5 minutes over medium low heat until the bottom is crisp and brown. Turn and cook the other side 5 minutes more.