Twice Baked Potatoes have always been a favorite of mine, so when I saw this recipe for Potatoes Romanoff (something I had never tried before) I knew I had to make it immediately! It takes the twice baked potato to a whole new level by shredding the baked potato and folding in lots of sharp white cheddar cheese, flavorful shallots and sour cream. Once it’s tossed together, it’s topped with a little more cheese (because really, everything is better when topped in cheese) and then baked again until the cheese is golden and the potatoes are warm.

This recipe was submitted Tasty Kitchen member Duane Puitman from Cottage in the Oaks, and thank goodness for that because I’m officially obsessed. It’s going to be making many appearances in my kitchen in the coming months, that’s for sure!

Okay, here’s what to do…

Start with 3 large russet potatoes.

Wrap each of them up in tin foil.

Stick them into a 425ºF preheated oven on the metal rack. They are going to bake for about 1 hour. Once the potatoes come out of the oven, remove the tin foil and let them cool. Once cooled, place them in a container and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Next, using a box grater or your food processor grater attachment, grate all of the potatoes.

Chop up a few shallots.

Combine the grated potato and chopped shallots in a large bowl.

Pile on most of the white cheddar cheese. Try not to eat half of it like me because it just means you have to grate more when you’re ready for it!

Add the salt and pepper.

Followed by a big dollop of sour cream. Yum!

Mix everything together with your hands if you feel like getting a little messy, or with a spoon. Whichever you prefer!

Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and plop it on in. No need to pack down the potatoes, leave them scattered about so it give it that rustic look.

Scatter on the remaining cheddar cheese (by this step, I most certainly had to grate more cheese since I kept snacking on it) and bake it in a 350ºF oven for about 30-40 minutes until the cheese is just golden and the potatoes are hot!

Once it’s out of the oven, it’s time to dig in!

Feel free to top your serving with some chopped scallions or chives. It gives it an extra dimension and it’s just the right thing to do. This would be an excellent side dish for some steaks. Just saying.

A big thank you to Duane for such a delicious and wonderful recipe! Be sure to check out Cottage in the Oaks for more awesome ideas.

Printable Recipe

Potatoes Romanoff

by Cottage In the Oaks | Daune Pitman on August 12, 2011 in Potatoes, Sides August 12, 2011 PotatoesSides

See post on Cottage In the Oaks | Daune Pitman’s site!

4.63 Mitt(s) 16 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

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A great side, wonderful with steak as an alternative to baked potatoes.

Ingredients

• 3 whole Large Russet Potatoes, Unpeeled
• ¾ cups Minced Shallots
• 2-½ cups Grated White Cheddar Cheese, Divided
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Freshly Ground Pepper
• 1-½ cup Sour Cream

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil. Bake potatoes on a pan in the oven until done, about an hour. Remove foil and let potatoes cool to room temperature. Put potatoes on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Grate the chilled potatoes, including skins. You can use a large box grater or a food processor. (I like the food processor!) Transfer grated potatoes to a bowl and sprinkle in the shallots, 1 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper.

Use your hands to gently toss together. (I guess you could stir it too but you would miss all the fun. Go ahead, plunge those hands down in there!) Then fold in sour cream.

Transfer mixture to a 1 1/2 quart gratin dish, making sure that you don’t compress (or squash, or moosh, or squish) it! Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Bake at 350 F until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serves 6.

Recipe slightly adapted from williams-sonoma.com via Strip House.

 
 
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Gaby Dalkin is the young lady behind What’s Gaby Cooking, a food blog that’s bursting at the seams with incredible recipes and food photography. She’s a personal chef and professional recipe developer, and if you follow her on Twitter, you’ll soon discover her two-fold obsession: guacamole and cheese. She has small feet, a large heart, and a smile that can light up the whole building. We’re pretty stoked to have her here.

 
My husband has a “thing” for General Tso’s chicken. A relationship of sorts. On any given day when I’m in the mood for Chinese takeout, sit down Thai, or a Japanese steakhouse, he’s in the mood for … General Tso’s. He rarely goes outside the box and tries anything new because his love for the crispy, saucy chicken dish is so strong. If it’s on the menu, I can’t even sway him into sharing the beef and broccoli, pad thai, or dare I say it: sushi. When I spied Rebecca’s recipe for General Tso’s chicken, I couldn’t wait to make it for dinner knowing fully that he’d flip his lid. The only issue? I knew I’d be making it all the time!

I love making dishes like this at home because I know exactly what is going in them, as opposed to ordering greasy (albeit delicious) takeout in a box. This original recipe came from Food and Wine and it certainly did not disappoint! I have tried a few different versions of General Tso’s over the years and I must say that this ranks up there as my favorite. It’s as simple as can be and doesn’t require ingredients that I not only can’t spell, but can’t even find in my local grocery store. You likely have almost everything on hand!

To start, you need raw sugar (I’m sure you can substitute some regular or brown sugar here), chicken stock, soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, frying oil of your choice (I used canola), chili garlic sauce, ginger, garlic, an egg white, green onions, and chicken. Rebecca’s recipe called for chicken thighs, but I happened to have chicken breasts on hand and was eager to try the recipe with them. It was a success!

Begin by adding the sesame oil, egg white and soy sauce in a bowl.

Whisk in the corn starch. Don’t worry if it gets a little “goopy.” That is exactly what it’s supposed to do!

Cut your chicken into pieces …

Then toss it into the mixture until it’s thoroughly coated. At this time, cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap and let it sit in a cool, dry place to marinate for about 20 minutes, tossing it once or twice. Now you can also begin to prepare any dishes that you want to serve with your chicken—brown rice and broccoli, in our case.

While the chicken is getting flavorful, whisk together stock, soy sauce, cornstarch, chili garlic sauce and sugar in a bowl until combined. It’s time to make the sauce!

Add the tablespoon of oil to a saucepan. Once it’s hot, add in your garlic and ginger. I actually grated both my garlic and ginger with a microplane as it was easiest for me. If you do this, only cook the garlic and ginger for a minute or so until it’s fragrant. Don’t let them burn!

Add the sauce ingredients to the garlic and ginger, stirring until it becomes thick and shiny.

Once the sauce thickens, lower the heat and keep the sauce partially covered to stay warm.

To begin frying the chicken, heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a large skillet, preferably with higher sides since the oil may splatter a bit.

Add the chicken to the oil one piece at a time, making sure not to crowd the chicken pieces.

Cook until crispy and golden, about 4 minutes per side.

Transfer the chicken to a paper towel-covered plate to drain and continue frying the remaining chicken.

Once all the chicken is cooked and drained, add it directly into the sauce. You can also opt to drizzle or pour the sauce on top of each portion, but I found that adding the chicken to the sauce as the recipe calls for is perfect.

Stir, stir, stir! At this time, you can also add your broccoli or other side dish of choice to the sauce if you wish.

Serve some to your drooling friends and family …

Garnish with sliced green onions and dig in!

 
I can’t tell you enough how much we absolutely loved this meal. It is in the rotation and doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon. I highly recommend it for the General Tso’s Chicken lovers in your house. Thanks so much for the delicious dish Rebecca! Be sure to check out Rebecca’s incredible blog Foodie with Family where she shares all sorts of fabulous ideas from coffee milkshakes to mozzarella sticks. I’m hungry again!

Printable Recipe

General Tso’s Chicken

by Rebecca on August 5, 2011 in Main Courses, Poultry August 5, 2011 Main CoursesPoultry

See post on Rebecca’s site!

4.23 Mitt(s) 26 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 4

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Sweet and hot, crispy and tender, garlicky, gingery General Tso’s chicken is a mainstay of Chinese buffets and restaurants, but you can make it better, fresher and healthier at home!

Ingredients

• FOR THE CHICKEN:
• 1-½ teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
• 1 whole Large Egg White
• ¼ cups Plus 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1 pound Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
• Canola, Peanut, Or Vegetable Oil For Frying
• FOR THE SAUCE:
• 1 Tablespoon Peanut, Canola Or Vegetable Oil
• 2 cloves Garlic, Peeled And Minced
• 2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Ginger Root
• 1 cup Chicken Broth Or Stock
• ¼ cups Soy Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Chile-garlic Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons Raw (turbinado Or Demerara) Sugar
• FOR SERVING:
• 4 whole Scallions, Thinly Sliced
• Steamed Rice
• Steamed Broccoli

Preparation Instructions

Prep your chicken:
In a mixing bowl, stir together the sesame oil, soy sauce, egg white, and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch until a thick slurry forms. It will look gummy but smooth.

Add the chicken pieces and stir until all are evenly coated. At first it may appear that it will not come together but it does!
Set chicken aside, covered lightly with plastic wrap, at room temperature for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Begin the sauce:
Add the tablespoon of oil to a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat. Stir the garlic and ginger into the oil and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining sauce ingredients until smooth. Pour into the garlic and ginger, stirring, until the sauce becomes thick and shiny. Once the sauce thickens, lower heat and keep the saucepan over a low burner partially covered to stay warm.

To fry the chicken:
Heat 1/2-inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed, high-sided frying pan or skillet over high heat.

When the oil is shimmering, add one piece of chicken at a time, taking care not to crowd the pan. Cook chicken for 4 minutes on each side, or until deep golden brown and crisp on both sides**.

Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel lined plate and repeat the process until you’ve cooked all the chicken.

Then slide all of the fried chicken into the prepared sauce and toss to coat. (If desired, add some steamed broccoli to coat with the sauce also.) Increase the heat to medium, stir and cook just until hot all the way through.

Sprinkle with sliced scallions and serve immediately over white rice.

**A note: Chicken is a safe food for me. I know that just about anything done to it is going to yield something that is, at the very least, edible. This is especially true of boneless skinless chicken thighs. It’s really hard to mess those up! They stay tender and juicy and it’s very hard indeed to cook them to the point of chicken jerky. Be sure to cook them through, you definitely want that crisp, deep-brown coating to hold up to the sauce!

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Jessica Merchant is a personal trainer turned food writer and blogger. Her blog, How Sweet Eats, is where she proclaims her love for all things sweet, all things bacon, and everything else in between. She works her magic in her Pittsburgh kitchen, which she shares with her husband of 2 years.

 
Salad. For breakfast. Sounds a little weird, but we’ve been making breakfast salads in the Perry house for over a year now. If anyone had told me five years ago that I’d be eating salads for breakfast and keeping things like flaxseed and giant containers of coconut oil in my pantry, I would have laughed. And maybe shed a tear or two.

TK member Sommer from A Spicy Perspective is obviously a salad-for-breakfast convert, judging from this amazing creation of hers: Breakfast Salad with Cinnamon Toast Croutons and Maple Vinaigrette. The sound of those croutons and vinaigrette practically clubbed me over the head and forced me to add it to my recipe box. They’ll make anyone a salad-for-breakfast convert. I guarantee it.

I made this salad for my husband’s birthday breakfast. Yes, my husband loves salads. He’s actually the one who got ME to eat salads for breakfast. (How did I luck out?)

Let’s start on those tasty cinnamon-sugar morsels by preheating the oven and slicing a baguette into 1-inch cubes.

Melt some butter in a bowl and add the sugar and cinnamon. Mix to combine.

Throw the bread cubes on top.

Toss them around to make sure the cubes are coated. Go ahead and eat a few. I ate six.

Spread the cubes out on a sheet pan and pop them in the oven for 5-10 minutes until they’re toasty.

Like this. Okay, so they don’t really look that different when they’re toasted. They sure taste great though. (Six more down the hatch.)

Now on to the bacon. Add the chopped, uncooked bacon to a skillet and cook over medium heat.

Keep an eye on it and stir it around frequently. It amazes me that I never knew how to cook bacon for half of my adult life. I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

When it’s as crispy as you like it (I like it about 30 seconds away from burned), transfer the bits to a paper towel to drain.

Now for the vinaigrette. This all seems time-consuming, but it really isn’t. You can have the croutons in the oven and the bacon sizzling away while you quickly whisk up the dressing. It’s worth it.

You’ll need (real) maple syrup, a neutral-flavored oil (I used grapeseed), apple cider vinegar, a smidgen of dijon mustard, and a pinch or two of salt and pepper.

Whisk until the dressing starts to thicken.

Now put some salad greens on a plate. Sommer used baby spinach. I was fresh out, so I used some lettuce from my CSA box.

Sprinkle on your toppings: bacon bits, dried cranberries or raisins, nuts (I opted for sliced almonds), and those beautiful croutons.

One more time at the stove, then you’re through. Crack an egg into a heated skillet.

Cook it how you like it—scrambled or sunny side up. You could even poach it in a pan of simmering water. (Don’t ask me how to do that. All of mine end up looking like ragged ghosts, albeit tasty ragged ghosts.)

Carefully place the egg over the salad and drizzle some vinaigrette over the whole thing.

I used to be a scrambled-only girl, but I’ve grown to love a slightly runny yolk. Especially those found in farm-fresh eggs. I don’t know if there’s anything better than that rich yolk mingling with that sweet vinaigrette. On a crouton. With a piece of bacon stuck to it.

My heavens, Sommer. You’re officially my hero.

Be sure to check out Sommer’s recipe box as well as her beautiful blog A Spicy Perspective for more wonderful recipes!

Printable Recipe

Breakfast Salad with Cinnamon Toast Croutons and Maple Vinaigrette

by aspicyperspective on July 25, 2011 in Breakfast July 25, 2011 Breakfast

See post on aspicyperspective’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 4 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

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Get your greens for breakfast, without missing out on your bacon and eggs!

Ingredients

• 6 cups French Bread Cubes
• 3 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• ¼ cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¼ cups Maple Syrup
• ¼ cups Vegetable Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• Black Pepper To Taste
• 12 ounces, weight Bacon, Cooked And Crumbled
• 12 whole Eggs
• 6 cups Packed Baby Spinach
• 1 cup Candied Nuts
• ¾ cups Dried Cherries

Preparation Instructions

For the cinnamon toast croutons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lay the bread cubes out on a rimmed baking sheet. Mix the melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon together and drizzle over the bread cubes. Toss and bake for 5-10 minutes until toasted.

For the maple vinaigrette: Whisk the maple syrup, oil, vinegar, mustard, and salt together until smooth. Add pepper to taste. Set aside.

Cook and drain the bacon.

Prepare the eggs to your liking—scrambled, poached, sunny-side-up.

Prepare each salad plate with a heaping cup of baby spinach, topped with cinnamon toast croutons, candied nuts, dried cherries, and crumbled bacon. Then top each with 1-2 eggs and drizzle with maple vinaigrette!

 
 
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Be sure to check out Natalie’s own beautiful food blog, Perrys’ Plate, where you can see her growing collection of lovely recipes. There’s always something new to see there. Go visit now!

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  If you’re like me, you have a plethora of zucchini on your hands right now and have already made all the breads, muffins and pastas that you can with it. So when I found PinchofYum’s simple recipe for Sweet Zucchini Pancakes I decided to give it a go. I loved the idea of zucchini […]