I'm Irish, I eat potatoes, I eat a lot of potatoes!

You know when the grocery store has those giant bags of potatoes on sale for so cheap you buy one because you cannot pass up a bargain...then when you get home you look at this 20 pound bag of potatoes and say WHAT THE HELICOPTER AM I GOING TO DO WITH ALL OF THESE POTATOES?????

I made mashed ones, fried ones, made soup, shredded them, baked them...everything I could think of.
That is until I was reading The Pioneer Woman website and saw this recipe! OK first off let me just tell you prior to saving this recipe I saved ohh maybe 100 others! I mean seriously this woman is spectacular! WOW!!

Along with these lovely potatoes I made my soy glazed mushrooms you can find the recipe here on my blog and some of the most delish chicken breasts I have ever bbq'd!

So enough of the jibba jabba as Mr. T once said, and on with the recipe and the yummy photos.

Enjoy and Keep On Making Stuff!
Ingredients


■12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)

■3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

■Kosher Salt To Taste (i used trader joe's sea salt)

■Black Pepper To Taste

■Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste (i used parsley and oregano too)

Preparation Instructions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil. (i don't have a potato masher so I used the bottom of a sauce pan. there is a picture below of the smashing ahaha)

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)
Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

and Voila! a really amazing simple dinner!

Oh risotto how I love thee!!

Being how I am a food snob and how I always disect everything I eat so I can try to figure out everything that is in it I decided I needed to make risotto once and for all because I love it so much!

I have pulled about 10 different risotto recipes but I wanted to try this yummy cheesy one first because well who doesn't love cheese!!

One of my most fav risottos is at the Wolf Gang Puck restaurant in the MGM Casino Detroit! Holy Seafood Risotto yo!! This is something that should be served to gods or royalty! Its sinful. But back to my risotto! aahahaa

Loving variety in my diet my stack of things to make is getting too big to control so I'm making a promise to myself to try at least one new recipe a week!

I made this risotto with baked salmon and steamed broc. The BF loved it. He loved it so much he ate 2 giant plates of it all! He's the best BF ever!!

Like I've said before here is the recipe and a little photo montage.

Enjoy and Keep On Making Stuff!!

I found this recipe here. Like I have said before her blog is fab check it out!!!

Cheddar Cheese Risotto from Nigella Lawson


•1 tablespoon butter

•1 tablespoon vegetable oil

•2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (optional)

•1 ½ cups risotto rice

•½ cup white wine

•½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

•4 cups hot vegetable stock or chicken broth

•1 cup cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded**

•2 tablespoons chopped chives (optional)

Melt the butter and oil in a medium stock pot and cook the sliced leeks, scallions, and garlic until softened.

Add the risotto and keep stirring for a minute or so, then turn up the heat, add the wine and mustard, stirring until the wine is absorbed.

Ladle in the hot stock, while still stirring, allowing it to completely absorb before adding the next one. Stir and keep adding stock until the rice is al dente and all the stock is absorbed, about 18-20 minutes.

Then add the cheese, stirring it into the rice until it melts. Take the pan straight off the heat, still stirring as you do, and then spoon into warm bowls. Sprinkle with chopped chives.


NOTE: You don't want to add all the stock at once. Slowly adding it to the rice and allowing it to absorb in between ladlefuls allows it to become creamy.

**Freshly cube or grate your cheese. The pre-shredded variety has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. This can sometimes make the final product grainy, and not creamy, which would ruin all your hard work. So buy a block of cheddar and cut it up yourself- it's usually cheaper in block form anyway.

This makes 4 generous servings.

you have to stir this like your life depends on it which made me do this.....

and if you are lucky your super awesome boyfriend will do the dishes and let you rest your feet! awwww!

Happy Birthday Jeanie, your cake gave me a panic attack ahahaha!

I love to cook, I love to bake and I haven't met a recipe I have not been able to master....BUT there is one thing I feel I am horrible at and that my dears is frosting cakes!! They never come out smooth or pretty. It's always wavy and lumpy and I use too much frosting so the cake breaks and then I get crumbs in my frosting!! GRRRR!!

So when Keith sent me a text inviting me to a BBQ I was already going through all the new recipes I could try, then it happened he sent another text saying it was a birthday party for Jeanie. OH!! I love birthdays!!

Why did I volunteer to make a cake? Oh yeah I don't think anyone should have a store bought birthday cake when a delicious one can be made.

I almost immediately began to regret my decision when I remembered caked have to be frosted ahaahaha!

Just prior I have found a great recipe here.... her blog is amazing so don't just check out this recipe take a peak at the entire thing.

I pretty much followed this recipe step by step, but Keith wanted Blueberry in the cake so instead of chocolate filling I subbed the chocolate for Blueberry preserves and fresh Blueberries.

This is a really really great cake, next time I will recruit a froster though a DF (designated froster).

Enjoy this cake and as always my photogs!
Keep on Making Stuff!!

Recipe



Vanilla Buttermilk Cake from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Makes an 8-inch triple-layer cake

•4 whole eggs

•2 egg yolks

•2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•1¼ cups buttermilk

•3 cups cake flour

•2 cups sugar

•4½ teaspoons baking powder

•½ teaspoon salt

•2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans or spray to coat with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and grease the paper.
Put the eggs and yolks in a medium mixing bowl, add the vanilla and ¼ cup of the buttermilk. Whisk to blend well.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixer bowl; whisk to blend. Add the butter and the remaining 1 cup buttermilk to these dry ingredients, and with the mixer on low, blend together. Raise the mixer speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the egg mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing only until thoroughly incorporated. Divide the batter among the three prepared pan.
Bake the cake layers for 28 to 32 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes; then carefully turn out onto wire racks, peel off the paper liners and let cool completely.

Mascarpone Filling:
Chocolate Cream Mascarpone Filling

•8 oz. mascarpone cheese

•8 oz. cream cheese, softened

•4 tbsp. honey

•4 tbsp. cocoa

•1 tsp. vanilla

•1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Cream both cheese in a medium bowl. Stir in honey and vanilla and mix well. Stir in cocoa and powdered sugar til well combined. Spread between cooled cakes or refrigerate til ready to use.

This cake was a giant! It was just effing huge!!! ahahahaa!

Cream Cheese Frosting:

•16 oz. cream cheese, softened

•2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

•1 tbsp. vanilla

•2 lb. powdered sugar

•pinch of salt

In a large bowl, cream cheese and butter together til creamy and there are no lumps. Add vanilla, salt and slowly mix in powdered sugar.

so ummm we had a little bit of a causalty! ahahaha!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

it wasn't that bad when all was said and done and Jeanie is totally worth all the frosted stress ahahaha!!