Subject: Potatoes - Apologies to the No- and Low-carbers :)
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 10:30:08 -0500
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I picked up a couple of really nice big baking potatoes yesterday. I was simply going to bake one of them today and reserve the other for another time. Then this morning I saw TFM's photo on alt.binaries.food of the twice-baked potato kili made. Okay, twice baked is the way I'm gonna go.
I'm one of those who likes to rub the potato skin with oil or butter and sprinkle with salt. I really don't like baked potatoes wrapped in foil; I eat the skins and they come out nice and crispy this way.
I don't have sour cream so after I scoop out the innards (that's a technical term!) I'll just be stirring in butter, salt, pepper, shredded grueyere cheese and bacon bits. (Not Bac-O's textured soy protein.) I'll use my stick blender to mix it all together then spoon it back in the potato shell. Then it goes back into the hot oven until everything is nice and melty and lightly toasty on top.
I've been invited to a small cookout tomorrow and was asked to bring a side-dish. I asked if scalloped potatoes with some diced ham would be okay. The answer was a resounding YES! I'll prepare a double-batch of the potatoes and I have a rectangular tin-foil pan the perfect size for this. No need to worry about bringing home a baking dish to wash.
Scalloped Potatoes (from the 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book)
Place a layer of thin raw potato slices (about 6 white potatoes) in a greased casserole dish or baking pan. Sprinkle with (combined) 1 Tbs. flour, salt & pepper. Dot with butter. Continue, making 3 layers. Pour in milk to barely cover. Bake at 350F until tender (1 hour).
This is a basic recipe and I usually add some minced onion. Also a little sweet paprika and dried parsley flakes just to give it a little colour. I'll be doubling the recipe and adding a couple of cups of diced cubed ham. I'll bake it at home, cover it with foil, drive over and keep it warm in the oven (I've already cleared this).
The hosts are grilling chicken. Another guest is bringing cole slaw (which I don't care for) and someone else is bringing a layered bean salad thing. One of the guys offered to bring some of those little French rolls, the ones that heat up to be all nice and crispy. There will be a tossed salad. Plenty of wine and beer, although I'm going to spring for a bottle of wine to take along, too.
Should be a nice time and the weather is perfect since the nasty storms we had on Tuesday night. Temps have dropped and it will only be about 82F tomorrow!
From: Ted Campanelli (tcamp at grumpyoldmen.com)
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 16:08:23 GMT
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If you are concerned about the extra carbs get some extract of white kidney beans. 2 1,000 mg capsules taken prior to a heavy starch/carb meal will block absorbtion of the majority of the carbs. Brand names include Carb Cutter, Carb blocker, etc.
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:23:29 -0500
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Ted Campanelli wrote:
> If you are concerned about the extra carbs get some extract of white
> kidney beans. 2 1,000 mg capsules taken prior to a heavy starch/carb
> meal will block absorbtion of the majority of the carbs. Brand names
> include Carb Cutter, Carb blocker, etc.
Ted, I'm sure you were posting that on behalf of carb-conscious people. I'm not one of them. But it's good information assuming this supplement doesn't interfere with prescription medication, diabetes and other dietary stuff that might require low-carbing.
I just learned it's supposed to rain buckets tomorrow so the cookout will probably be postponed. The hosts have a lovely home but not really the facilities to cook and serve indoors for 7-8 people. Lots of storms have blown through here recently. It's still tornado season.
From: Mark Thorson (nospam at sonic.net)
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:11:06 -0700
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Ted Campanelli wrote:
> If you are concerned about the extra carbs get some extract
> of white kidney beans. 2 1,000 mg capsules taken prior to a heavy
> starch/carb meal will block absorbtion of the majority of the carbs.
> Brand names include Carb Cutter, Carb blocker, etc.
Baloney. Those things are frauds. Read about them on the FDA web site:
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01045.html [archive.org]
Here's the specific products that FDA threatened with legal action:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/wl-list.html [archive.org]
From: slartibartfast (slartibartfast at fjords_R_us.com)
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 14:29:58 -0400
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Jill wrote:
> Scalloped Potatoes (from the 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book)
>
> Place a layer of thin raw potato slices (about 6 white potatoes) in a
> greased casserole dish or baking pan. Sprinkle with (combined) 1 Tbs.
> flour, salt & pepper. Dot with butter. Continue, making 3 layers. Pour in
> milk to barely cover. Bake at 350F until tender (1 hour).
Hmmmmmm scalloped potatoes</homer>. If it where me, I'd add some Roquefort to that. Heh, I think I know what I'll be making for dinner tomorrow night now. Thanks.
From: aem (aem_again at yahoo.com)
Date: 28 Apr 2006 12:07:41 -0700
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Jill wrote:
> Scalloped Potatoes (from the 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book)
>
> Place a layer of thin raw potato slices (about 6 white potatoes) in a
> greased casserole dish or baking pan. Sprinkle with (combined) 1 Tbs.
> flour, salt & pepper. Dot with butter. Continue, making 3 layers. Pour in
> milk to barely cover. Bake at 350F until tender (1 hour).
>
> This is a basic recipe .... [snip]
There are a lot of recipes. Here's a tip [or a personal bias, depending on your POV] for just about all of them. The best servings of scalloped or gratin potatoes are those from the top layer and the bottom scrapings because of the extra texture and caramelization. To maximize that, use the widest, shallowest baking dsh you have that fits the quantity. -aem
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 15:18:06 -0500
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aem wrote:
> There are a lot of recipes. Here's a tip [or a personal bias,
> depending on your POV] for just about all of them. The best servings
> of scalloped or gratin potatoes are those from the top layer and the
> bottom scrapings because of the extra texture and caramelization. To
> maximize that, use the widest, shallowest baking dsh you have that fits
> the quantity. -aem
I should achieve this result using this tinfoil baking pan. Usually I use a 9x12 glass baking dish so yes, it does get nice and browned both top and bottom. Truly a simple and simply delicious potato dish!
From: Jke (morethangroups at hotmail.com)
Date: Wed, 3 May 2006 22:53:34 +0200
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Sounds like good eating.
The low carbers could do a gratin with things like carrots, celeriac, parsnips etc. I am sure most of those woudl be fantastic with (mild) blue cheeses, too.