Boiled, Baked and Fried

I'm a little obsessed with potatoes right now. It's been a long winter in New England and indulging in comfort food has kind of taken over. My last post, Twice Baked and Loaded inspired this decadent, yummy potato casserole and the fried potato pancakes that came soon after. Get ready for some good eating. Yes this is a rich side dish, and as a matter of fact it's one of the most decadent concoctions I've ever put together. But it's a side dish, so you don't have to eat it all in one sitting (you'll want to save some for the Bonus Fried Tater Cakes), and it does have it's redeeming qualities- like it's loaded with veggies (artichokes and spinach), slow roasted garlic and of course lots of love. Ready? Let's cook.

Artichoke and Spinach Dip Potato Casserole
Serves 6-8

Roasted Garlic 1 small head of garlic
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

The Dip
8 oz Neufchatel cheese (lower fat cream cheese) softened to room temp
1/3 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup reduced fat shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup lite sour cream
1/3 cup lite mayonnaise
5 oz frozen chopped spinach thawed or defrosted in the microwave, then squeezed dry to remove any liquid
1 medium-large can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 head of roasted garlic
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp hot sauce

The Taters
5-6 Yukon Gold potatoes (medium sized) cut into 1 inch pieces
2-3 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2
salt and pepper

To roast the garlic: Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Place a baking sheet in the oven as it pre heats. Remove some of the outer layers of the garlic skin if they are plentiful. Cut the top off the head of the garlic and place on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Seal the foil and place on pre-heated baking sheet. Roast 30-40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and squeeze the roasted pulp into your mixing bowl (discarding the skin) with the Neufchatel. We're going to put the dip together.

 

To roasted garlic and Neufchatel, combine the rest of the dip ingredients.

While you're making the dip, get the potatoes started. Put diced potatoes into a medium size saucepan, cover with salted cold water and bring to a boil on stovetop. Cook about 20 minutes until fork tender. Remove from heat, drain water, and let taters dry a bit in the hot pot they've cooked in. Time to give these babies some love. Add your butter and Half and Half to the potatoes and lovingly give them the mash of their lives. If I had a ricer, this would be when I would grab it- it's the perfect utensil for the creamiest mashed potatoes. But my old fashioned potato masher did almost as well.

 

That is one pot of creamy goodness. Take a taste, add a bit more salt and pepper if you think it needs the additional seasoning. I added a tad more salt. Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees and spritz your baking dish with a veggie oil spray. In medium sized mixing bowl combine the mashed potatoes with the dip. Take another taste. I think you should be very pleased. If you're feeling extra decadent, sprinkle a little more Parm on top of the casserole, you know I did.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes and serve.

If, and I stress if, you have any leftovers, you're going to want to try these tater pancakes inspired by Sarah Moulton, one of my favorite cooks ever. I only had enough left over to make 3 pancakes (well.... I did make them rather large and could have gotten maybe 5 or 6). I followed her recipe to the letter, and yes, you do have to cook them at least 15 minutes per side on medium low. Fabulous recipe, and a fulfilling experiment for me.

Happy Spring! And now that the weather is changing, let's bring on the salads, I'm ready!

Twice Baked and Loaded

I've been craving that ever-so-famous, ooey, gooey spinach artichoke dip lately and decided to combine it with some lovely looking Russet potatoes I have also been craving. This was an experiment because I wasn't sure the two would work well together, and (confession here) I've never made a twice baked potato. So join me while I take you on my Sunday afternoon cooking adventure.

Roasted Garlic, Spinach, and Artichoke Twice Baked Potatoes
serves 4 (1/2 stuffed potato per person)

2 medium to large Russet potatoes scrubbed
3 T butter
2-3 T half and half
pinch or two of kosher salt

Roasted Garlic
1 small head of garlic
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper


The Dip
4 oz neufchatel cheese (lower fat cream cheese) softened to room temp
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup reduced fat shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup lite sour cream
1/4 cup lite mayonnaise
1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach thawed or defrosted in the microwave, then squeezed dry to remove any liquid
4 whole artichoke hearts (from a can), drained and chopped
1 head of roasted garlic
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp hot sauce

To roast the garlic: Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Place a baking sheet in the oven as it pre heats. Remove some of the outer layers of the garlic skin if they are plentiful. Cut the top off the head of the garlic and place on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Seal the foil and place on pre-heated baking sheet. Roast 30-40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and squeeze the roasted pulp into your mixing bowl (discard the skin).

While garlic is cooling, bake your scrubbed potatoes in the already preheated 400 degree oven for 1 hour. Before baking, I poke my potatoes with a fork to allow steam to escape, although I'm not sure if that is necessary. While potatoes are cooking, make the dip, and that's a pretty simple task. Combine all ingredients with a flexible spatula, taste and see if you need more hot sauce. I stuck with the 1 teaspoon, but was debating whether or not I wanted to add some chopped water chestnuts to the mix for a nice crunch, but opted against that as well.

Remove potatoes from oven and when they are cool enough to handle, slice them in half and carefully hollow out the pulp and place in small mixing bowl. I wasn't as careful as I should have been and ripped one. Lesson here: Next time I will make at least one extra potato. Also, leave about 1/4 inch of potato clinging to the skin. It makes for a sturdier package. Oh, now is a good time to set your oven to 350 degrees, getting ready for the second bake.

In mixing bowl add 3 T softened butter and 2 or 3 T half and half to the potato pulp. I added a pinch of salt as well, just because potatoes love to be salted.

I tried to get my mixture as smooth and silky as possible. Now take your artichoke dip and add it to the luxurious potatoes.

Combine well and fill your potato canoes. Top with a little extra mozzarella cheese and bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Don't you just want to dig into this little bit of decadence? I went right for the middle one with the slightly browned cheese on top.