Smashed Potatoes

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm attempting to cook up some corned beef for my first time. I'll let you know how it goes.

I suppose I should make a more festive post with Irish recipes, but the closest thing I can do is give you a recipe for some delicious potatoes, per a friend's request. First, here is the exciting story of how I came to be introduced to these tasty morsels. While talking potatoes with a friend, she linked me to this recipe for Crash Hot Potatoes. They looked great, but I guess they slipped my mind until I saw these Smashed Potatoes months later and decided it was time to try them. I did, and ohmygosh they were so good! They don't look like anything special, but they end up having a combination of crisp, soft and salt that is so perfect.

This photo I took of them isn't all that impressive, though. I would make them and photograph them again, but I am sort of avoiding potatoes at the moment (and this post is making me regret that :P).

I made them a bunch of times last year, so I learned a few tips. Here's basically how I make them (you will probably want to peruse the linked recipes first to understand what I'm talking about):

1. Preheat the oven to about 465 F. Boil a bunch (you'll find yourself adding more and more each time you make these) of little potatoes for about 20 minutes. I prefer the little white/golden ones to red (I tried red once and they seemed to have a flavor or richness that wasn't quite right for this recipe).

2. Meanwhile, swirl (or write your name with) some olive oil on a baking sheet. I ended up buying one of those ketchup bottles with the small spout for my olive oil, because it has worked better for occasions such as these.

3. Sprinkle salt all over the oil on the pan. Seriously, this step makes a wonderful difference.

4. After the potatoes are all nice and boiled, remove them from the water and lay them on the baking sheet, smearing them in the oil a bit to help it coat the bottom.

5. I use the bottom of a drinking glass (usually covered in foil) to smash each potato. It's fun!

6. Brush each potato with more olive oil and top with plenty of salt and pepper (and whatever other herbs/spices you might like).

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on how crispy and brown you like your potatoes.

So who here has made these before?

Wildlife

My apologies to those of you who have already seen these photos, but I thought they'd be fun to show everyone else. I'm fortunate enough to live on a small lake (pond, really), so there is some wildlife that I see right from my back door! (Get excited: I take lots of bird photos and will share those in the future! :P) I have always loved seeing animals in the wild, but getting a photo of them is an awesome bonus. A couple of weekends ago I had two sightings, and was able to take photos both times. These photos aren't great quality (I had to zoom all the way in, plus the morning sun was reflecting off the water), but that's not the point of this post. Okay! Here we go...


First, was the beaver! I don't think I've ever seen one in real life before, even though I live in The Beaver State.


Check out his adorable hands! He's probably eating pancakes.


The next day I saw an otter. He swam around in the part of the water closest to me, so I got plenty of photos. They all pretty much look like this one, though.

Just for the record, I have also seen deer and a nutria right in this vicinity. Oh and millions of squirrels, but they don't count. My current wildlife photo goal is to get a decent photo of a blue heron. I keep seeing them, but they always land so far away. I did get some okay heron photos at the coast years ago, but it's time for more. Meanwhile, I'm trying to train myself not to grab the camera every time a hummingbird eats from the feeder I have hanging. I really don't need a zillion copies of the basically the same photo (and same hummingbird, probably) on my computer.

Ides of March

One of the nice things about my job is that I work in lovely surroundings. And even better: it's actually part of my job to take photos of said surroundings. Of course, not every photo I take has a work purpose, but it's been cool to see how many types of photos we do actually use. Even details of nature, which is one of my favorite types of photos to take. And the ones we don't use? Well they count as practice for me. :) Might as well use them for my personal galleries, which brings me to this post: Today is was very nice weather, so I took the camera out for a bit. My walk included a visit to my friend K's office, where she happened to have homemade rolls to share with me. It was so meant to be!


I'm not a huge fan of these flowers (look at the disorganization of those petals), but the tree gave it some good background texture, and I like how this photo turned out.


There are aspects of this photo I don't like, but I do like these cute daffodils. Since I moved to Oregon, I tend to take daffodils for granted. They are everywhere--just growing on the side of the road, even! They're pretty, though.




Just a tree trunk that had some nice texture (okay that's twice I've used that word...now I feel annoying).

(I'm working on getting a good template/frame for my photos so they will be consistent and eventually have my site URL included, but first I need to upgrade my photo site.)

(More parentheses: I'm pretty sure it is my cousin's birthday today. Happy birthday, I! No, I'm not talking to myself, I'm just using initials in this blog to keep things a little more private. We'll see how long that lasts.)

PS Posting to this blog regularly is going to be easier than I thought! I'm already holding back on a few posts I have planned.

Green

This weekend I went to a St. Patrick's party and brought green cupcakes. There's nothing special about these cupcakes--I used a mix and canned frosting. (I know, I'm an amazing cook.) But when I was stirring the green dye into the batter I thought, "Oh I should add some almond extract to this!" Then I remembered I don't own almond extract and opted for vanilla. I didn't actually think it would make a difference (I like doing pointless activities), and I quickly forgot about it after stirring it in.

At the party, the hostess was trying one (she approved) and asked if there was vanilla in it. I probably startled her when I yelled, "OH MY GOSH, YES THERE IS!" I'm such a chef! Or, more likely, food connoisseurship is her spiritual gift. (If you assumed I knew the word "connoisseurship" before this entry, you think way too highly of me. I don't even know if I'm using it correctly.) Next time, I'm totally going with almond extract, though. Then they'll be like Spritz* cakes.

Of course you want to see the inside, right? The cake was greener than this, but I think it's partially washed out in the photo. I need to get some plain white plates, too--they would make for better photos. Until then, you can enjoy my leafy plates that I got for an awesome clearance price at Target.

I know you don't really eat cupcakes with a fork (or on a plate), but I think it looks a little more inviting this way. Food photography isn't really my forte, so I do what I can.

*Not sure if anyone besides my family will know that term since most treats have like a thousand names.

Smothered Chicken with Brown Rice

I'd like to post some recipes for food I made and enjoyed. Some of my photos aren't the greatest, but I hope to get better at that. Anyway, here's my first recipe post!



I made this after seeing it among the Kraft recipes online. I changed some things, mostly out of necessity, and the result was good, but not great. I couldn't find PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese (whatever that is), so I used an artichoke cream cheese that I found (which I can't wait to try on a bagel, too). I also used turkey bacon instead of regular, but added salt and some olive oil at various points, so it kind of all balanced out, fatwise. I think the best thing about it was the texture of different ingredients. I think this recipe has potential, which is why I'm posting about it.

6 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, chopped
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.)
1 large onion, chopped
6 large carrots (1-1/2 lb.), thinly sliced
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
3 cups hot cooked brown rice

COOK and stir bacon in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 5 min. or until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet; drain on paper towels. Discard drippings from skillet. Add chicken, cook 1 to 2 min. on each side or until browned; cover. Cook 8 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF). Transfer chicken to plate; cover to keep warm.

ADD onions to skillet; cook 5 min. or until tender. Stir in carrots and 3/4 cup broth; cover. Simmer 10 min. or until vegetables are tender. Reserve 1/3 cup vegetables.

After stirring in some carrots and broth, I let it simmer and then checked back and saw it had formed a pattern! I'm sure there's some physics explanation for this, but I found it pretty weird. I mean, is that a subliminal message to go to Target? Or do I have crop circles in my food?

PLACE remaining broth, reserved 1/3 cup vegetables and Neufchatel in blender; blend until smooth. Add sauce and reserved chicken to vegetables in skillet; cover. Cook 2 min. or until heated through. Spoon rice onto serving plate; top with chicken mixture, sauce and bacon.