Steakhouse Garlic Mashed Potatoes

This has become one of our favorite potato recipes!  It's a delicious potato side that you can serve with just about anything, and it doesn't need gravy!  You can use baby red potatoes with the skins on, or a regular russet potato, peeled.  You're going to love these!

6 cups chicken broth
5 lbs red potatoes unpeeled, or russets peeled
5 cloves garlic, whole
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup - 1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large pot over high heat.  

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into 1 inch pieces.  Place the potatoes and garlic cloves into the boiling chicken broth.  Boil until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Strain the potatoes and put back into the large pot.  Add in butter, cream cheese, and salt.  Add the buttermilk.  You can add just a 1/2 cup of buttermilk, or up to 1 cup, depending on how you like it.  Mash everything together, until well combined.  Serve!

Sweet Potato Fries with Paprika

These fries are super easy and are a great way to serve sweet potatoes!  My kids devoured them!  You'll notice there aren't any amounts on the recipe.  I just sprinkle the seasonings on.  Put however much you like on them!  You can even substitute other spices if you prefer.  However, the spices below make tasty fries, without any spice being overbearing - just a good flavor!

3 sweet potatoes
about 1 tablespoon olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder
paprika

Preheat oven to 425º.  Slice sweet potato into fries.  Put on cookie sheet and drizzle olive oil on top.  Mix with your hands until the olive oil lightly coats the sweet potatoes.  Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika on the fries.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until crispy.  Serve immediately.

Perfect Pressure Cooker Mashed Potatoes

I continue to be amazed at how awesome my electric pressure cooker is!  Here is a recipe for perfect mashed potatoes in a jiffy!  I've found in takes about 10 minutes to get up to high pressure.  So you'll have perfectly cooked potatoes ready in about 17 minutes!

 

4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
salt
milk

Peel and quarter potatoes.  4 lbs for me = 5 russet potatoes.  Place in electric pressure cooker.  Add 2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt.  Cook on high pressure for 7 minutes.  When finished cooking, use the quick release method.

Drain potatoes and pour into a large bowl.  Add butter and mash.  Add milk until it's the consistency you like.  Add salt if needed.  Serve.

White Sauce & Potatoes

This white sauce is creamy and delicious!  It's the same recipe I use for creamed eggs.  We like it over mashed potatoes with cooked peas sprinkled on top.

6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons featherlight flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 1/2 cups milk

Melt butter and add salt and pepper.  Add flour and whisk, stirring until flour is heated through.  Gradually add milk and continue to stir.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Cook until sauce becomes thickened.  Serve over mashed potatoes.  Sprinkle cooked peas on top!

Shepherd's Pie

This is an excellent recipe to use with leftover mashed potatoes!  It's quick and easy!  I like that it's a one dish meal; a great casserole!

1 pound hamburger
1 small onion, diced
salt & pepper
3 tablespoons featherlight flour
2 cups water
3 beef bouillon cubes
1 quart green beans, drained
mashed potatoes
cheese

Preheat oven to 375º.  Brown hamburger and onions, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle flour on top of cooked meat.  Stir and cook for 1 - 2 minutes.  Pour in water and stir.  Add beef bouillon cubes.  Stir every minute or two, until thickened.  Add green beans, and mix together until heated through.  Pour beef and green bean gravy into a greased 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.  Top with mashed potatoes.  Bake at 375º for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are heated through.  Remove from the oven, and immediately top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Roasted Garlic Parmesan Potatoes

These potatoes are a little crisp like a french fry, and loaded with lots of flavor!  They are quick to prepare, and dress up any meal!

Red potatoes, washed and quartered
Olive oil
Johnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning
Parmesan Cheese
Salt

Wash and quarter red potatoes and place in a large bowl.  Drizzle on some olive oil.  Season with Johnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning, Parmesan cheese and a little salt.  Mix all together, and pour into a greased baking pan.  Bake at 375º for 50 to 60 minutes.  Stir potatoes every so often, so potatoes crisp up a little on every side.

Note:  You can buy Johnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning at Costco.  You certainly can use your own spices, but this one is delicious!

Twice Baked Potato's

My friend Katie introduced these potatoes to me several years ago.  It's a great way to change up potatoes as a side dish.  The flavor of the potatoes with the onion and cheese is so yummy!  

10 potatoes
1/2 of an onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
salt & pepper
milk
cheddar cheese
bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)

Using a fork, poke holes into 10 potatoes.  Bake at 350º for 1 hour.  Cut off the tops of the potatoes, and scoop out the insides, making the potatoes into a canoe-like shape.  Put the insides of potatoes into a medium bowl.  Add the onion, butter, salt and pepper, and enough milk to make it creamy.  Mash the potatoes, mixing all the ingredients.  Put mashed potatoes back into the potato skins.  Top with cheddar cheese, and bake at 350º for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.  Top with crumbled bacon.

Cheese Sauce

A favorite meal at our house is a Baked Potato Bar.  One thing we like to put on them is cooked broccoli with cheese sauce!

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons featherlight flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add salt and flour and whisk for 1 minute, until flour is heated through.  Stir in milk.  Cook on medium, stirring constantly until sauce thickens.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Take off heat.

Sour Cream Potatoes

I love these potatoes with the homemade cream of chicken soup!  I make this recipe with a lot of give and take.  I don't like it to be runny.  I cook as many potatoes as I need for the number of people I'm serving.  Then I add the cream of chicken and sour cream until it's the right consistency.  Then mix in the cheese.  These are the basic amounts I use, but make it how you like it best.  This is a great recipe to make ahead of time and refrigerate until you're ready to put it in the oven.

8 cups potatoes, peeled 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup cream of chicken (recipe in soup section)
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup sour cream

Boil potatoes, until very tender.  Drain.  Add cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese and sour cream.  Stir together well.  You can smash the potatoes a little if you want it to be really smooth.  Pour into greased casserole dish and heat for 20 minutes at 350º.  Take it out of the oven, and sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on top.