Red flannel hash

This is basically a recipe for hash with beets for color. Hence the name red flannel with the beets and potatoes making up the colors. If you want to make regular hash, omit the beets. For this recipe most of the potatoes I used were actually pink so the flannel effect didn't come through, but I didn't realize they were pink inside until I peeled them.

It is pretty easy to make but takes awhile since you want your beets and potatoes to get crunchy. The easiest way to do this is to walk out of the kitchen. If I stay in the kitchen I tend to stir too often and it takes longer. I just need to leave, water the garden, read some email, etc and my nose will tell me when to flip them.

I made this recipe with veggie patties but you can use any veggie smeat. You can omit this altogether and it is still super yummy.

beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, oil, salt, pepper, and veggie sausage

boil your beets and potatoes

drain and peel them

roughly chop

then start the potatoes first in lots of oil and salt

chop your onions and mince your garlic

add onions/beets/garlic on top of the potatoes without stirring for a few minutes

fry up the veggie patties

rough chop the patties and some chives I decided to throw in

add veggie patties, more salt, and pepper, then stir, and walk away - flip once after a crust is formed on bottom

stir in chives at the end and break up clumps, taste for more salt and pepper if needed

serve with the condiments of your choice

Delicious!

Rosti

Potatoes, eggs, and onions; every western culture seems to have a recipe that is built upon these three things. Latkes, bubble and squeak (w/cabbage), a spanish omelette, and probably many more that I haven't had yet. This is the swedish/norwegian version and is favorite of the kids. I like the spanish omelette or the latke better, but hubby and the kids like this one.

This recipe is really just one big latke with a softer center. If I was making latkes I would do everything the same except add a little matzo flour and fry into separate cakes. For this and for latkes I find myself just using a box grater. I know it is fast in the food processor, but there is more clean up. It seems to take the same amount of effort either way.

potatoes, shallots (for onions), eggs, oil, garlic, salt pepper

peel and box grate your potatoes

rinse the potatoes to remove the starch

mince garlic and chop your onions

while the potatoes drain

add onions, garlic, salt and pepper to your eggs

then add dried potatoes shreds and mix well

smoosh it all into a well oiled hot pan

let cook covered 30 minutes or so

then flip onto a plate (takes practice I know)

and return to well oiled pan

serve with hot sauce and ketchup for the kids

Always ketchup for the kids!

Potato salad

This is the potato salad I grew up with. We all love what we have known the longest. My grandmother makes this and I can eat other potato salad, especially a nice curried potato salad, but if I am making it. This is the recipe I invariably make.

potatoes, onions, mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper

boil your potatoes skin on, and then peel when cool and chop

finely chop your onions, I threw in some chives from our garden

make your dressing, 1 pt vinegar, 1pt sugar, 2pts mayo

then you layer it, potatoes, onions, then dressing

then repeat with a second layer (I am not sure why but it works better this way)

mix it all up with some salt and pepper

refrigerate overnight and then salt to taste

serve with some yummy grilled veggie dogs or for any bbq type occasion

Enjoy!

Green chile

We love making green chile in our crockpot. It is a great recipe for a potluck or for a cold winters night when bellies need warming. It is easy to prep in the morning and have ready after a busy day of fun. The ingredients are all easy to find in the winter if you like me, buy a half bushel of roasted peppers late summer and freeze them in bags for use all year. The rest should be in any larder.

This is based on a dish I used to order when I lived in NYC from a place near my work called Lupe's East L.A. Kitchen. Like most Mexican restaurants in NYC there were just a few things that were good and the rest was typical bad NY Mexican. Their best things were cheese/onion enchiladas with mole and their vegetarian green chile. Here is my rendition of their chile. For this version I decided to add celery on a whim, while good, it made it more vegetable stew-like than the previous times I have made this. Omit the celery unless you really love vegetable stew.

potatoes, carrots, onions, roasted chiles, garlic, cumin, oil, salt, pepper, veggie stock, and maybe celery

chop your onions and carrots

start them in the crockpot on high with oil and cumin
let them cook about 10 minutes

meanwhile peel and seed your chiles

dice the chiles and defrost your veggie stock

peel and chop your potatoes

soak potatoes briefly to remove a layer of starch otherwise the chile is too starchy

once onions start to crisp stir in your garlic and chiles

then add potatoes, salt, pepper, and stock or water to cover

cover and let cook at least five hours

an hour before serving remove some veggies and mash and return to pot - I do two mortars

serve with warm tortillas, sour cream or supreme, onions, cilantro, avocado, more hot sauce

Enjoy!

Golden curry

I have been experimenting with my slow cooker and my go to recipes. It is nice to be able to make something we love to eat and not have to tend it. Golden curry is a good one for the crockpot, the vegetables are supposed to be well cooked, the curry gets fully incorporated into everything and the flavors are all yummy together. Maybe one day I will make my own curry, but for now I buy the japanese curry cubes from my local asian market. Because we have kids we get the mild curry, before kids we bought the hot cubes. I did not have any mock duck (wheat gluten in a can) on hand, which goes really well in this dish, but next time I will make sure. Also daikon is a must for this dish.

You can serve this with rice or noodles. We happen to have had rice the past two nights, so I went for noodles. If you do use rice, cook it separately not in the curry like the noodles. I pre-heat my crockpot on high with oil in it to saute the onions first. It works pretty well to set them so they don't fall apart. This recipe is a stick to your ribs recipe good for cold days or hungry boys.

fresh frozen hubbard, daikon, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, oil, salt, stock, and curry cubes

peel and cube your potatoes, chop everything else

saute chopped onions and garlic in oil (ie put in for 10 minutes)

stir in potatoes and let cook a few minutes

then add carrots, daikon, and curry cubes

fill to top with water or stock, add salt and let cook at least 6 hours

5 minutes before serving add noodles

they will cook fairly fast,

serve as is or with grilled tofu

Enjoy!