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World Class Scalloped Potatoes

January 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment

World Class Scalloped Potatoes

World Class Scalloped Potatoes

World Class Scalloped Potatoes

Once the base sauce is made, you can add any type of cheese. When preparing scalloped potatoes, I like using high-moisture spuds- they help add to the richness of the dish.

World Class Scalloped Potatoes

Prep time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

4-5 pounds redskin, or new potatoes sliced ¼ inch thick

4-5 cups béchamel sauce

½ cup butter

½ cup unbleached flour

5-6 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons pepper

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 ½ cup of shredded cheese

Directions:

Slice the potatoes into ¼ inch pieces and place the in a pot of boiling salted water- cook for 4 minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside.

For the béchamel:

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low temperature until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 4 to 5 minutes. This particular mixture is called a roux.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter/flour mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a soft boil. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly- remove the sauce from the heat- season with salt, pepper and nutmeg- set-aside until ready to use.

At this point, add 1 cup of grated cheese to the béchamel. You can use anything here- fontina, sharp cheddar, Brie, goat, jack, and Gouda, are just a few examples.

Once the cheese is placed in the warm béchamel sauce, let it sit for a few minutes so it can become soft. Whisk the mixture until the cheese is fully incorporated.

Place a ladle of sauce in the bottom of a greased ovenproof casserole dish. Add a layer of potatoes; cover with another ladle of the béchamel-cheese sauce. Continue this procedure until all of the potatoes, and most of the sauce has been used. Top with the remaining sauce- don’t over-fill or you will make a mess in your oven!

Top the potatoes with the ½ cup of remaining cheese. Bake at 375 degree for 45 minutes, or until the top becomes golden brown, and an inserted knife easily permeates the potatoes without resistance.

Enjoy!

Chef Chuck Kerber

chefchuck@pittsburghhotplate.com

pittsburghhotplate.com

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Potato Skins with Bacon

January 19, 2013 By 4 Comments
Potato Skins with Bacon

Potato Skins with Bacon

Homemade Potato Skins

Potato skins are perfect as an appetizer, or for those post-season football games. You can use different types of cheeses and toppings to customize a recipe of your own!

Prep time: 1 hour

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

8 russet potatoes

1 pound sharp cheddar cheese

½ pound pepper jack cheese

1 pound cooked and chopped thick cut bacon

½ cup chopped chives

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup sour cream

1 cup ranch dressing

1 quart vegetable oil

Directions:

Place a soup pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Put the oil in the pot, and heat until it reaches a temperature of 350 degrees.

Cook the potatoes in a 400-degree oven until they are soft in the center. Cut the potatoes in half, and carefully remove the insides leaving approximately ¼ inch on the potato inside the skin.

Place the potatoes in the hot oil and cook until the skins become golden brown- approximately 2-3 minutes. Remove the potato skins from the oil and place on a paper towel. Season the skins with salt and pepper.

Put the potato skins on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet. Place a liberal amount of cheese over the potato skins, then coat with the chopped bacon. Place in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese bubbles and the edges become brown.

Remove the potato skins from the oven, top with chopped chives.

Serve with sour cream and ranch dressing.

Enjoy!

Chef Chuck Kerber

chefchuck@pittsburghhotplate.com

pittsburghhotplate.com

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Homemade Restaurant Style French Fries

January 14, 2013 By 3 Comments
Homemade Restaurant Style French Fries

Homemade Restaurant Style French Fries

Homemade Fast Food Style French Fries

Have you ever tried to make French fries at home only to find yourself with potatoes that are overcooked on the outside and hard on the inside? Well, there is a way to make delicious French fries at home that taste just like the ones you like from your favorite fast food restaurant!

Homemade Fast Food Style French Fries

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

8 Idaho potatoes cut into ¼ inch strips

2 quarts of peanut or vegetable oil for cooking

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place a large pot on the stove over medium high heat. Bring the temperature of the oil up to 250 degrees.

Cut the potatoes into ¼ inch strips and place in a large bowl of lightly salted water to prevent them from browning. Once all of the potatoes are cut, remove them from the water and place them on a paper towel to dry for at least 5 minutes.

Carefully place the potatoes in the hot oil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the pot and let them drain on paper towels for 3-4 minutes.

Turn the heat up on the oil until it reaches 350 degrees. Place the potatoes back in the oil and cook until they become golden brown- between 4-5 minutes. Remove the French fries from the oil and immediately season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Chef Chuck Kerber

chefchuck@pittsburghhotplate.com

pittsburghhotplate.com

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Thanksgiving Leftover Ideas

November 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Turkey Bread Pudding

Turkey Bread Pudding

Thanksgiving Leftover Ideas

Do you still have some left-overs from Thanksgiving? Here are a few ideas of what to do with them!

Turkey:

Instead of a standard sandwich, try using a layer of stuffing between two slices of bread, sliced turkey, gravy instead of mayo, and cranberry sauce!

Turkey casseroles are also delicious- just add veggies, thick noodles, canned mushroom soup or leftover gravy.

Turkey Pot Pie- If you like chicken pot pies, you’re really going to enjoy these!

Turkey Caesar Salad- If you like chicken Caesar salads, this is sure to please… it’s also a good choice of you’re trying to cut come calories.

Turkey Noodles Soup- Easy to make, especially if you have some turkey stock; just add turkey, veggies and noodles.

Turkey Burrito- Get a big flour tortilla and stuff it with turkey, beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa.

Potatoes:

Potato Cakes- Add a few eggs, bread crumbs and seasoning to your left over mashed potatoes. Form them into patties and fry them in a little oil.
Serve with sour cream and apple sauce.

Potato Casserole- Use the potatoes as your base and add ground meat, chicken or turkey. Mix in some veggies, cheddar or jack cheese and bake in a casserole dish.

Potato Soup -one of my favorites. Start with some chicken base, add roasted garlic, parsley, cheddar cheese, bacon and heavy cream- perfect for a cold day.

Potato Bread- this may take some time, but the end product is worth the wait.

Shepard’s Pie- Brown some ground meat, add cream soup, peas, carrots celery and onions- top with leftover mashed potatoes and bake until the top become brown.

Pierogies- Mashed potatoes are the perfect filling for these traditional potato-filled pastas.

Gravy:

Gravy is a great soup base. Simply add a little water, vegetables, pasta, rice, dumplings, and salt and pepper.

Leftover gravy may also be frozen in a Ziploc bag and used for future meals.

Stuffing:

Leftover stuffing lends itself perfectly for turkey bread pudding. Simply mix together turkey, stuffing and gravy. Place in a greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes- delicious!

Cranberry Sauce:

Homemade cranberry sauce should never be thrown away. Try making cranberry bread, (it’s a great gift for the holidays), cranberry pancakes, or cranberry French toast.

I’ve also seen some interesting cranberry-pumpkin bread and cranberry muffin recipes floating around.

Try cranberry sauce on top of yogurt instead of fruit in the morning!

Cranberry butter- add equal parts of cranberry sauce and butter, refrigerate until set, then spread on your toast, pancakes, or muffins.

If you have any tips let me know- I will add them to the list!

Chef Chuck Kerber

chefchuck@pittsburghhotplate.com

pittsburghhotplate.com

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Perfect Mashed Potatoes

November 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Everyone likes creamy, rich, lump-free mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. There are a few tricks that will help you get the type mashers that you and your family will be proud to serve!

*Heavy Cream- use the good stuff- it’s once a year, right? Heavy cream will help provide a rich-tasting, delicious product.

*Butter- Always put butter in your mashed potatoes- just make sure to get unsalted- this way you can control the seasoning.

*Potatoes- The best potatoes to use are Russet Burbank, Russet Arcadia, Norgold Russet, Goldrush, Norkotah, Long White (or White Rose or California Long White), and Idaho. – High moisture, or waxy potatoes, (such as red-skin) can become gluteny, and yield a bad result.

*Make sure your potatoes are thoroughly peeled, and cut the same size so that they can cook, and become done at the same time.

*As you peel your potatoes, place them in a pot of cold water with a teaspoon of salt. If you leave your potatoes out during the cutting process they will become brown. We’re looking for white fluffy mashed potatoes!

*If you have a Kitchen Aid, use the whip attachment, not the paddle. The whip attachment will incorporate more air into the potatoes giving you a light, fluffy product.

*Make sure your cream is hot, and the butter is melted before adding to the potatoes- this can be done in the microwave. Cold cream and butter will cool down your mashed potatoes.

*Don’t over-mix your potatoes! You should only mix your potatoes over 2 minutes. Over-mixing will create gummy mashers.

*To add extra flavor, try adding a few tablespoon of drippings to your potatoes while mashing!

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Prep-Time: 1 hour

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

4 pounds medium Idaho or russet potatoes

1 stick, ½ cup unsalted butter, melted

2 cups warmed heavy cream

2 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper

2 teaspoons + 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Place a large soup pot on the stove over high-heat filled 2/3 of the way with water and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Once the water has come to a rolling boil, add the potatoes and cook for 25 minutes. At this point, begin checking the potatoes for doneness. The potatoes will be ready to be strained when they are fork-tender.

Strain the potatoes, and let sit for 1 minute so that all of the excess water is gone.

Place the cooked potatoes in a bowl and begin mixing on low speed with a whip attachment. Slowly add the warm cream and melted butter. Turn mixer on high and continue mixing until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Add the salt and pepper- continue to mix on high until all of the lumps are gone and the potatoes are light and fluffy; approximately 2 minutes. Check for seasonings.

Serve and enjoy!

Chef Chuck Kerber

chefchuck@pittsburghhotplate.com

pittsburghhotplate.com

Filed Under: Recipe of the Day Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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