Rosemary Potatoes

So easy. So Delicious.

Slice or halve small potatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary. Roast at about 400 degrees until cooked through (30-40 minutes). Enjoy!.

French Toast Sandwich and Sweet Potato Fries

I have yet to photograph these gems, but they are delcious. Inspiration is from the French Croque Monsuier (sp?) and tastes exceptionally delicious alongside a small pile of sweet potato fries.

For the fries, simply peel, slice, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, pop in the oven at 350F/200C and bake until soft and the center and crunchy on the outside (or until edible).

As for the French toast sandwich? Simply put together the sandwich you've been dreaming up, we've done onion, spinach, hummus and mozzarella as well as marinara, onion, spinach and mozzarella. Use good ole sliced bread to sandwich your ingredients before dipping the sandwich in a couple of whisked eggs with some salt and pepper and splash of liquid. In a well oiled pan, place the sandwich one eggy side down allowing to cook and become toasty/crispy like French toast before flipping and waiting for the same phenomena to take place on side B. Best to enjoy with darling friends whom you both treasure and enjoy!

Craisin Cranberry Sauce

By far the biggest hit of Thanksgiving with our co-teachers was the home-made cranberry sauce.

Again, inspiration for this dish was received from the Ovenless Chef which linked to this original recipe. Here are the adjustments I made.

Peels from two Clementines/Tangerines
4 Tbsp. Orange Juice
1 Tbsp. Soju (can use Port or additional Orange Juice)
About 1 cup Dried Cranberries
Grated Apple
Sugar and Cinnamon to taste

In a sauce pan throw in all the ingredients (this is not how the original recipe reads, but I didn't read closely and this worked out, so it's your call). Simmer for about ten minutes. Remove from heat and let set for about an hour so that craisins can rehydrate. Add sugar or cinnamon per taste requirements and enjoy on a bread roll gathered around the Thanksgiving table.

Slow-Cooker Scalloped Potatoes

Our Thanksgiving meal was already to be complete with mashed sweet potatoes, so I opted for scalloped potatoes when we hosted our co-teachers. I did a few parts of this dish exceptionally well where as other parts were kind of a fail...but, the dish still received rave reviews! I'll post the recipe as it should have been prepared.

To begin, I opted to make cream of mushroom soup from scratch, an attempt to use up some mushrooms I had on hand (I'm not sure if cream of mushroom soup is available in Korea, but I think the answer is yes). Anyway, here's a good recipe for Cream of Mushroom soup should you decide to go all out.

The potato recipe comes from my new favorite book "Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook" received from friends whom I love dearly.

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar (or Baking Powder)

1 cup Water

8-10 Potatoes, thinly sliced

Half Onion, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cup grated Cheese

10 oz. Cream of Mushroom soup

Paprika

Directions:

Dissolve cream of tartar in water toss with potatoes, drain (I missed this part, so had a semi-soupy dish of potatoes). Place half of potatoes in the slow cooker, sprinkle with onions, salt, pepper and cheese. Repeat with remaining potatoes and cheese. Spoon soup over the top, cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4 hours. Enjoy with Korean co-teachers, sitting on the floor around a small little table, piled with food or any hungry soul in your community of friends and family.

Deviled Eggs

Inspired by the Ovenless Chef we took on preparing a full out Thanksgiving meal for 5 of our co-teachers and one darling little daughter of theirs. To ensure plenty of variety and "traditional" tastes, I opted for these deviled eggs choosing only to substitute chili powder for the paprika (primarily because I was a bit lazy).

Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes

I didn't know I loved sweet potatoes until my first Thanksgiving out of the country in 2005 when I had the great joy of dressing up as an Indian, enjoying a Thanksgiving feast with a couple of sorority sisters and a crew of Welsh men and women.  Therefore, as Thanksgiving in Korea rolled around, I knew I wanted to share this food tradition specifically.

Having just received a cookbook from dear and lovely friends back home, I was eager to put the slow cooker to use!

Ingredients:

6-8 med. Sweet Potatoes

Salt

1/4 cup Butter

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Milk and Orange Juice -- sufficient to make potatoes 'creamy'

Directions:

Boil potatoes with salt, add butter, milk and orange juice - mash. Continue adding orange juice until you reach desired consistency. Mix in sugar and spice and everything nice, place in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high. May add walnuts or marshmallows if you so desire. Enjoy while in the company of numerous expats, dear friends, and/or family.

Wine Marinated Mushrooms

Extended Shelf Life for: Mushrooms and Red Pepper

Truth be told, I do NOT like mushrooms. So, when I wake up to a box filled with mushrooms, some properly contained others on the lose, I have a moment of desperation - WHAT DO I DO??? Fortunately, anything boiled in wine is worth taking a bite of AND when you have multiple potluck situations in a week, it's quite simple to share the 'burden' or joy of these fun-guys...

Ingredients:

1 cup Red Wine

1 cup Rice Vinegar

1/3 cup Oil

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1 tsp. crushed Red Pepper flakes

1/2 Red Bell, sliced

1 lb. Fresh Mushrooms, stems removed

1 tsp. Oregano

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring the first 8 ingredients to a boil, set aside to cool. Add seasonings. Enjoy before a grilled burger or as a potluck appetizer.

Sqaushed Potatoes

Extended Life for: Potatoes Early this fall, we were blessed by an Idahoan CouchSurfer's abundant squash crop. A winter squash has sat in the pantry simply waiting for it's shining moment. Well, here it is! Just scoop the seeds out of any ole squash and roast at 400 degrees until soft (20-30 minutes, maybe). Meanwhile, boil some potatoes until tender, drain. In a deep pot, scoop squash and tender potato chunks, add milk and butter and begin the process of mashing. Continue to add milk and butter until squashed potatoes reach desired consistency. Enjoy with Antelope Dip Sandwiches, salad, and the best company you can find.

Edamame Dip

Extended Life for: Edamame Beans

I wasn't so sure about this recipe, well, actually I wasn't so sure about edamame in general. Needless to say, I was thrilled with this dip recipe. Once again, I found my inspiration for life extension at Allrecipes.com and surprisingly enough I didn't change a single thing in this recipe, so check it out and enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips...or the tortilla chips that are on sale!

Fried Rice

Extended Life for: Carrots, Celery, Eggplant and Green Onion

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked Brown Rice
1 Egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Sesame or other oil
2 Garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. Canola oil
1 cup Eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 cup Carrot, diced
½ cup Celery, diced
1 bunch Green Onions, diced
Soy Sauce to taste

Directions:

Heat sesame oil in a skillet or wok; add garlic and egg beaten with 1 tsp. soy sauce. Lightly scramble egg, remove from pan. Add additional oil to wok, heat then add eggplant, carrot and celery, sauté 5-7 minutes. Add rice, egg and additional soy sauce, serve with green onions as garnish.

Indian Dal

Extended Shelf Life for: Jalapenos These jalapenos had already received the life extension through our truly magnificent dehydrator, therefore, the peppers were OLD! They were however, the perfect addition to our dal. Dal is an Indian dish that is delicious in so many ways as well as affordable, considering the main ingredient is lentils. We enjoyed this dish with Indian Roasted Salmon and a Cilantro Yogurt sauce, absolutely wonderful, especially when enjoyed in the company of sisters and a dear friend.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Canola Oil

3 tsp. Whole Cumin Seeds

2 tsp. Dried Jalapenos or Red Pepper Flakes

1 med. Onion

3 cloves Garlic, minced

Shake of salt

2 cups Lentils

3 cups Tea or Vegtable Broth

2 cups Water

1 tsp. ground Turmeric

Directions:

Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in jalapenos and cumin, saute for 1 minute. Add garlic, onion and salt and saute for 1 more minute. Next, add lentils, liquid and turmeric. Cover saucepan, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and lentils are soft.

Easy Ramen Dish

Extended Life for: Sun-dried Tomato Garlic Ramen is not really my style. But it's quick. And it's kind of light. So, at one in the afternoon before a Super Bowl party that starts at four, it's the perfect filler. Not to mention, I enjoy recipes that are inherently cheap and delicious, because everyone should be able to eat something delicious, even if they're strapped for cash. This is super basic and could easily take on many variations, I'll include some variation ideas after giving you the run down for the dish pictured.

Ingredients/Directions:

Add boiling water to a package of Ramen or prepare noodles (no seasoning) in the microwave. Heat 2-3 tablespoons oil (olive is preferable) in a skillet. Add some sun-dried tomato garlic or 4 cloves of minced garlic and a small handful of onions if you have them on hand. Saute until fragrant. Drain noodles of water, pour infused oil over noodles and toss. Enjoy as is or add fresh chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and/or pickled peppers.

Variations:

• Before drizzling noodles with oil, place some fresh chopped spinach in the bowl with the noodles
• Toss in some Garbanzo or Pinto beans
• Add soy nuts or another nut
• Infuse oil with chile pepers rather than garlic or in addition to garlic
• Infuse oil with fresh minced ginger
• Infuse oil with curry powder
• Chop some apples, add some raisins, toss noodles with some yogurt, honey and cinnamon and skip the oil procedure all together!

Be creative! This is an easy concept to mess around with and hopefully keep cheap!

Morrocan Couscous

Extended Life for: Orange Juice and Raisins

Having spent a short amount of time in Morocco, I have a special place in my culinary heart for her foods. Couscous is one of the dishes that takes me back to those impactful days I spent meandering the streets of Fes and riding a camel through the Sahara. However, I cannot take credit for this dish as I simply followed these directions from Allrecipes.com and only chose to leave out the zucchini as I did not have any on hand. The dish is delicious and full of flavor. Great with a tangine of any kind, we served ours with Lamb Tangine.

Twice Baked Potatos with Butternut Squash

Extended Life for: Butternut Squash, Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream, Half and Half, Parsley In my youth, mother once discovered a recipe for twice-baked potatos that she began preparing for our Christmas dinner. I LOVE them! It's all the joy of a baked potato but more compactly presented and all things are mixed together and delicious!

After most of Mike's foraging outings, if he brings something home I'm not familiar with cooking or have grown tired of it's usual manner of preperation, I hit the internet and begin searching out new ways to use specific ingredients. A few months back, it was Butternut Squash. I made my way to the Vegetarian Times website and did a search on Butternut Squash. The most intriguing recipe was this one for Tangy Twice-Baked Potatos, so I saved it to my recipes and awaited the day when it would be time. I baked the squash, gutted it out and put it into the freezer until the day would finally came. And dear friends, it has come! Here is my version of the Vegetarain Time recipe (measurements may not be completely accurate).

Ingredients:

8 medium Russet Potatos

2 cups cooked Butternut Squash

2 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 cup Cottage Cheese

1/2 cup Sour Cream

Half-&-Half, until desired consistancy

Parsley, diced for garnish

Directions:

Bake potatos at 350 for about an hour or until tender, let cool slightly. Slice potatos in half length-wise and scoop out pulp. Mash potato pulp with squash, butter, cottage cheese, sour cream, half-&-half and any desired spices. Spoon this mixture back into potato skins (if you have bonus mixture save it for the beer cheese recipe I will soon be posting!) Bake potatoes for 20-30 minutes or until heated through at 350. Enjoy with Catfish Cakes or for a light lunch.

Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing

Extended Life for: Bread On December 11th we hosted an impressive Holiday feast for some of our great American friends and some dear international students. Of course an important aspect of the tradition Holiday fare is stuffing - this recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook which really is a great go-to for all our American traditions.

Ingredients:

3 stalks Celery, diced
1 Onion, diced
1/2 cup butter
1 Tbsp. Seasonings of Choice; I used a random poultry seasoning of sorts I found in our cupboard
Pepper to taste
12 cups dry Bread Cubes
1 to 1 1/4 cups Chicken or Turkey broth

Directions:

Cook celery and onion in hot butter until tender. Stir in seasonings and pepper. Place bread cubes in a large bowl, add onion mix and stir. Drizzle with broth until moistened. Transfer to 2-quart baking dish and bake covered for 30-45 minutes at 375.

Steamed Artichokes

Extended Life for: Artichokes

Ingredients:

4 artichokes
1 lemon, halved
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, peeled

Directions:

Trim down artichokes. Bring 2 inches of water to boil. Add bay leaf, garlic and lemon juice to water. Place artichokes face down in steam basket, place over boiling water, cover and steam for 40-50 minutes. Serve with melted butter or favorite dipping sauce.