Jun 13, 2010: Calzone with Pesto

A calzone is pretty much a folded, into a half moon shape, pizza. I was looking to make the calzone heartier so I added fried potatoes with leek.

The dough was the other half of TJ's pizza dough.

Calzone
3 Potatoes, diced
1 C Leek, chopped
Pesto
Pizza Dough

Directions:
1. First cook the potatoes until brown.
Add the leeds when the potatoes are fork tender.


2. Fill the calzone... sauce all around, add fillings to one side of pizza dough

Fold over and crimp with a fork


Bake 500F for about 10 minues.


Cut calzone in half and serve!

Sep 09: Potato Skins

I had some leftover baked potatoes so I made potato skins.
Potato skins? Don't potatoes come naturally with skins?

Yes, that's true, but the potato skins I'm referring to are hollowed out potatoes filled with cheese, green onions and bacon bits. This is the pub dish where I found out that potato skins were edible. :-)

The great thing about this dish is that you can add what you like, but I like the basic filling.

Potato Skins
Baked Potatoes
Melted Butter
Grated Cheddar Cheese (About 1 T per half a tater)
Green Onion (1 chopped)
Bacon Bits (about 1/2 slice per half)
Garlic Powder - a pinch per half
Salt - a pinch per half
Pepper - a pinch per half
Optional - Chili Powder or Seasoned salt

1. Slice the potato in half so the wide end is the base. Scoop out in inside, leaving as much as you like. I left about 1/4".


2. Since my oven is out, I used the broiler. Coat both sides with butter. The butter will help with the browning and help the seasonings adhere too.


3. Sprinkle the inside with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a little Cajun seasoning. If your potato wasn't seasoned on the outside, go ahead and season the outside too.

Heat under the broiler about 6 minutes - 3 minutes per side. I had the pan about 6" away from the element.


4. In a bowl, combine the cheese, green onion and bacon bits. Top the heated potato with the mixture. Return to the broiler and heat until melted and as brown as you like.


5. Serve with Ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing.


If more people come over, just slice them in half... lol

Enjoy! I sure did.

Sep 14: Pork Chop Dinner

As Peter Brady would say, “Pock Schops and Apple Shawz”

Actually today’s dinner was more than pork chops and apple sauce. I made my version of au gratin potatoes which, to me, is sliced potatoes with onions and cheese. Some people like the dish saucy while I like the dish with less sauce.

The Dinner: Peas, Pork Chop, Apple Sauce and the Au Gratin Potatoes.


Now I’m not sure what the difference between au gratin potatoes and scalloped potatoes are… I think one has cheese (au gratin) and the other has more of a cream sauce. No matter what the difference… I get to use a gadget. :-) A Martha Stewart mandoline. Did she sell these for her legal defense fund? I don’t remember. Lol!

Au Gratin Potatoes
Preheat Oven 400F

The Fixins’
5 Red Potatoes, sliced thin
½ Onion, sliced thin
¼ to ½ t Thyme
¼ to ½ t Tarragon
½ cup broth
½ C Cream
½ C Croutons, onion and garlic flavored, crushed
½ T Butter, soft
1 C Cheddar, shredded (reserve ¼ C for the topping)

Use the mandoline to slice the red potatoes… The thickness was about 1/8”. However, for russet potatoes I would go thicker... maybe twice as thick.


Sliced onions


I sauteed the onions lightly in butter with the salt, pepper, thyme and tarragon. Objective is not to really brown, but to sweat the onions to they release some flavor.

Another problem I’ve had in the past with scalloped potatoes is that the potatoes take a long time to cook thoroughly. I decided to lightly cook the potatoes before layering in the baking dish. Also, for me, it’s easier to judge the amount of salt and pepper when the potatoes are spread out.
After the onions have sweated for about 5 minutes, I added the potatoes and about ½ cup of broth. Just enough to steam the potatoes. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.


After 5 minutes, the potatoes are starting to cook. I add about ½ C cream for some richness. Carefully mix the potatoes, onions and cream.


Layer into a 8” x 8” Pyrex dish. Add cheese between layers. I did three layers, but could have gotten by with two.


Add the remaining juices over the top layer.


I’m not sure if au gratin potatoes have a bread crumb topping or that’s scalloped potatoes. I decided to add a crumb topping, but didn’t have bread crumbs. I did have onion and garlic croutons… ½ C croutons in a Ziploc.


Vent aggression! Crush, smash and pulverize the croutons.
Next, add ½ T (Tablespoon) of soft butter and ¼ C shredded cheese.
Mix thoroughly.


Top the potatoes before baking.


Bake 400F for about 40 minutes.
Right out of the oven.


This is how it looks.


The Taste
The flavor of the onions and herbs flavored the dish through out, but not overpowering. The topping crunchiness was a nice contrast to the softness of the potatoes. Cheesy but not saucy. The dish turned out very nicely.

If you want more sauce, double the liquids: Broth and cream/milk.