Amazing Smashed Potatoes

That's right - you read that correctly - smashed potatoes!  I first saw something like this on Pinterest, then I got this recipe from my Everyday Food magazine, tried it, loved it, made it twice in a week!  You may say I'm obsessed with these potatoes.  You may be right.  

It's just that I find them to be the perfect blend of creamy potato goodness with a crunchy outer layer like the perfect french fry - but this one is made with sea salt and olive oil - ingredients you can feel good about!

So trust me, if you like potatoes at all - MAKE THIS RECIPE!!  You'll be glad you did!!

For this recipe you'll need:

• about 1 1/2 lbs of small potatoes
• coarse sea salt
• olive oil

Rinse potatoes well and cut out any bad spots, put in pot of water.  Bring water to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Drain and let stand for 5 minutes

Now, the original recipe called for me to use "the heel of my hand" to press down and smash the potatoes.  Since I don't have a desire to give myself a third degree burn, I used the back of a large spoon.

And I'm happy to report, it worked just fine!  And now serious burns - yay!

I also like that you really can't mess this part up.  Smash them however you want to - mine are a little more on the smashed side, the ones in the original recipe were a little more intact - just see what you come up with and see what you like.

Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle on sea salt to taste.

Put them in a 450 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, turning once halfway through (I recommend using tongs, not your bare hands)

This picture cannot show you how AMAZING these potatoes are!!  So perfectly creamy, crunchy, salty, yummy - SOOOOO good!

Perfect side dish for baked chicken - that recipe coming soon!  Try the potatoes!  You won't regret it!

Chocolate Saltine Toffee

This is a recipe I got from Pinterest & made for bunco the other night.  And then I ate WAY too much of it the following day.  Be warned:  this stuff is seriously addicting!!!  And sinfully good!!!  And all you need is:

• saltines
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 12 oz bag semi sweet choc chips (about 2 cups)

And all you have to do is:

Line a greased (with cooking spray), foil lined cookie sheet (or jelly roll pan) with saltines.  I just used as many saltines that fit in my pan.

Then, melt butter and brown sugar in saucepan until sugar is melted and combined.  I really had to watch it bc it will boil, but you don't want it to burn, of course.  It took about 10 minutes and it needs to boil and then reduce to simmer, but you'll know it's done when the granules are gone & it's all mixed together.

Then pour sugar mixture over saltines - the saltines will move (obviously based on the pic :) and that's fine.  Then put in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until toffee is bubbling.

Take out oven and let stand 3-5 minutes before pouring chocolate chips over mixture.  Let stand about 5 minutes more for chocolate chips to melt.

Then spread over mixture.  Here's half and half for you to see :)

Then I let it cool on the counter bc I wasn't in a hurry, but it took forever so I stuck it in the fridge.  After it was hard enough, I broke it in to pieces and put it on a pretty plate...  after tasting it, of course!  And, oh my word!!!  Easiest, yummiest, going-to-make-my-pants-to-tight delicious!!

Happy Mother's Day, Chocolate Lovers!!

Enjoy!!

Easiest Baby Red Potatoes Ever

I made this into it's own post bc it's just so easy to add this filling, yummy side to any of your meals.  I just got a small back of baby reds at the store, washed them, cut off any brown spots, and put them in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes.  Drain, add butter, season with salt and pepper and voila!

Perfect comfort food to compliment any meal.

SO good!!!

Shrimp Linguine

Back to blogging after a bit of an inadvertent cooking break at our house - we had to put our beloved family dog down a few weeks ago & I'll tell you, it hasn't been the same in our kitchen without her!  She used to sit at my feet, just waiting for something to fall for her to gobble up.  I miss her & my floor misses her, too!  I didn't realize how much she helped keep my floor clean until now!  So, it took me awhile to get back to cooking, and took me a few tries to get back to cooking stuff that tastes good, but I believe we're back on the up and up, now that it's been a few weeks & I have a few good meals under my belt.  I decided to cook a few different things since I hadn't cooked in awhile - this is one of our favorites, though we don't eat it often - bc it's so easy, yet looks impressive.

For this recipe, you'll need:

• your choice linguine noodles
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 lemons
• butter
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 lb of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

I'll be honest, this is not my favorite part.  I'd rather pull the giblets out of a chicken, than peel & devein shrimp with their little eyeballs looking at me.  But, in order to eat, we must peel.  So I did.

Make sure you devein the shrimp on both sides by simply slicing down the backside of the shrimp & rinsing out the vein.  It's pretty easy, just kind of labor intensive.

Smash & cut up garlic.  Smells so good!!

Boil linguine according to package directions.  Drain, but reserve about 1 cup of noodle water. Add a few tbs of butter in the noodles to prevent sticking & act as a base for your sauce.  Put aside.

Put a few tbs of olive oil in your warm skillet.  I have an electric range so it's tricky with the temperature.  Make sure it's not too hot or it will cook your shrimp too quickly and make it tough.

I added salt and pepper to my shrimp before adding it to pan.  Cook until shrimp turns pink - about 3-5 minutes.  Add the juice of 1 lemon (be careful for seeds) with the shrimp.

Once the shrimp is cooked, remove from pan.  Add more olive oil, 2 tbs butter, and garlic to the pan. Saute the garlic until cooked through.  Add the remaining juice of the other lemons (this doesn't make the sauce lemony, it just takes the fishy smell out of the shrimp).  Add remaining noodle water (I used about 1/2 cup, but you may use whatever suits you)

When your sauce looks like this, add the shrimp quickly, mix, then pour over linguine.

We ended up with two versions of this dish at our house:

Shrimp linguine, brussel sprouts with butter, red potatoes for the mister.

Shrimp linguine with mushrooms sauteed in garlic and butter, red potatoes, & french bread for me.  Carbs, anyone???

The mister doesn't like mushrooms, I don't like brussel sprouts, makes for more mushrooms for me & more brussel sprouts for him!  Perfect! 

Looks fancy, but super easy, what could be better?