Potatoes-Bake the Whole Bag

This is an old post from another blog, so I thought I'd just put it on here. If you're going to wait 45-90 minutes for a couple of potatoes to bake, why not bake a bunch? This is a method from Serious Eats For a perfect baked potato-Rinse, scrub, and dry the potatoes. Pierce with a fork on all sides to let steam vent out during baking. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with course salt. Bake for 45 minutes as 400, 60 minutes at 350, or 90 minutes at 325. If the only thing you're cooking in the oven is the baked potatoes, you can even do 500 for a nice crispy peel. Use them throughout the week in a variety of meals. Here are some of my favorites:

• Potato Bar-Dress it up with butter, sour cream, chili, cheese, onions, green onions, chives, parsley, rosemary, cottage cheese, peppers, green chilies, olives, etc. Use any combination that suits you.
• Potato skins-Cut each potato in 4 wedges. Cut away some of the white insides (eat it or store it for later). Make a mixture of butter, salt, pepper, and rosemary; brush it over the wedges. Grill potatoes, skin side up, uncovered, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn and cook 2 more minutes. Top with cheese and put back over heat until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with bacon bits and green onions and serve with sour cream! If you don't want to grill these, you can certainly use your oven or stove top for a similar affect. They are so yummy!
  
• Potato salad-peel and cube up the baked potatoes. Use in any potato salad recipe you like.
• Hash browns-I like to just cube them up and fry them in butter until they're browned and season with salt and pepper. You can also shred them and do the same.
• Side for any other meal you have. You could even eat them just with a salad and have an easy and delicious lunch.

Licorice Caramels

I'm not a fan of black licorice for the most part because it's just way too strong, but these Licorice Caramels are delicious and have the perfect blend of flavors. I like caramel better with anise than with vanilla now!

Licorice Caramels

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups white sugar

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed

milk

1 cup corn syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon anise extract

 

 Directions:

1. Line a 9x9 inch dish with buttered foil.

2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar, milk, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Continue to heat, without stirring, to 242 to 248 degrees F (116 to 120 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball. Remove from heat and stir in anise and food coloring. Pour into prepared pan. Let cool completely, several hours.

3. To cut, turn out of pan and peel away foil. Cut with a buttered knife. Wrap pieces in waxed paper or candy wrappers.

 

Recipe retrieved from All Recipes

Birthday Custard

We went to a restaurant a few weeks ago and had 'pot de creme' for dessert. It was so yummy, so I wanted to make something similar to that for my birthday instead of cake. So, it was basically a creamy custard with blackberries and whipped cream on top. Here's the custard recipe I got from All Recipes:

CUSTARD
Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gradually add cream and lemon peel until blended. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks. Return all to pan; bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into four parfait glasses or dessert dishes. Cool. 

I just served it with blackberries just like the restaurant. It was really creamy and delicious!