Recipe: Mashed Potato Gnocchi

Thanksgiving has come and gone and you're stuck with leftover mashed potatoes.
What to do?
You can make gnocchi with them! Gnocchi are Italian soft dumplings that are gently poached until they rise to the water's surface, then drained and served with a sauce.
Depending on how "wet" your mashed potatoes are, you may have to add a few more tablespoons of flour until the dough is dry enough to handle without sticking to your fingers. Recipe makes 8 servings or 4 hearty dinner portions.


Ingredients

• 4 cups mashed potatoes
• 1 whole egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes and egg until well combined.
2. Add the flour and mix well until the dough is workable. If the dough is still a bit wet and sticky, add tablespoons of flour until the dough is dry enough for you to handle.
3. Turn the dough out on to a clean work surface and using a knife, cut the dough into 4 even pieces.
4. Roll a piece of dough into a long 1/2" thick rope and with a knife, cut into 1" pieces.
5. Set a side on a plate.
6. Do the same with each remaining piece of dough.
7. Once all the gnocchi are made, drop them gently into a pot of simmering salted water. When they rise to the surface, they are done (about 3 minutes).
8. In the meantime, prepare in a saute pan, the sauce that you will serve the gnocchi with (tomato, pesto, or sage butter)
9. Gently lift the cooked gnocchi out of the water with a slotted spoon and toss with your favorite sauce.
10. Serve.

You can also freeze the uncooked gnocchi separated on a cookie sheet and then transfer them into a storage bag and keep in the freezer.

Recipe: Aloo Saag or Saag Aloo (Indian Spinach and Potatoes)

I bought a 5 pound bag of onions and a 10 pound bag of potatoes at $1.99 each when they were on sale at Pathmark. These are the staples of many a dish and the price was so good I couldn't pass it up.
Aside from making latkes with them or hash, I had a craving for Indian and found this recipe courtesy of Food.com

I didn't have whole cumin seeds so I used ground. I had a box of frozen chopped spinach which I had bought on sale for 80¢ so I used it defrosted. Results came out fabulously! My notes are in parenthesis.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large potatoes, cubed (the smaller the cube, the faster it cooks)
• 400 g spinach or 400 g chard leaves, stalks removed, roughly chopped (could substitute a box of frozen chopped spinach)
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated (I used a microplane to make it easier on my knuckles)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic cloves, coarsely chopped (I find 1 clove does it)
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala (a mix of spices available in spice markets)
• olive oil
• butter
• salt

Directions

1. Fry the cumin seeds in a heavy bottomed pan in a bit of oil and butter until just starting to brown.
2. Add the onion and fry until it too starts to brown.
3. Add the potato, garlic, turmeric, ginger and garam masala and fry until the potato starts to soften.
4. Unless you are using a non-stick pan, you may need to add water and cover to keep the potato from sticking and to help it cook. The first time I did this 1/2 cup of water at a time and it took about 20-30 minutes but I now prefer to parboil the potatoes, which means you add less water and it only takes about 10 minutes to finish off from this point.
5. Add the spinach or chard and cook until it collapses over the potato.
6. Salt to taste.

Recipe: Light Shepherd's Pie

When 10 oz. boxes of frozen vegetables are on sale, stock up on them! I especially buy the frozen spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, and peas & carrots. They come in handy at a moments notice to bulk up a dish or even make my lighter version of the classic Shepherd's Pie!

Still have potatoes from St. Patrick's Day grocery shopping? Left over mashed potatoes? This dish will be a cinch!

Ingredients

• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust
• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots (defrosted)
• 4 potatoes, peeled, boiled, and mashed
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt & pepper to taste

Brown ground turkey and sauté onions in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil until golden. Add defrosted peas and carrots and continue to sauté for a minute. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to taste. Set a side to cool.

Whip the skim milk, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into hot mashed potatoes with a whisk making them fluffy and light.

Fill the frozen deep dish pie crust just to the top with the meat filling then top with mash potatoes. Drag a fork along the top of mash potatoes back and forth or from the center out to make ridges and bake at 350° until potato topping is puffed and browned, and pie crust golden and flaky about 25 to 35 minutes.

Shepherd's Pie is traditionally made with ground lamb and is baked in a casserole dish. It's called Cottage Pie if made with ground beef. I made up this version after tasting my brother's recipe and lightened it up using ground turkey, frozen vegetables, skim milk and omitting the eggs. Using a frozen pie crust makes it easier to take a slice with you to work to microwave for lunch. I like to use Oronoque Brand frozen pie crust (it's made by Mrs. Smith's).

Recipe: Corned Beef & Cabbage

You'll notice that supermarkets have all the ingredients on sale for a major holiday so what perfect time to make this American "New England Boiled Dinner" that many people mistake for as a traditional Irish dish!

Ingredients

• 1 2- to 2-1/2-pound corned beef brisket*
• 1 teaspoon whole black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise
• 2 medium parsnips or 1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 medium red onions, cut into wedges
• 10 to 12 new potatoes (1 pound)
• 1 small cabbage, cut into 6 wedges (1 pound)

Directions

1. Trim fat from meat. Place in a 4- to 6-quart pot; add juices and spices from package of beef. Add enough water to cover meat. Add pepper and bay leaves. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 2 hours or until meat is almost tender.

2. Add carrots, parsnips or rutabaga, and onions to meat. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Scrub potatoes; halve or quarter. Add potatoes and cabbage to pot. Cover and cook about 20 minutes more or until vegetables and meat are tender. Discard bay leaves. Remove meat from pot. Thinly slice meat across the grain. Transfer meat and vegetables to a serving platter. Makes 6 servings.

*Note: If your brisket comes with an additional packet of spices, add it instead of the pepper and bay leaves called for in the ingredient list.

I like to serve this dish with horseradish cream.

Horseradish cream:

• 1 cup sour cream
• Up to 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Combine ingredients and serve with meat and/or vegetables.

The stock that is left over from making this boiled dinner makes a great soup (think about it, 2 dishes from one!)

Recipe: Lemon Roasted Chicken with Potatoes

Here's a personal recipe of mine that I make every chance I can when whole chicken, lemon, onions, and potatoes are on sale. When a whole chicken is 79 cents/pound, lemons (4 /$1), 2 pound bag of yellow onions (79 cents), 5 pound bag Russet potatoes (99 cents) at my local supermarket, this dish that serves 4-6 will cost about $6.23 and you only have 1 pan to clean!

*TIP- save the carcass and bones as this will be great for making homemade chicken stock!



1 (4 to 5-pound) roasting chicken
1 large yellow onion (or 2 medium), sliced
Good olive oil (it's for flavor but ordinary vegetable oil will do)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, quartered
3 baking potatoes quartered
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Take the giblets out of the chicken and rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat from the cavity opening (put the fat aside). Toss the onion and potatoes with a little oil in a small roasting pan. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper. Place the lemons inside the chicken. Pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels so that the skin will crisp up nicely), rub it with a little oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tuck the chicken fat between the skin and breast to help the white meat not dry out pushing it in with your fingers (I use the chicken fat rather than butter since it gives more chicken flavor but it can be omitted). Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Cover with foil and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. (The onions may burn, if cut too thin but the flavor is sweet and smoky and perfumes the chicken with the lemon)

Slice the chicken and place it, plus all the pan juices, over the onions and potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and serve warm.