5 Yummy Potato Recipes

By Richard LaPoint

Potatoes are as American as Mom's Apple Pie - if Mom still baked pies. If you long for more than a simple bag of greasy Fries, then you've come to the right place.
Here are 5 delicious Potato recipes so tasty you'll want to build a meal around them. Actually, several of these are so filling they will feel like a feel all by themselves.
Thick Potato Skins
These delicious Appetizers are so filling there may not be much appetite left for the main course.

• Slice large Potatoes in half lengthwise
• With a small spoon, scoop out the center, leaving a good 1/4 inch or more of flesh remaining with the skin
• Place on a microwavable plate, skin down
• Liberally sprinkle with
  • Seasoning Salt
  • Garlic Powder
  • Black Pepper
• Microwave for 5 minutes or until potatoes are fully cooked
• Fill the middles with
  
  • Grated Cheese - Ideas: Cheddar, Jack, Mozzarella, etc
  • then Cover with Chopped Onion
  • If you're adventuresome, sprinkle in some chopped Garlic
  • then Cover the top with Bacon Bits
• Note: These should end up heaping tall, so squish a little flat with your hand
• Microwave for about a minute more to melt the Cheese
• Serve with Sour Cream or Ranch Dressing
• Note: You may wish to use the pieces you scraped from the middle as Chunky Hash Brown fodder.

Italian Potato Casserole
I serve this as a side dish with my Crispy Italian Herb & Lemon Chicken.

• Dice Red Potatoes into 1 inch cubes and fill a casserole dish
• Microwave 5 to 10 minutes to cook
• Pour 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/2 to 1 Onion sliced then quartered (you can use raw but I prefer lightly fried in Olive Oil)
• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp each
  • Seasoning Salt
  • All-Purpose Seasoning
    • OR 1/2 Tbsp each Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage
  • Black Pepper
  • Garlic Powder (if you're adventurous try chopped raw Garlic)
• 1 Cup Parmesan or Romano grated Cheese
• 1/2 to 1 Cup Bacon Bits
• Mix together well - Add more Olive Oil if necessary
• Heat in the Microwave, mixing if necessary, until warm
• Note: Casserole can be placed the oven at 350° until slightly crisp

Picnic Potato Salad
Everyone asks for more when I serve this tasty dish.

• 1 Large bowl of Red Potatoes diced to 1 inch Cubes
• 4 Hard Boiled Eggs
• 1 Cup Mayonnaise
• 1 Whole Onion, sliced and quartered
• 1 Cup chopped Dill Pickles or Sweet Pickles or Both!
• 1 Cup Yellow or German Mustard
• 1 Tbsp Seasoning Salt
• 1 Tbsp Black Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

Spicy Garlic Roast Potato
This odd little dish is will surprise your guests and spark conversation - if they can stop eating long enough to speak.

• Slice large Potatoes in half lengthwise
• With a small spoon, scoop out about 1/3 of each half from the center
• Save the cutout piece for use in a few minutes
• Liberally sprinkle
  • Seasoning Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Cayenne Pepper
• Fill the center with chopped Raw Garlic
• Cover the top with those Potato pieces you cut out
• Place 1 or 2 1/8 slices of Butter on top
• Drizzle with Olive Oil
• Place on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish
• Bake for 40 minutes at 425°
• Remove from the oven and cover with shredded Cheese, Cheddar or Mozzarella - and maybe add some Parmesan or Romano
• Put back in the oven for another minute or so for the cheese to melt
• Sprinkle Tabasco if desired, or serve with Sour Cream or Ranch Dressing

Cajun Dirty Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
This goes great with my Cajun Baked Chicken.

• POTATOES
• Boil or Microwave Russet Potatoes until cooked
• Leaving the skin on, mash thoroughly
• Add Milk as necessary and mix in
• Add
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
  • If you have the time to roast some Garlic before hand, be sure to add that
  • 1/4 Cup Bacon Bits
• GRAVY
• 2 Cups Chicken Broth in a sauce pan
• As you heat the broth
  • Slowly sprinkle and stir in Flour to thicken
  • Melt in 1 Tbsp Butter as you stir
  • If you want more spice, add
    • 1 Tsp Black Pepper
    • 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
    • 1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

If you noticed, there's not one fried potato in the group. After all, you can get those pretty much anywhere. But these are dishes you can only get at home!

Rick LaPoint loves to eat great food, but doesn't like to spend a lot of money or time in the kitchen. After years of cooking gourmet meals for friends and family, and refusing many requests to start a restaurant, he decided to start a website instead! Of course it would have to be called, http://BeerBudgetGourmet.com

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