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Here's a great way to make potatoes (in honor of my ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages.)

1. Scrub and cut potatoes into cubes, strips, dodecahedrons or similar pleasing shape. Try to keep the pieces the same size for even cooking. Peel them or don't .

2. Parboil. Old Polish wives say vegetables that grow in the ground should be put in cold water and brought to a boil. Do not overcook the potatoes. Once the water is boiling and the potatoes stop being raw, but not cooked through, take them out of the hot water and plunge them in some cold water. Drain.

When you put the potatoes on, turn your oven to the highest setting (500 degrees in N. America, no broiler unless you're committed to watching the oven)

3. Mix some oil with rock salt . If you are cooking 8-10 potatoes, I'd say a quarter cup of grease to a teaspoon of salt. Less if you're hypertensive.
My preference is for olive oil, but broke is as broke does, so margarine or bacon grease will work if you melt them first.

4. If you have a favorite seasoning, add it to your grease/salt mixture. Fresh chopped rosemary is good, so are thyme, cumin and sesame /mustard seeds. I've prepared this as a side dish for Indian, Arab and Italian meals by adjusting the seasonings.

5. Toss potatoes in oil and salt until coated and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet or a cast iron pan. The large chunks of salt keep the potatoes slightly elevated off the pan and allow the heat to circulate and brown each piece perfectly.

6. Potatoes are done when the exterior is crispy and the insides are fluffy.

7. Serve with ketchup (remember when Reagan declared it a vegetable?), yogurt, cheese or whatever. Eat and give thanks to Peru.



Breakfast, lunch or dinner, these potatoes taste like they came from a restaurant!

Oh, GOODY! I'm going to have to dig in some of my old cookbooks. One or two are really old. I love recipes seasoned with a dash of history. Of course, then I want some background.

Morel mushrooms





Collect morels in spring. Cut in half, soak in cold water with a couple of tablespoons of salt (to get rid of critters) for five minutes, then drain. In a large skillet bring a stick of butter to a slow sizzle. Flour mushrooms on both sides, place in skillet, fry slowly in butter until crispy.

Thanks for the reminder Chig!

It's still too cold for mushrooms here but we get lots of wonderful morels under the ponderosa pines.

Don't forget to dry some for winter soups and risottos.

Morel mushrooms and tomatoes, my two most favorite foods.

Fried tomatoes

Most people use green tomatoes for frying. My family prefers nearly ripe ones. If they're too ripe, they can be hard to flip.

Slice tomatoes, salt to taste, dip in flour on each side, place in slowly sizzling (olive)oil, carefully flip when toasty brown, finished when last side is also toasty brown. Yumyumyumyumyum! So very simple.

Squirrel/rabbit Spanish rice

Ok, my mom used to make this when I was a kid, only back then it wasn't called "Spanish rice", but you get the idea.

Cut rabbit/squirrel into pieces. Flour meat if desired, but it isn't necessary, fry in hot (olive) oil on all sides (some pieces have more than two sides). Reduce heat a bit, add diced onion and green pepper, fry until onion becomes a bit transparent, maybe add a bit of garlic. Add spices that you prefer, maybe a pinch of sage, salt, pepper, or whatever. Add however much rice you need to go with however much critter you have, say a cup+ of rice per critter. Add a can of tomatoes or tomato puree or both for every cup of rice. Add a cup of liquid--water or chicken/beef broth--per cup or rice. Cover with lid, simmer on lowest setting until meat and rice is tender, adding more liquid if needed.

Feel free to add edits on this recipe. I'm doing it from memory, but making some adjustments as I go. We didn't use commercial tomato products such as canned puree back then.

I prefer the low cost recipes of India and Mexico for budget menus, but if spicy's not your thing, this is how the white folk do it....

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

I've seen various places around the web claim that in an emergency you can feed your family for only $10 or $20 a week. While I appreciate their intentions, I have noticed that they all assume you have certain supplies already on hand. In my experience this isn't always the case. Forty-five dollars will seem outrageously abundant to some, while it will seem miniscule to others. It is the smallest amount I was able to come up with that will provide enough supplies to an empty kitchen to feed an entire family for a week. The servings are ample and a few adjustments allow you to increase the quantities from 4 servings to 6.

Actually, I love spicy. If things get even worse than I think they will, it is important to remember these substitutions for meat mentioned at that link. Not only will beans be more available, they store for very long periods better. That is, if storage is even an option. Also, soup beans, for instance, can be grown in a much smaller space than a cow can.

chig, down south we use a mixture of cornmeal and flour, after dipping the tomatoes in buttermilk.

Cornbread

preheat oven to 350

3 cups corn meal
2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups whole sweet milk
1/4 cup veg. oil

mix well.

pour the oil into the center of your pan. I prefer a large heavy iron skillet, but any moderately deep, square baking pan about 9" will do. Pour the mix right onto the oil, it will spread out and coat the edges, making them crisp. Bake for about an hour. This is the sweet, fluffy bread my family prefers, however you can subtract as much of the sugar as you like, but I do recommend you put in at least a 1/4 cup.

Mollye's (my mom) Crackling Bread.

2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt

Mix and then add in:

1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 cup crispy crumbled bacon

1/4 oil


Heat the oil (or bacon fat) first in your preheated to 450 oven before pouring in your mix. Bake until brown.
This will be a crispier, flatter, more savory bread.

More southern good stuff later.

chiggerbit wrote: I love recipes seasoned with a dash of history.

How about a bit of trivia?

did you know this year is Year of the Potato?

Or that there is a Potato Park in the Sacred Valley of The Incas?

Annie, today in the Mennonite store I overheard a woman discussing how she makes French fries out of sweet potatoes by slicing, dipping in oil and baking. I wondered if sweet potatoes could be done the same as in your potato recipe above.

This couple lived on a dollar a day food budget for one month and made a blog about it:

http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/

I made Potato Pancakes for the first time yesterday.

Most recipes call for raw potatoes but I used leftover baked russets.

Grate 2 large baked potatoes into a mixing bowl.

Grate I onion (size depends on personal taste for onions.)

Add an egg or two depending on size and availability (great way to use up yolks or whites left over from other recipes.)

Add 1/4 cup of flour, a pinch of salt and favorite seasonings ( I used home ground chile powder and fresh rosemary.)

Mix in 1 cup of milk, water, broth ( I was out of milk, so I used water mixed with yogurt.)

Stir until incorporated into a stiff batter. You may need to add more liquid.

Heat frying pan to medium high and coat with oil, butter or drippings.

Ladle batter onto hot skillet 1/4 cup at a time, shaking pan gently to settle batter. (If using a grill, the batter will need to be thinner.)

Fry until golden crisp on edges, flip and cook other side.

Serve with yogurt, sour cream, cheese, mustard, apple sauce, sauerkraut, ketchup, chutney, salsa or other favorite condiments.

This recipe makes about 6 pancakes. I think would add more flour if using raw potatoes.

I'm going to add pureed baked squash to the batter for lunch today.

I may give this a try, see if it's any good if I substitute something for the flour (gluten intolerance here)--say maybe corn flour or cornmeal, or rice flour.