Potato Pancakes

My grandma lived in Germany for several years as an adult while my grandfather was in the Army. She is also from North Dakota where there is a huge European influence. When I was a little girl, she used to make these potato pancakes that would make your eyes roll back in your head. That's how good they were. Well, unfortunately the concensus in the family is that the recipe died with her. :( how sad. I remember they were creamy and crunchy and had a nice oniony flavor that with maple syrup was just so heavenly. I can't quite explain it. Yes, you read right, she used to serve it with maple syrup, not sour cream or cottage cheese, but maple syrup. And on rare occasion with sweetened applesauce. This was a typical breakfast. I am assuming that she made these with leftover mashed potatoes but that is so fuzzy in my memory right now. Well, last night I had this huge craving to have potato pancakes. I searched online for a recipe... little did I know, that there are so many recipes for potato pancakes. I thought it was something that she made up. Well, obviously not. I read several that used shredded potatoes. I thought I'd try it with my red potatoes, I have about 10 lbs. Here is what I made....

Ingredients:

8-10 large red potatoes peeled and shredded

1 small/medium onion diced

3 eggs

1 tsp minced garlic

3 Tbsp flour

salt and pepper to taste

reserved bacon grease

Peel and shred potatoes into a medium bowl, mix in diced onion, eggs, garlic, flour and salt and pepper. Once this is all incorporated.

In a skillet on the stove heat oil of choice, I used Bacon Grease, but vegetable oil or olive oil will work fine. Heat til sizzling, then add by large spoonful into the oil, flatten as best you can.

Then when browned on bottom flip and brown on the opposite side, when browned it's done.

Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve warm. This made about 15 good sized potato pancakes.

VERDICT!

These were pretty good. They are not my grandmothers. I will try these again with mashed potatoes to see how they taste. I found this a fairly easy recipe. The hardest thing was hand shredding those potatoes. I'm hoping for a kitchenaid shredding attachment for christmas. Which would make it really easy to do this again in the future. My husband and kids didn't try them. They are hooked on plain pancakes. But I had some leftovers for lunch today, they were tasty. I will make these again, the next time I am craving potato cakes. Enjoy!

Easy Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast burritos are a favorite at my house for breakfast. I like to serve them to my family because they get a nice little package with protein and they can run out the door with it in one hand. I used to serve breakfast burritos on cool flour tortillas, then I had a friend who added a different step to hers, which made them even better. She fried hers in butter/margarine. I know I know, fattening. but oh so yummy... I believe it gives a plain burrito a step up on the delish factor O'Meter... And oh yea it does. So ever since my dear friend (Helen) - you know who you are... got me hooked on it. I thought I'd share it with you. I do sometimes still serve breakfast burritos on non fried tortillas... but they definitely are heated... in the microwave wrapped in wet paper towels... to help them get flimsy and get yummier... (microwave 3-4 tortillas for 30 seconds wrapped in a paper towel).

This recipe will be one for a family of 5. But can easily be reduced to a single or multiplied higher.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground sausage, browned and drained

8 eggs - scrambled

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese

2 tsp salsa per tortilla

5-10 flour tortillas depending on size

salt and pepper

Brown the sausage, leave in pan add the scrambled egg mixture to the sausage, stirring over high-medium heat. sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Once the scrambled eggs are done, remove from pan, in the same pan, melt some butter/margarine.

Assemble the burrito add about 1/2 a cup of sausage/egg mixture to the center of the tortilla, add cheese and salsa to each tortilla.

Fold the tortilla edges to meet in the middle around the meat mixture, then turn sideways and repeat. you should have a nice box looking tortilla. (getting the proper egg mixture to folding ratio will take a few tries.)

Once the butter is melted, add the folded burrito seam side down in the butter, over medium heat. brown on both sides, remove and enjoy. This is a delicious addition to your quick out the door breakfast, these can also be made ahead of time, placed in a ziploc bag and heated at work. So a great make ahead meal, for pennies on the dollar. Who needs to stop by McDonalds when you can enjoy this great breakfast?

Another good addition is to cut up some bell peppers and onions and cook along with the sausage, and eggs. I have even done lunchmeat and bacon instead of the sausage. A Must Try! :)

Verdict,

DELISH! So tasty and crispy... mmmm so good.

Scalloped Potatoes and Onions

I had a lot of red potatoes to use, and I am trying to do more with the potatoes then just mashed potatoes. I decided that I would try my hand at making homemade scalloped potatoes. I have never made these before. I have had these before and I love them, I just felt like it was a little harder for me to make.. But after tonights experience. I need a different mandolin to slice my potatoes and I will make these again. :)

Ingredients

10 good sized red potatoes - peeled, and sliced thin

1 medium onion - diced

1 stick butter

3 Tbsp flour

4-5 cups of milk

salt and pepper

2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

1/2 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs

First, peel and slice thin red potatoes into cool water (so they don't brown). Then make the sauce...

Second, in a medium sauce pan melt butter, then once the butter is melted and bubbly toss in the diced onions and stir until they are translucent. Then sprinkle the flour and cook about a couple minutes until the flour is incorporated and no more flour taste. Then mix in 1 cup of the cheese until melted, once the cheese is melted then gradually mix in the milk and stir continually. Once the cheese milk mixture is starting to thicken remove from the heat. In the bottom of the 13X9 pan spread approx. 1/4th of the sauce in the bottom, then spread some of potatoes on top of the sauce, in an even layer. Then top with 1/2 of the remaining cheese approx 1/2 cup of cheese. Then top with the cheese sauce and repeat steps until the final layer is sauce. Then top with extra cheese. Bake in a 450F oven for 30 min.

Finally, Top with italian bread crumbs and bake another 5 min.

Serve warm.

Dig in!!

VERDICT?

The best scalloped potatoes EVER!!! My husband and kids... they say EPIC! After dinner there was less than half of a 13X9 pan left, and that was not all we had for dinner. Braeden had 4 helpings! yeah me! This is so good I'm not doing very good at describing how delicious this is. Try it and enjoy! I know this is a lot of cheese and yumminess, but so worth it!

Orange Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Roast with Caramelized Onions

This recipe was a creation and a conglomeration of several recipes that I read when I was looking for something to do with my pork roast. I read several recipes and my mouth was just watering. So, of course, I had to create my own version of these recipes... Unfortunately, I forgot to write down my exact measurements. I also, forgot to properly measure. :( however, I can tell you approximately what I used. I seem to do a lot of my cooking my non exacts except when I baking. That is definitely more precise. Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

1 pork roast approx. 3-5 lbs (keep netting on)

4-5 oranges- fresh squeezed juice (making sure no seeds make it into the glaze)

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

4-5 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp stone ground mustard

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp corn starch

salt and pepper

1 medium onion sliced

Preheat the oven to 350F. Rinse and dry the pork roast, set aside. In a medium mixing bowl blend together the orange juice, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, mustard, brown sugar, corn starch and salt and pepper. Mix well. In the bottom of a covered roasting pan, place the slices of the medium onion. Then place the pork roast on top of the onions. Then glaze the pork well with the glaze. Then cover and place in the oven on the center rack, and bake for 1 hour, then remove lid and reglaze the pork. Return pork back in the oven with no lid. Then after another 30 minutes reglaze the pork and cook for another 30 minutes. Once the internal temperature reaches 160F then remove from the oven. Reglaze again once after the pork has left the oven. Let rest for 15 min at least. After it's rested, remove the netting and throw the netting away. Cut into the roast, and enjoy.

Verdict, My husband said it was so EPIC that he would even do the dishes anytime I decided to make this again. :) Plus, he's cleaning the kitchen tonight. I really enjoyed eating the roast with the caramelized onions that caramelized on the bottom under the pork roast in the glaze. OH... So yummy! :) my kids even had the onions and extra glaze on their pork.