Caramelized Potatoes

This recipe is a quick, delicious way to use canned potatoes.  If you don’t have any, cook your own, cool and peel them.  Waxy white or red small potatoes work best if you don’t have canned ones.

These are even more delicious than caramelized carrots, because the potatoes aren’t sweet themselves.

You definitely want to use a non-stick skillet for these, and don’t burn yourself with the hot caramel.

We enjoyed them with a grilled sausage and sauerkraut.                     

                           Caramelized Potatoes

  1         pint  small potatoes -- or can (16 ounce)

  1         tablespoon  butter

     ¼      cup  Brown Sugar -- packed

Rinse and drain your potatoes well and dry with a paper towel.  If they aren’t all similar in size, cut any large ones in half.

Melt butter in a skillet.

Stir in the brown sugar and heat over medium heat, stirring until it bubbles. Wait until it turns brown and starts to caramelize.

Add potatoes and cook 3-5 minutes (until heated through), turning over once or twice.  I cover mine between stirring.

2 Servings

Per Serving: 155 Calories; 6g Fat (32.6% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 26g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 16mg Cholesterol; 68mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

Crispy Browned Hash

I had some cooked roast beef in the freezer and wanted to try roast beef hash like I remembered from our childhood.  This recipe from “Betty Crocker Dinner for Two 1958" was perfect for using small amounts of leftover roast. 

I have a meat grinder, so I ground my beef, chopping it works just as well.  I did use some canned potatoes.  I used the potato liquid in homemade bread later in the day. 

I made a cup of gravy with some leftover beef fat from the roast, along with some home canned broth…delicious.  I used some to moisten the mixture and served the rest on top of the hash.   I used bacon fat leftover from baking a pound of bacon earlier in the week to fry the hash.  It gets really nice and brown in our Mother's old cast-iron skillet.

I love knowing I have “Used it up!” in something we really like.

                           Crispy Browned Hash

  1             Cup  Beef Roast – cooked (about 4 ounces), ground or chopped

  1             Cup  Potatoes -- cooked or canned, drained, chopped

  1             Medium  Onion -- finely chopped

     1/3      Cup  Gravy -- or milk

Grind cooked beef and onion together through a meat grinder, chop in a food processor or by hand.  Chop the cooked or canned, drained potatoes by hand.  Finely chop the onion.  Use leftover gravy or milk to moisten the mixture. 

Combine all ingredients.  Place a little fat in a hot heavy skillet over medium heat. 

When fat is very hot, spread hash mixture evenly in skillet.  The pan should be hot enough to brown the bottom of the hash quickly.  Cover and cook slowly until crisp, about 10-12 minutes.

2 main dish servings

Orange Marmalade-Ricotta Cupcakes

These come out tasting like a pound cake. The original recipe calls for a orange butter cream frosting, but we prefer them with just powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Not nearly as calorie laden and you can serve them with fresh fuit of your choice, using them as you would a slice of pound cake.

Orange Marmalade-Ricotta Cupcakes

Prep: 20 minutes, Bake: 18 minutes, Cool: 5 minutes.

Yield: Makes about 20 to 24 cupcakes

1 (18.25-ounce) package plain white or yellow cake mix

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons orange juice, divided

2/3 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 cup orange marmalade

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Insert paper liners into 20 muffin cups; set aside.

2. Beat cake mix, 1 cup orange juice, and next 5 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer until combined. Scrape sides of bowl with spatula, and beat at medium speed 2 minutes or until batter is thick and well combined. Spoon about 1/3 cup batter into each liner.

3. Bake at 350° for 18 to 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

4. Brush tops of warm cupcakes evenly with remaining 2 tablespoons orange juice. Let cool in pans on wire racks 5 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container up to 3 days, up to a week in refrigerator, or (unfrosted) up to 6 months in freezer.

Fiesta Pasta Salad with Corn Relish

Here’s another way to use your canned corn relish. It’s colorful and easy.  If you use plain corn, add couple tablespoons of vinegar.  The corn relish recipe is HERE.
Fiesta Pasta Salad with Corn Relish

6 ounces Pasta -- small shells or bowties
1 Half Pint Fiesta Corn Relish

¼ cup Mayonnaise

¼ cup Sour Cream -- or yogurt

½ teaspoon Garlic -- minced

½ teaspoon Basil Leaves

½ each Red or Green Bell Pepper
½ cup Frozen Green Peas -- thawed
¼ cup Green Onion -- chopped
• Cook pasta al dente, drain over peas, rinse and cool.
• Combine remaining ingredients, stir in pasta and peas, chill several hours.
Yield: 4 servings
May 2010 cost: $1.68 or 42¢ per serving if using homemade corn relish.
Per Serving: 365 Calories; 16g Fat (37.4% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 51g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 11mg Cholesterol; 112mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Bean Corn Relish Salad

Some good salads don’t have salad oil or prepared dressing. Many sweet-sour vegetable salads appear on Midwestern buffets and tables, especially in late summer when the garden is producing.  This is one that also uses corn relish as an ingredient. It’s from the 1974 Farm Journal "The Thrifty Cook" , one of my very favorite cookbooks.
If you have your own home canned or purchased bean salad, you can mix 2 pints of bean salad to a half pint of corn relish and skip the dressing. If you don't have corn relish, use some drained canned Mexicorn, and double the dressing.  I keep some jars of canned bean salad and corn relish in the refrigerator all the time – they are always cold and ready to help fill out a meal. Serve it in a pretty bowl; don’t waste money on a lettuce liner that people don’t eat anyway.
The corn relish recipe is HERE.

Cornhusker Bean/Corn Salad

1 Pint Green Beans -- cut, drained  (15 oz can)

1 Pint Kidney Beans -- drained and rinsed (15 oz can)

1/2 Pint Corn Relish -- 1 cup

1/4 Cup Chopped Onion

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/8 Teaspoon Pepper

1 Tablespoon Vinegar

Combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Will keep a few days in the refrigerator.

Just right with ham or pork, and a good companion for chicken and hamburgers.
Yield: "1 Quart"    8 servings, 1/2 cup each.

May 2010 Cost if all ingredients except corn relish are purchased:  $ 2.05 or 26¢ per serving.

Per Serving : 218 Calories; 1g Fat (2.5% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 43g Carbohydrate; 13g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 270mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

Corn Relish Custard

I have had this recipe so long I don’t know where it came from. After seeing a similar idea in Myrna's canning book, I adapted it to use my home canned corn relish, but any kind of whole kernel corn, well-drained, works. I add a half-pint of drained, home canned ham chunks to this for a main dish. This isn’t a scalloped corn dish with creamed corn and crackers, but true custard. If you use 10 ounce individual dishes, cut the baking time to 30 minutes or so.
For a side dish, bake in the casserole dish and cut in squares; as a side dish it can serve 6. It’s good with pork chops and a salad. I serve this as a main dish with a nice chopped salad and fruit for dessert, because it’s pretty caloric. The portions are generous.  The corn relish recipe is HERE.
Corn Relish Custard
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 ½ tablespoons Flour, All-purpose
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Salt
3 large Eggs
1 cup Whipping Cream or undiluted evaporated milk
¼ cup Butter -- melted
3 cups Corn Relish – drained *
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine first 4 ingredients.

3. Whisk together eggs, whipping cream, and butter. Gradually add sugar mixture, whisking until smooth; stir in corn.

4. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 7x12-inch baking dish (1 1/2 quart).

5. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown and set. Let stand 5 minutes.

    *3 cups frozen whole kernel corn, thawed and drained or canned corn, drained, or fresh cut corn may be substituted.
4 main dish servings – 6 side dish servings     Yield: "4 1/2 Cups"
 Per Main Dish Serving : 689 Calories; 39g Fat (48.8% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 81g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 272mg Cholesterol; 1325mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 Fat; 5 Other Carbohydrates.