Tag Archives: dinner

White Chicken Chili

This is so my kind of meal once the weather starts to turn a little colder. It’s made with a store bought rotisserie chicken and this chicken chili is all made in one pot on the stove-top. It’s filling and the different peppers add a wonderful mix of flavors to the chili. You’ll need a large dutch oven sort of pot for this and you’ll have some left overs for sure depending on how many people you’re cooking for.

I crumbled some tortilla chips on top of my chili and added a dollop of sour cream which added to the flavor. Cheese is also a wonderful topping here.

Of course if you hate cilantro you can eliminate it and be careful cutting the peppers, the seeds and ribs in the pepper hold all the heat. It’s your call how spicy you’d like it. I like spicy but don’t really use the seeds and I keep it mild and more family-friendly because you never really know how spicy it can get adding the seeds and ribs. I also use rubber or latex gloves while cutting and be careful not to touch your eyes till you’ve completely washed your hands. If I want heat I can add a shot of Chohula to my own.

This chili does thicken considerably as it sits. If you make it ahead of time, you may want to add broth or water depending on how thick you like it.

Leftovers are great and this chili can be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat it on the stovetop over medium-low heat and you may want to add some broth or water to it as well.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth, divided

2 15 oz. cans white beans (cannellini)–drained and rinsed

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper , seeded and minced

2 medium poblano peppers, seeded and diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

Kosher Salt to taste

1 Rotisserie chicken, skin removed and shredded

3/4 cup frozen corn

1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice, from one lime

*1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro –we like it a lot but not everyone does I know so just omit it

Optional Toppings:

Sour Cream

Crushed Tortilla Chips

Shredded Pepper Jack or Cheddar Cheese

Lime Wedges

Directions:

Get all ingredients chopped and ready to cook.

In a food processor , blend 1/2 of the beans (1 can) with 1 cup of the chicken broth and set aside with the remaining drained beans

Add the olive oil to a large pot or Dutch Oven and heat it over medium high heat. Add the onions, jalapeño pepper and poblano peppers and cook, stirring frequently until soft about 4-5 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, then add the cumin, coriander and ancho chili powder and continue to cook, stirring frequently for another few minutes. Add the Chicken Broth, pureed beans and app. 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes.

Stir in the shredded chicken, reserved whole can of beans, corn and lime juice; bring back to a simmer and cook until everything is heated through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt . Stir in the chopped cilantro. It will be somewhat soupy still and that’s OK. The longer it sits the thicker it will get. I let it cook for probably an hour or so and If it’s too thick you can add a little water. It’s really a chili so I like it thick but it’s totally up to you how you like it.

Quickie version of my Greek Lemon Chicken with potatoes

One of my most favorite go -to meals is my Greek Chicken- Sheetpan style with Potatoes and Lemons but the trick to that recipe is marinating at least 6-8 hours and it needs some planning which is just fine if I make the plan. Yesterday I decided to make this while I was in the supermarket and came home – no marinating and voila — not exactly the same but satisfied the craving for those flavors and didn’t have too marinate.

Easy peasy ingredients and you can adjust the seasonings to your own liking. Again , I prefer thighs to breasts but if you insist just watch your cooking time as the breasts tend to dry out. And this is skin-on bone in thighs.

The potatoes crisped up beautifully and if you’d like you can have some tzatziki sauce on the side for them. I used small Yukon Gold potatoes leaving the skin on– the skin is paper thin and eliminates the need for peeling.

This was just delicious — serve alongside a green salad or any veggie you’d like and you’ll have a most perfect meal.

Ingredients:

For Chicken:

1 package of chicken thighs, skin on bone in — app. 2 lbs

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper and a drizzle of EVOO ( extra virgin olive oil) — for chicken

For Potatoes:

1 1/2 -2 lbs. potatoes I used Yukon Gold small potatoes, wash and cut into 1″ pieces

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

3 lemons– I used 2 small lemons for marinade and I sliced 1 for sheet pan

2 tbsp. dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp. heaping dijon mustard

1/4 cup EVOO ( extra virgin olive oil)

*pinch of crushed red pepper — totally optional but we like the kick

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Dry off chicken thighs and drizzle with olive oil and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, set aside

In a large mixing bowl, combine potatoes, salt, pepper, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, garlic, water, dijon mustard, and EVOO , Mix well

Pour potatoes onto a well sprayed ( cooking spray like Pam) sheet pan. Arrange lemon between the potatoes, place chicken thighs on sheet pan — I like to make sure that the chicken is directly on the sheet pan

Bake at 400 degrees for an hour and check on it. I baked for about 1 hour and 15 minutes for perfect crispy skin and perfectly crispy potatoes

Now go and Enjoy this delicious meal!

j

Classic Minestrone Soup

I have made this many different ways and the other night experimented with this recipe by adding fire-roasted diced tomatoes and it was ever so delicious. Feel free to use regular diced tomatoes but the fire roasted ones gave it an extra layer of flavor that was truly delicious. I made this on the stove top and even though it’s ready in an hour I let it sit for a while on a very low flame ( more like 2 hours or more) the flavors meld best this way. This can be frozen but I freeze without the pasta , I like to add my pasta separately to the soup. It’s vegan if you don’t top with parmesan cheese and this recipe should yield at least 6 bowls of soup if not a little more. It’s a delicious vegetarian hearty warm soup that happens to be very healthy and delicious. One of my favorites.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 medium yellow onion , chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 medium ribs celery, chopped

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 cups chopped seasonal vegetables, Potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, green beans or peas will all work here

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 large can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes with their liquid, or 2 small cans –I used fire roasted diced tomatoes and they were ever so delicious

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1 teaspoon or more to taste of kosher salt

2 bay leaves

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup small pasta — like ditalini or elbows or small shells

1 can ( 15 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained, or any beans 1 1/2 cups

2 cups chopped kale or baby spinach —

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, for garnishing

Warm 3 Tablespoons of the olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch Oven over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add the onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste, minced garlic, and a little bit of kosher salt. Cook , stirring often until the vegetables soften and the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Don’t burn.

Add the seasonal vegetables you’re using and oregano and thyme, cook until fragrant while stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.

Pour in the diced tomatoes and their juices, broth and water. Add some salt now , bay leaves and a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like. And add black pepper.

Raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then partially cover the pot leaving a small gap for steam to escape. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer — I honestly let it simmer for up to 2 hours.

I cook my pasta in a separate small pan and set aside.

I add the beans and you can add the greens now if you like and continue simmering uncovered now, probably another 20 minutes or so till greens are tender. If you want a more classic soup omit the kale /spinach but I love it so I add it to mine —

Remove the bay leaves from the pot, taste for salt and pepper. Put some pasta into bottom of each bowl ( doesn’t matter if it’s cold because soup will heat it right up) Garnish bowls with cheese if you like or put on table for everyone to add their own.

Perfection in a bowl and may be frozen for up to 3 months — it’s better to freeze without the pasta and you’ll probably add some vegetable broth or water to it when it defrosts.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner-Mustard and Balsamic

 

 

 

I made this for dinner the other night and I have to say it was very delicious. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, of course you can use any cut of chicken you’d like.  All I needed was the chicken and the fresh rosemary.  I had all the other ingredients on hand. You will need to marinate for about 1/2 hour and cooking time is about an hour, no need to marinate over night which is part of what I loved about this recipe.  Balsamic Vinegar and Dijon Mustard and a few other easily obtainable ingredients make this a no fuss recipe.  This recipe is for 8 boneless skinless thighs but feel free to double it up, I used about 10 thighs . It would be perfect on the grill as well. I used my oven and I have to say we both loved this recipe. It is sort of a Balsamic Chicken with a hint of mustard. 

I will say that sometimes I don’t have rosemary and have all the other ingredients and it is just as tasty! So no worries if you don’t like Rosemary or if you just don’t have it in the house. I couldn’t find any fresh Rosemary yesterday so it had none! All Good!

The chicken would also be wonderful on day 2 as a leftover in a salad!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

8 boneless chicken thighs or 1 package of thighs about 1 – 1 1/2 lbs. you can double recipe but you probably don’t need to double olive oil — maybe 3/4 cup for double but double down on everything else if you’re doubling

1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard ( make it heaping)

1/4 cup of Balsamic Vinegar

1/4  cup of Olive Oil 

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice ( I average lemon)

2 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

app.  1/4 tsp. of kosher salt, I just sprinkled lightly over the chicken and about 6 grinds on the pepper mill. If you’re doubling recipe you will obviously need more salt and pepper

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, garlic, rosemary and lemon juice. Slowly add in the olive oil with the mixture while you whisk–to emulsify.

Place the chicken in a container or Pyrex  (don’t use metal). I sprinkled about 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt over the chicken tops.  Pour the marinade over the chicken and mix around so chicken gets a good covering on all sides.  I left it out for 1/2 hour and let it marinate, you can refrigerate it.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Transfer the chicken to a sprayed ( cooking spray ) baking dish and empty any remaining sauce on top of it.

Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes  or until the chicken is cooked through. It got a nice crust without drying out the chicken after one hour. If you’d like for maybe 2 minutes you can put under the broiler but watch it carefully so it doesn’t char too much, I do this sometimes if it doesn’t have a nice crust from baking it.  Depending on your oven and the size of your chicken 1 hour should do it. If you’re working with breasts you’ll have to cut into chicken after 50 minutes to check for doneness depending on the size of your breasts. Haven’t tried it on the grill yet but I can’t imagine this would be anything but delicious, just don’t burn it up!!!!!

Once cooked I spooned a little cooked marinade over the chicken and rice! and served with burnt brussels this time out or any vegetable will do.

Yummy!

Chicken Noodle Soup with Ground Chicken– Easy Peasy

I know that most of the time I post a soup recipe with chicken it’s using a rotisserie chicken which is a convenient hack but this time out I used ground chicken. Saw this recipe on my favorite cooking site @nytimes.com/recipes and knew I had to make this . Of course I made a few changes to better suit our tastes but feel free to check out original recipe. Very very easy and very delicious. You can definitely add egg noodles or any small pasta or cavatelli. I used ditalini which I almost always use for a small pasta. You may need to adjust amount of stock so have extra on hand.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

5 Tablespoons olive oil–

1 pound ground chicken ( if you can get dark meat I would but unless you’re going to a butcher you probably won’t find it) white meat is fine

Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes or slice and cut in 1/2 moons —

2 celery stalks, halved lengthwise, then sliced 1/2″ thick

1 large shallot , finely chopped

1 can small white beans 🫘 drained

1 teaspoon dried thyme– if you want to use fresh thyme about 1 Tablespoon of thyme leaves

7-8 cups chicken stock, more as needed

1 cup dried small shaped pasta

Directions:

In a large stock pot , heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the chicken, season with some salt and pepper and cook, using a wooden spoon to crumble chicken, app. 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and coriander and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is cooked through, app. 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove chicken to a small bowl and cover with aluminum foil to retain moisture, cover and set aside.

Add the carrot, celery, shallot, thyme and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pot, season with some salt and pepper and cook stirring until everything is slicked with olive oil, app. 3 minutes. Add the stock — I started with the full 8 cups and brought to a boil over high heat. Add the can of drained white beans while boiling . If you don’t like beans you can omit .

I cooked my noodles in a separate pot . When the soup cooked down for a while and vegetables were very soft ( probably a 1/2 hour or more) I added the ground chicken and any and all juices that were in the bowl and heated until warmed through, taste for salt and pepper.

I placed some pasta in the individual bowls and poured the hot soup over the pasta and if you’d like a squirt of fresh lemon is always delicious here.

Enjoy!

Crispy Parmesan Sweet Potatoes

Thanks to my friend Leslie for this delicious recipe. So great when friends share their delicious recipes with you and you love the recipe so much that you are making it on repeat and now I’m sharing with all of you.

These are cheesy and crispy on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside — just like a sweet potato should be.

The first time I made these I didn’t use parchment paper but I think I would use all the time in the future. I sprayed the baking sheet and it was fine and came out easily enough but I believe parchment paper is the way to go– I would however still lightly spray the bottom of your baking pan before placing the parchment paper which can help it stay in place . Parchment paper is designed to be non-stick so spraying it would be redundant. As you can see in photos some of the cheese fell off but it’s ok because they were delcious anyway.

This is easy to make and delicious to eat and highly recommend if you love Sweet Potatoes and you love Parmesan Cheese.

*little hack that I was unaware of that I’m passing on to all of you– when I went to my local cheese shop to buy grated parmesan cheese the owner happened to be there and he told me after I use grated cheese put it in the freezer , it will not freeze. When I need it again just take out of freezer and use and return un used cheese to freezer. It will not go bad!!!!!! as it often does once it is opened and expiration date is only for a few weeks. This is a great little hack one I will use from now on.

Ingredients:

4 small sweet potatoes -just buy potatoes that can be cut in 1/2 the long way sometimes it’s tough with “knobby” ones

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 cup -3/4 cup finely shredded parmesan

Kosher Salt and Coarse Black Pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or just spray with baking spray

In a small bowl I mixed olive oil, garlic powder and Italian seasoning

Place your cut sweet potatoes in a large enough bowl to fit all of them — pour olive oil mixture over them mix well getting olive oil all over the sweet potatoes — sprinkle with some salt and pepper and let them sit for a minute while you prep pan

Sprinkle parm cheese evenly onto prepared baking sheet – place sweet potato halves cut side down on top of parmesan

bake for 30-40 minutes till sweet potatoes are tender and bottom layer of cheese is crusty and deeply browned.

Remove and let cool a little bit before serving!

I wish I had better pictures but you get the picture.

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Happy Holidays to all.

Saucy Stuffed Shells – Baked and Meatless

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  I just love a baked pasta — nothing like it for good old fashioned comfort food. This recipe is delicious and perfect comfort food for those cold winter nights. I wanted a crowd pleaser that was vegetarian and something that can easily be made ahead and frozen and that would appeal to both kids and adults equally.

     I served with a salad with my Homemade Maple Syrup Salad Dressing ( see on blog) and it was really pretty awesome. Took a few hours to prepare, mostly because I made my own sauce ( Sunday night sauce) but feel free to use a jar of prepared sauce if you’d like. This is a perfect meal to make ahead of time, and just pop into oven.

*This dish will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months. Assemble the shells with the cheese and cover tightly and freeze. When you’re ready to eat, you can bake from frozen but be sure to add another 30 minutes to the cooking time. You can also freeze individual sized portions of leftover shells that have already been cooked. Reheat previously baked shells in the microwave in 90 second intervals until heated through. 

Perfect for Christmas and New Years.

Of course if you love it with meat you can make a meat sauce and follow same directions.

Happy Holidays to all — and visit me on Instagram @cookingwithcandi

Ingredients:

1 box Jumbo Shells ( you won’t use all but a lot of them break, etc.)

1 lb. Ricotta ( I used Part Skim)

1 Egg

1 lb. Mozzarella Shredded ( I used Part Skim) if you can obtain fresh mozzarella and shred it that would make it even better! whatever works for you

1 cup grated Parmesan ( any kind you like)

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

*marinara sauce or any red sauce I made my own and use my own recipe. If buying sauce and there are some delicious good sauces out there, you’ll need at least 1 large jar of Sauce and my go-to if not using my own is Raos Marinara.   It’s nice to have a little extra sauce in case you need it when you re-heat the stuffed shells. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare Pasta , cook for between 12 and 15 minutes, you’ll want them soft but not undercooked at the center. Drain pasta and cool for easy handling.

Combine ricotta, 1/2 of the mozzarella, 1/2 of the Parmesan, parsley and egg in a bowl. Taste for Salt and Pepper.

When shells have cooled down, fill them with rounded spoonfuls of cheese mixture and arrange them seam side down in casserole dish. I used a 9 x 13 Pyrex and spray with cooking spray. Top Shells with remaining sauce and remaining mozzarella and grated cheese. Place shells in very hot oven . You can turn on broiler for last few minutes , it should be slightly browned and bubbly. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Delicious!

Italian Wedding Soup made with Chicken Meatballs

It is most definitely soup season again. the chill in the air makes it the most perfect time of year to start making soup for dinner again. even if you live in a warmer climate this is a most wonderful meal. Paired with a salad and some crusty bread you have a very heartwarming meal.

Italian Wedding Soup with Chicken Balls

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes. It is a soup , which is also a full meal. It is hearty and pretty healthy.  It is one of my staples from September through April. It freezes well and you can just take it out of the freezer the night before, and you’ll have a wonderful meal the next evening. When you defrost it you will probably want to add broth/water to it. add a little at a time till you get the consisitency you like. Enjoy:)

Ingredients: chicken meatballs

1 lb. ground chicken–I prefer chicken to turkey but you can use turkey as well!

1/2 lb chicken sausage, casings removed–if you can’t find chicken sausage use pork sausage it’s delicious! 

3 slices whole wheat bread for bread crumbs ( I put into food proccesor with steel blade for crumbs) I remove crusts it should be app. 1 cup of bread crumbs or if you’re feeling lazy try Panko

2 teaspoons minced garlic ( 2 – 3 cloves)

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano ( fresh is best) but whatever you have will do

1/4 cup grated Parmesan ( again nothing beats fresh) but whatever you have will do here as well

3 tablespoons milk

1 extra large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Soup Ingredients:

 

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small -medium yellow onion minced

1 cup diced carrots ( 3 )

1 cup diced celery (2 stalks)

10 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup dry white wine( use whatever you have open)

1 cup small pasta tubetini, ditalini, stars, elbows etc. 

5 ounces fresh spinach, washed and trimmed

*fresh dill ( I love the flavor) add at your own discretion about 1/4 cup minced fresh dill.

Directions:

preheat the oven to 350 degrees  put parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

for the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage,bread crumbs, garlic, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, salt and pepper  all in a bowl and mix well with a fork.  I use a teaspoon, and make 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and drop onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet. you should have about 30 to 40 small balls. bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. set them aside. (I made about 30 balls, they were a little larger this time out)

For the Soup:

 heat the olive oil over medium – low heat in a large heavy bottomed soup pot ( Le Creuset type pot) Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, about 10 minutes, don’t brown. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil, at this point I let soup cook a while to soften the vegetables, app. 1 hour. ( a low simmer) if you’re in a hurry you can probably do the whole soup in 1/2 hour , veggies will be soft enough to eat. if some of the liquid evaporates you can always add a little more broth.

chicken balls out of the ovenItalian Wedding Soup cooking

 Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook another 6 – 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Sometimes I just cook the pasta up in a separate little pot and pour the soup over the pasta when I plate it up, this helps with the freezing just the soup and meatballs and the pasta stays al dente. Add the meatballs and simmer for another minute or so. taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for another minute or so, the spinach will just wilt. Ladle into soup bowls and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Mustard -Lemon and Garlic with Brussels

Very delicious weeknight meal for the family or for just you! It’s easy and all in one pan with Brussels and red onions. Easy to put together, just try and marinate chicken for how ever long you can — at least 30 minutes and up to 48 hours in the fridge. The marination process is key — I did it for about 6 hours in fridge and removed from fridge to bring to room temperature before cooking.

I don’t recommend using chicken breasts in this recipe as they tend to dry out. So use chicken thighs to get juicy and delicious tasting chicken.

Enjoy this meal bursting with flavor!

You’ll need a rimmed sheet pan, a large glass bowl, a small bowl, and I recommend using a kitchen thermometer which if you don’t have one you should own for cooking chicken.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of chicken thighs ( about 6 ) bone in , skin on

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil ( divided)

1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning ( available dry in most supermarkets)

2 tsp. Kosher Salt

app. 1/2 ground black pepper

2 Tbsp. fresh Lemon Juice

1 heaping Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

1 heaping Tbsp. stone ground Mustard

app. 10 oz. Brussels sprouts trimmed and cut in half if very large cut in 1/4s and if very small leave whole

1 Red Onion cut into 8 wedges

6 cloves garlic minced

Directions:

To marinate the chicken, pat dry the chicken and put in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl add 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, lemon juice , dijon mustard, stone ground mustard. I whisk it all together and pour over the chicken in bowl and with clean hands squish around the chicken and cover and place in the fridge. Take out of fridge and bring to room temperature before putting into the oven (probably a 1/2 hour)

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees

I spray baking sheet with cooking spray first, then place trimmed and halved Brussels sprouts on the sheet pan. I then put 6 garlic cloves in mini processor and add 2 Tablespoons of Olive oil to processor and when this is done pour over the Brussels and coat well and sprinkle the remaining 1 tsp. kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper to them.

Place marinated chicken thighs skin side up on the sheet pan moving Brussels and onions around so the chicken touches the sheet . (see photo)

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees F. for 30 minutes then crisp the skin up and brown it under the broiler. I did it for about 4 minutes till I obtained a nice crispy skin. Check chicken temperature before serving but it should be 165 and perfect!

Served over rice and it was delicious.

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Creamy Mashed Potatoes

photo 3 (7) photo 2 (9)This is my go to recipe for the creamiest mashed potatoes around. I make them a few times a year and mostly on the holidays. Occasionally I’ll whip them up for dinner. They are rich and delicious and just the way mashed potatoes ought to be. I’d like to tell you that I don’t use butter and cream but I do. These are pretty easy to make, all I would say is to buy a good potato masher they come in pretty handy for a lot of other uses as well ( great for egg salad) . You can also use a hand mixer which would work out perfectly.  I like to work with Yukon Gold Potatoes. This recipe is for 5 lbs. and feeds about 12- 15 people , just perfect for a holiday dinner. These are my Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes. If you’re doing a small Thanksgiving Dinner I would cut this in half .  Just cut all the ingredients in half.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

* see also Mashed Potato Casserole with Sour Cream and Chives for another way to go.

Ingredients:

5 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes or Russet Potatoes

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 8 oz. package of Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 to 3/4 cups half and half

1 /2 to 1 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt ( more to taste) I used at least 1 teaspoon you’ll have to taste for yourself.

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper. ( more or less to taste)

Directions:

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size.

In a large enough pot to cook all of the potatoes fill pot with cold water to cover the potatoes. I bring to a boil and cook for about 30 – 35 minutes. When potatoes are cooked through, a fork should easily slide into the potatoes without resistance, potatoes should be soft but not falling apart.

Drain the potatoes in a colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot back on the stove. Mash the potatoes with masher over very low heat, allowing the steam to escape, before adding the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 1/2 sticks of butter, an 8 oz. package of cream cheese and about 1/2 cup of half and half. Mash, mash and mash away.

Add about 1/2 teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish and taste for salt and pepper. I ended up using at least a teaspoon of salt, and a bit more pepper.  Place a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350 degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes have warmed through.

* if making a day or two in advance–place potatoes in baking dish,  leave covered in fridge. Take it out of the fridge about 2 – 3 hours before heating up to bring to room temperature. Place your butter pats on top and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1/2 hour or so till completely warmed through.

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