Excellent Potato Recipe (No Draining) - Make Them For Thanksgiving Or Any Ol' Time!

Nan Taters in Action

I have posted about this potato recipe before, but it bears repeating, because they are so good! I have searched the internet trying to find a similar recipe, I know there must be some out there. The closest recipes I have found using the "evaporation method" are recipes touting "Syracuse Salt Potatoes," and an almost identical version from Colombia. Both of these use approximately 1/2 cup of salt per pound, and involve whole, small potatoes. (And I am definitely going to try those recipes.)

But this recipe is not the same. While you can use whole, small potatoes, bigger potatoes can be used as well. The best potatoes to use are waxier potatoes (like Yukon Gold, or New Potatoes). About a teaspoon of Kosher salt is used, along with 2-3 Tbsps. of oil during cooking. Butter is added after they're done. 

My Czech grandmother, "Nan," made this recipe often, so I dubbed them "Nan Taters." I don't know if she saw it somewhere, or if she just decided to do it to see what would happen. She did do a lot of experimenting in the kitchen, so I think it might have been the latter, unless someone in her family made them in the past. Unfortunately, I can't ask her now, and back then asking didn't occur to me. All I knew was that they were really, really, really good...I could never get enough of them, and I could have easily eaten a whole pot of them by myself (and I could have gotten away with it with no calorie regrets too, at that age. 😄) 

Once in a while she would fry them directly after the evaporation process, but most of the time she would leave them in the "sauce." She made a German version a lot too, since my grandpa was German. She probably made every version imaginable, and then some, because he loved to have meat & potatoes every day. 

For this recipe, the potatoes from her garden were used until the supply ran out. She grew a LOT of potatoes! These were the absolute best ones to use, but using store-bought potatoes works really well too. 

I thought maybe there was a Czech or German tie to this recipe, but I haven't found one yet. If you have made these, or have family members who have, please let me know. I really thought I would find pages and pages of this recipe because it is SO GOOD. But...nope, and I used many different search terms. More people need to try this recipe, IMO, so I am posting it here again. 

Well on the way to creamy goodness!

Tools: A saucepan/frying pan, 10-12 inches (or larger, if you want a really big batch).

Ingredients: 

Yukon Gold or New (Red) Potatoes (amount depends on size of pan)

Water to cover

1 tsp. salt

2-3 Tbsps. oil (I use avocado or extra v olive oil)

2-3 Tbsps. of unsalted butter

Ground black pepper (add at will)

Method: 

1. Wash potatoes thoroughly. If you are using large potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces. Cut enough so there is only one layer on the bottom of the pan (your mileage may vary depending on pan size). 3 medium potatoes worked well in the 10" stainless steel pan that I used.***

2. Add water to cover, the salt, and the oil.

3. Bring to a rolling boil. Crank it up! Once it gets going it almost sounds like applause.

4. Stir once in a while. Once your water has almost completely reduced, test one of the pieces to see if it is done. If not, add a little more water and cook longer. Repeat if needed until the taters are tender. 

5. The "sauce" is made from the starchy water, so don't let them evaporate all the way unless you are planning on frying right away. If you want the creamy version, let the "sauce" remain and add the butter & pepper. Stir well & add more salt if needed. You can make it as thick or thin as you like. (Just add a little more water if you think your sauce is too thick.)

From here you can serve them as is, or add cream or milk and mash them. The flavor is out of this world good, and all of the nutrients remain instead of going down the drain.

I confess that I made some last night and there were no leftovers. I just called my last portion "dessert." 😆

***NOTE: I did not rinse the potatoes after cutting like I usually do. You can do that if you feel the need. There will be less starch after evaporation, but it will still be enough to make the "sauce."

So here they are again. Give them a try and let me know what you think. If you have any issues, or my instructions aren't clear enough, just let me know and I will fix them. The finished product should be so good that you could eat the entire batch by yourself. If that is not the case, notify me immediately so we can troubleshoot!

And again, if you have info about other versions of this recipe (if you make it or know anyone who has), please share it with me! I love food history & I would like to know why I have never seen it on a restaurant menu anywhere.  It could easily be held on a steam table until service, like some other potato recipes. 

Thank you! 😊

Creamy Goodness Right Here!!!

Sloppy Joes - A Very Tasty Recipe

 

Sloppy Joe (w/bun tilted to show the filling)

Here's a yummy meal we haven't had in years. I had to make these to counteract the disappointing results we had from Manwich's Sloppy Joe sauce, which actually used to have a pretty good flavor in the not so distant past. Forget that stuff! Don't waste your money. If you think about buying it, just buy a can of tomato sauce & mix it with your ground beef instead. That would be the equivalent. Manwich is a weak shadow of itself now. The bold, satisfying flavor that they used to claim on their commercials is gone.

So enjoy this recipe! It's simple and delicious!

1# ground beef

1/2 a medium onion, diced + equivalent amount of diced green bell pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsps Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp. mustard (yellow or dijon)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

4-5 shakes of Tabasco 

1 8 oz. can of tomato paste

Water or stock (beef, chicken, or vegetable) as needed

S&P to taste 

Buns! (or your favorite bread)

1. Brown & break up the beef into smaller pieces (a 10" to 12" frying pan works well).

2. Add onion & bell, mix well. Cook until tender but still firm, stirring once in a while.

3. Add garlic, cook for a minute or two. 

4. Make a well in the middle, then add tomato paste. Gradually mix with other ingredients, allowing the paste to caramelize a bit. 

5. Add water or stock gradually, until it reaches a good thickness. If you add too much, don't worry,  just let it simmer until it reduces after you add the rest of the ingredients listed below.  (Adding too much and letting it reduce is a good idea anyway, because it helps the beef absorb the other tasty ingredients). 

6. Add Worcestershire, mustard, garlic powder, paprika, S&P, and Tabasco. Stir well. Let simmer for 20 to 30m. If it gets too dry, add more water or stock. 

7. Great on toasted buns or bread!

Product Review: H-E-B Bakery Tortilla Chips

Ahhhh...H.E.B. Bakery Tortilla Chips...they come in handy when we have leftover taco filling but don't want to open another package of crunchy taco shells. 

These chips are light, crispy, and delicious! 

Great for taco salad, dips, chilaquiles, or crushed & used as a coating for chicken (or fish). 

Bonus! You don't have to worry about these being "recycled" (like some restaurants tend to do). 😁

The H.E.B. where I found them had 3 varieties: unsalted, sea salt, and chile limon. So far we have tried the unsalted & sea salt versions. No complaints at all!

Many years ago there was a company that made these & they could be easily found in grocery stores, even in our little town. Then either the company closed, or the chips just lost their luster for shoppers. Maybe "Santitas" killed them, but I can't imagine why. Santitas are some of the worst tortilla chips on the market. 

Big thanks to H.E.B. for this offering! 

Product Review: H.E.B. Nacho Cheese Chips - Shout Out To H.E.B.!

I was craving Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips (Frito Lay version), but the price for a 7 oz. bag at Walmart is insane, and it doesn't get any better at any other store. Some crazy price like $2.78 (at our local store. Close to that, anyway.) Tooooooo much! So I nixed that idea. I didn't want to buy a giant bag either. I don't crave them that often. 

About a week later I was at H.E.B. when I noticed their version: Same size for a buck! Count me in! 

They are not exactly like the familiar Frito Lay version, but they are very tasty. They satisfied the craving. If I had seen a price like that anywhere else but H.E.B. I would have been skeptical. But H.E.B. strives for quality, so I wasn't worried. 

It took me 4 days to finish the bag (because of the calorie count), so this "fix" should last a while. 

Thanks once again to H.E.B.! 

Here's a pic of the chips in the bag. This is not a full bag. It was just before my third "round." 

Restaurant Review: Cazadores Mexican Restaurant - Sealy, Texas

Mexican Guacamole

Call me cautiously optimistic. This is a restaurant that has been around for decades. On the visit prior to this one, I had already made up my mind that I was not going to eat there anymore, because of the severe decline in quality. They just weren't even trying anymore, so it seemed. 

We have numerous Tex-Mex and other eating establishments in this town, but not many have the space we need for a meeting. We were expecting quite a few people, so this is the place we had to use. 

I decided ahead of time to only order things that were "safe." (I hoped so, anyway.)

They brought out the chips. Wow! No dark brown chips at all! They were all fresh. Let's be real here. There are establishments that recycle chips. I know this place did because I saw it with my own eyes one day when I was waiting to pick up an order many years ago. 

But you don't need to see it to know that it's happening, because different shades of chips brought to your table is a dead giveaway. It was getting out of hand here though, because the last few times we were there, the chips were almost unpalatable. A few fresh mixed in with a ton of recycled. About 

25% fresh/75% ugh, but I'm being kind. It was really more like 10/90. 

That wasn't the only issue though. Menu items were below par too. Even the basics, like rice. Overcooked, 1 tick away from the point of mush. You could have made pudding out of it. 

The cheese enchiladas were getting "hit & miss" as well. Originally, though they were not as good as the best ones I've ever had, they were good. Many Tex-Mex restaurants use Extra-Melt cheese (usually Land o' Lakes), that's not easily accessible for the rest of us. You can buy it now in bulk online & in some food warehouses, but you'd better have freezer space, or some chums to toss in $$$ to share among households. That is what they normally used here, but they were getting lax about it. If they ran out, they would sub with regular cheese, and it's just not the same. No creamy cheesy goodness to mesh perfectly with the sauce. 

I could list more, but this post would get really long. 😆

Back to the story: The chips were fab, and the tea...omg! So good this time! Miles away from the weak offerings we had been getting before. No excuse for that at any restaurant. Consider the cost of tea bags. Restaurants can buy at wholesale prices, so - pennies per pitcher. No reason to make it weak, especially considering the charge per glass, (even with refills). 

The complimentary salsas: red sauce was great! Green sauce had an odd aftertaste. I tried it twice & gave up on it. 

After viewing improvements, I still decided to err on the safe side & ordered Mexican guacamole, queso with extra jalapeños, and threw in a bean tostada. The bean tostada was okay. It was a "puffy" tostada, so very dramatic visually, but lacking in flavor. That's it in the pic below. It looks like a salad, but there is a tostada under there. 😆

Tostada Hide 'n Seek

Queso was on point. It's not easy to screw that up, though it is possible. It was a generous serving, so I shared it with tablemates. 

Queso! (Large bowl of jalapeños not pictured.)

After viewing the plates of my tablemates & questioning them, I got a good report overall, so next time I might take a chance and order a full meal. Without rice though, because that didn't pass anyone's "smell test." Still overcooked and mush-mush. 

There's really no excuse for mushy rice. It is so easy to make it attractive AND flavorful. Maybe I should give them Mom's recipe. The rice consumption would go WAY up. People would be ordering a plate of rice for dinner & small entrees as a side dish. YES. It is THAT good.

I'm happy to see that this restaurant appears to be going in the right direction now: up instead of down. I hope this trend continues. 

Recipe: Green Bean Casserole - The Stovetop Method; A Holiday Shortcut

I started thinking about a stovetop version of green bean casserole a few months ago. I decided to try it out just for the heck of it to see if it would be as good as the oven method. Finally got a chance when I happened to have 1/2 can of mushroom soup hanging around, along with an open package of crispy onions that needed to be used up. So I decided to go for it, using one can of green beans. 

This method can come in handy, especially around the holidays when and oven gets a workout and some dishes have to take turns. Also great if you don't have an oven, or if you get a craving for this dish but don't want to heat up the kitchen with the oven. If you have a microwave but no oven, you can still use part of the recipe, because obviously the crispy onions MUST be toasted. It's just not the same if they aren't. 

Also, some things just don't work well in the microwave. I have started this dish in the microwave & finished it in the oven before, when time was short, but there wasn't a problem doing it that way. Microwave only? No way! 

Sometimes I see posts that mock this dish, but I would really miss it if I didn't have it at least once during the holiday season, or for cravings at other times of the year. Nostalgia food. Comfort food. All good as long as you don't make it a weekly habit. 😁

It turned out really well on the stovetop, next time I will let it simmer a little longer, but other than that, it was very satisfying with the crispy onion topping. 

First: toast your onions. I used a stainless steel pan and it worked just fine. A bonus with this method is you can leach some of the oil out of the onions if you let them rest on some paper towels while you prepare the rest of the dish, and leach out a few calories too. 😆 Otherwise, just put them in a bowl & set aside. Also, if you like them darker, go for it. These were dark enough for me after toasting.

Before Toasting

After Toasting

Next, wipe out the pan out with a paper towel, (or not). There will be bits left in the pan from the onion toasting. I left those in. Add the soup & milk. Add a little pepper, mix well, drain beans, and add those in. Let this simmer & reduce for a few minutes.

Add part of the crispy onions. I always save as many of the onions as possible for the crispy top layer. Too many in the soup layer can get a little funky anyway. 

I always sprinkle extra pepper on the top. Just ignore this if you don't like a lot of pepper. Simmer for a while, let it reduce a little more, Then sprinkle the rest of the crispy onions on the top & serve.

The Result - Success! Still tasty as ever & saves a parking space in the oven for another dish that is waiting in line. 

Belated Butterfinger Review & Crunch Test

I came in late in the game on this one. I had no idea that the Butterfinger brand was bought by Ferrero about 5 years ago (or so). I don't eat a lot of candy, so I don't feel bad about missing the memo, except I might have purchased a bar a little more frequently if I had known. Maybe. 😆

For those who didn't know, I will provide a brief summary. It might be brief. It could get a little longer. That happens sometimes. 

I was reading, (it might have been in Quora), when I ran across a post about Butterfinger. Quite a few people were complaining and whining about it, because it wasn't the same. So I'm thinking..."bought by Ferrero, how bad could it be?" I remember having one at least once since it happened, and it tasted great. Better than usual. But I was really hungry when I ate it on a work break, so I didn't think much about it at the time. 

So of course I had to get one for a taste test. I mean really...Ferrero. Ferrero, for Pete's sake, purveyors of the lovely Ferrero Rocher confections that are so well-loved. 

No artificial flavors or colors. I can dig that. That's the problem with a lot of the lower-priced candy these days. When I was growing up, we didn't have 10,000 variations of candy bars. We had a few good choices, and they were good until many of them started being made with cheaper ingredients. 

I can use the Nestle Crunch Bar as an example. It was always satisfying, but in later years, it started tasting too "waxy." I stopped buying it. It just wasn't enjoyable anymore. Not long ago I bought one just to see if it was better or worse. I was pleasantly surprised because it was very good. I did not know that Ferrero was responsible for that change. That is another brand they purchased, along with 100 Grand & Baby Ruth. (I will be trying those again soon.)

Check this link for additional brands: Ferrero. Like...Keebler! That was another nice surprise, because Keebler cookie flavors went south over the years too. 

But back to good ol' Butterfinger. I have no complaints. Sometimes companies "improve"  or sell a brand to another company and the results are very disappointing, (I point to Coke & Wolf Hot Dog Chili Sauce as great big losers in that department. Coke was never the same after the "change" & change back. Wolf had great hot dog sauce, discontinued it, brought it back, and now it sucks). 

But Butterfinger? Delicious! It might be a little less crunchy than before, but that's it. It is still crunchy enough for satisfaction, IMO. 

I conducted a crunch test just for grins. 

Here it is right out of the package, I snapped it in two: 

Next was a bite test. Two bites:

And the crumbs left after it was completely consumed:

I tried my best to contain them as I ate the bar over the plate, but some did escape. It fractured nicely, as you can see in the photos. 😂

I don't know what all of the complaining is about. The chocolate is nice and "chocolatey," the filling is satisfyingly crunchy. I only bought one bar that day. I totally would have eaten another if I had had one. 

For more entertainment, search for copycat recipes on the internet. There is the original copycat recipe, and one that uses candy corn. Yes. Candy corn. I saw several of those. Maybe it works? But I am not a fan of candy corn, so I'd go for the original copycat first. 

Two thumbs up and if I had more thumbs, Butterfinger would definitely get more thumb votes. Try it out if you haven't lately.