Potato Gratin with Tomatoes, Gruyère, and Thyme

"I found this recipe on Pinterest.  The recipe came from HERE and she adapted it from The Foster's Market Cookbook, by Sara Foster.  This was so delish and smelled wonderful while cooking.  I regret not letting it "rest 10-15 minutes before serving" because it was very soupy and did not come out in pretty slices like in her photo.  I also had some curdling going on, which I wonder could be avoided by warming the half and half first.   I don't think I used enough salt and I would add garlic, onion powder (or thinly sliced onions) and maybe even crumbled bacon.  I definitely want to try other variations."

INGREDIENTS:
8 Tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and divided
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped (I used dried because it was what I had on hand)
2 cups (8 ounces) grated Gruyère cheese (I used Swiss as a cheaper substitute)
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
1 large tomato (10 ounces) cored and thinly sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko crumbs

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Brush the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter.

Slice two of the potatoes as thinly as possible, about 1/8-inch thick.  Arrange a single layer of the potatoes on the bottom of the baking dish.  Top with a second layer of potatoes.  (It is best to slice the potatoes as needed per layer because the starch in the potatoes helps hold the layers together).  Brush the potatoes lightly with a portion of the melted butter.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, about 2 teaspoons of the thyme, 2 tablespoons of the Gruyère, and 1/3 cup of the Parmesan.

Slice and add 2 more layers of potatoes, brush lightly with melted butter.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, about 2 teaspoons of the thyme, about 2 tablespoons of the Gruyère, and 1/3 cup Parmesan.  Add a single layer of tomatoes and top with 2 tablespoons of the Gruyère, 1/3 cup of the Parmesan, 2 teaspoons of the thyme, and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Continue this process with two more layers of potatoes.  Press firmly with the palm of your hand to pack all of the ingredients together.  Brush lightly with the melted butter, sprinkle with the remaining thyme, season lightly with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with the remaining Gruyère.

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and panko; set aside.  Pour the half-and-half and the chicken broth over the potatoes and top with the bread crumb mixture.  Drizzle the remaining butter over the bread crumb mixture and bake, covered with foil, for 45-50 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes longer or until the gratin is bubbling and golden on top and the potatoes are soft when pierced with the tip of a sharp paring knife.  Let rest 10-15 minutes before serving.  Serve warm.  Enjoy!

Jen's Mashed Sweet Potatoes

"I was looking for a healthier alternative to my sweet potato casserole, so I made these today....I pureed them in the food processor so my infant son could eat them too, but you could use a mixer for a chunkier texture."


INGREDIENTS:

3-4 averaged sized sweet potatoes, diced
2 T. butter cut into small pieces
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
1/4 t. cloves
1/2 c. skim milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place diced potatoes into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish/pan. Dot with butter pieces. Sprinkle sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves over top. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hr. and 15 minutes or until potatoes are very soft when poked with fork. Mix or puree with milk, return to dish/pan and bake additional 15 minutes uncovered.

Potatoes with Caper Sauce

"Found this on allrecipes.com. My changes are included."


INGREDIENTS:

8 medium potatoes, washed and diced
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
1 tablespoon minced green onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the melted butter, capers, garlic, green onion, parsley and vinegars in a bowl. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain.
Add the caper sauce to the pot of drained potatoes and toss gently to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place potatoes in 9x13 dish and add parmesan cheese to the top. Bake in oven preheated oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serves 6-8

Honey Roasted Red Potatoes

"I had some red potatoes so I looked up recipes using them and found this one on allrecipes.com. Please check my tips at the bottom"

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound red potatoes, quartered
• 2 tablespoons diced onion
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly coat an 11x7 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place potatoes in a single layer in prepared dish, and top with onion. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and pepper; drizzle over potatoes and onion.
3. Bake in the preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring halfway through the cooking time.

Tips:

-as suggested by a review I used three tablespoons of honey instead of one
-I used a little extra salt
-I added garlic
-the cooking time is more like 60 minutes, and it's better to stir the potatoes every 15 minutes.

Country Potato Salad

"I had this recipe in my box for a long time but had never tried it. I wrote it on an index card, so I have no idea where it came from. I made some changes, so I'm adding them in. My favorite type of potato salad has lots of egg and yellow mustard, but with this one I was pleasantly suprised"

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 pounds of potatoes, peeled, diced and cooked until fork pokes easily, but still firm

4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1/2 cup green or red pepper, diced

1/2 cup onions, diced (the recipe called for green onions, but I only had vidalia)

6 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used 12 pieces of the pre-cooked boxed bacon)

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon celery seed (I omitted because I didn't have it).

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Dressing:

3/4 cup mayo (I use miracle whip)

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon horseradish

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

pinch oregano

pinch chives

DIRECTIONS:

In large serving bowl combine first set of ingredients. Set aside. In small bowl combine dressing ingredients, and toss with potato mixture. Chill for up to 24 hours.

Yield: 10 servings

Jen's Creamy Potato Casserole

"I wanted to take my mom's cheese potato recipe and put a spin on it. I didn't make as much quantity as that recipe, but it still feeds 4-6."

INGREDIENTS:

5 medium to large potatoes, diced (I left skins on)

1/2 stick butter (4 tablespoons) softened or melted

4 oz cream cheese, softened or melted

1 can cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup sour cream

6 oz. shredded parmesan cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Spray 9x9 or larger baking dish with cooking spray and put in potato mixture. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes (I poke potatoes with fork to see it they're done). Will be browned and bubbly on top.

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

"I probably would never have found this recipe (on allrecipes.com), but I really needed to find a potato recipe for the crock pot since my oven was going to be occupied with other things. These were so good and creamy, unlike some mashed potatoes that are dry without gravy."

INGREDIENTS:

5 pounds red potatoes, cut into chunks (recipe didn't say peeled or not, so I left the peels on)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

3 cubes chicken bouillon

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency. Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker. Place towel stretched tightly across top of crock, underneath lid, to absorb steam and keep potatoes from getting too soggy. Cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Judy's Cheese Potatoes

"This is my mom's recipe. I don't know if she made it up, or got it from someone else, but this was what she made for years for special occasions, like Easter. Almost everyone I know has tried some version of this"

INGREDIENTS:
2 lb bag of plain frozen hashbrowns (shredded or cubes...I prefer cubes), thawed
1 16 oz container of sour cream
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 1/2 cups (10 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 large or 1 small onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon paprika

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all ingredients except paprika into large bowl, and mix together. Spoon into a 13x9 inch. baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle paprika over the top, and bake uncovered for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Makes approx 8 servings

Tips:
You can substitue reduced fat sour cream, cheddar cheese (I use the 2% milk cheese) and the cream soup (campbell's makes a healthy request), and not really notice much of a difference in taste, but low-fat butter is not recommended for baking. You can also use cream of mushroom soup, and I think it only makes it slightly different. I have also used miracle whip and cream cheese as substitues for part of the sour cream when I didn't have enough.

Paprika Potatoes

"I believe this came from Country Living magazine, from when my mom used to subscribe when I was a kid. They had nice little perforated recipes you could save. I am going to give you the recipe as it reads, but here are the modifications I made:

-I had to bake mine about 20 minutes longer than stated, and I would definitely pan fry them instead because they were still too soggy

-I cut them into fries instead of wedges so I doubled the coating ingredients "

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

6 medium potatoes peeled and cut into quarters lengthwise

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (I would even try 375) Melt butter in 13x9 inch baking pan (I put it in preheated oven while I was preparing potatoes). Combine next six ingredients in large plastic bag. Place potatoes in bag and shake to coat. Place in baking pan. Bake uncovered for 60 minutes turning once after 30 minutes.

Yield 4-6 servings.

recipe was submitted to magazine by Melody Haney from Barberton, Ohio

Jen's Sweet Potato Casserole

"I had two recipes, one for twice baked sweet potatoes and one for a casserole, each with some different ingredients. I have made each one by itself, but when I combined the two I like my creation the best, so I am calling this my own."

INGREDIENTS:

3 large sweet potatoes

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

6 ounces cream cheese softened

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wrap potatoes in foil and bake for 1 hour or until soft.

"Mine weren't soft after 1 hr. and 15 minutes, so I left them in for another 15 minutes, and then they dripped and stunk up the house, so you might want to put them on a baking tray."

Cut potatoes in half, scoop flesh from the skins and put into large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and stir. Put into baking dish and bake for 15 minutes on 350.