Jon’s famous potatoes

pitapuppy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:06:45 +0000

Jon from Prague has honored us with his famous potato casserole recipe. It is another great way to use some of the things in your refrigerator that are beginning to grow, and it is tasty , too! I had them myself when I was in Prague last year!

Grab the three potatoes you have left in the bag, one onion, an egg, and some not too ripe milk!

wash the potatoes (don’t peel them) and remove any eyes!
slice the potatoes and soak them in warmish water for about 30 mins
while the potatoes are soaking, peel and slice the onion
break the egg into a mug and add the milk, give it a quick stir to break the yolk.
remov e the potatoes from the water and place them in a smallish (oven proof) ceramic dish, one layer of potatoes, one layer of onion add a dash of salt and pepper to each layer if you like… keep going till you run out of po tato! (I like to keep the ends of the potatoes for the top and they brown up nicely

Poor over the milk and egg mix (don’t worry if it doesn’t come all the way to the top, it will expand)

Pop it in the oven on 220c (that would be 425 F for you Americans) for about 25 mins, or until it smell so good you can’t wait any longer

Very cheap and easy to make (heck, I can do it!)

Thank you, Jon! Anyone else have a cheap recipe that uses leftovers or over the hill foods? We’d love to hear from you!

Sandi

Pizza Soup

pitapuppy — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:55:13 +0000

It is starting to get cold out, so it seems right to give you another of my favorite soup recipes. I invented this one because I was trying to lower my carbohydrate intake. I was doing okay except for two things. I simply cannot live without bagels or pizza. Well, I’m still eating bagels, but I found a way to have my pizza (without the crust) and eat it too!

You need to pick up a package of your favorite Italian sausage, some pepperoni, 2 large cans of diced tomatoes, a large onion, mushrooms (canned or fresh), and green, red or yellow bell pepper. As with most of my recipes, most ingredients are optional. That is because I am usually cleaning out the fridge, cabinets, etc. However, I do recommend that you should use whatever you would normally order on your pizza. Tell your finicky eaters to pick out what they don’t like.

For seasonings you need salt, pepper, garlic, basil, oregano, parmesan cheese and beef bouillon. Are you ready?

If you didn’t buy bulk Italian sausage, slice through the casing, mush it up and sauté it with chopped onion in some olive oil (or whatever oil you normally use). Add your garlic, salt, pepper, and basil at this point (hold off on the oregano). When it is cooked through, add your sliced mushrooms and chopped peppers. After that is slightly tender, toss in your tomatoes, pepperoni, some beef bouillon, and a can of water.

Stir it up and let it simmer, covered, until you are dying to taste it. Remember that the ingredients are all cooked at this point, so you are now attempting to fuse your flavors. Make any seasoning adjustments that are necessary. If you got it a bit too salty, add another can of water and/or tomatoes. They say throwing in a potato absorbs the salt but it never worked for me!

If you have it seasoned well, then it is time to add some parmesan (for thickening) and a shake or two of oregano. Don’t add parmesan if the soup is too salty…it is a salty cheese. If you are wondering why we wait to the end to add oregano (as I always did), it is because oregano tends to get a bit bitter tasting if cooked too long. But it is great on pizza!

Serve it plain, or drop a piece of provalone on top to melt in (this is not a salty cheese) and sprinkle with a bit of parmesan. I said it was lower on carbs than pizza…I never said it was low in calories. Enjoy!

Economic Decorating » cooking

Jon’s famous potatoes

Pizza Soup