Baked Potato Soup

This is another one of my Mom's recipes, so good :)

BAKED POTATO SOUP

4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
12 slices of bacon (drained & crumbled), or 8oz of small cubed ham
4 green onions, chopped, or 2 tsp of dried chives
1/3 cup margarine or butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
7 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
6oz shredded cheddar cheese
6oz Velveeta, cubed
1 cup sour cream

In a stock pot or dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.

Greeks attack

After having an amazing dinner at the Greek Islands in Indy, my hubby and I want more Greek food. So I went hunting. Going to try these tonight. Helps that there's 30mph winds today so won't be doing the steaks I bought on the grill.

Greek Salad (will of course omit things Chris won't eat)
Ingredients
Salad:
1 to 1-1/2 heads/bunches romaine lettuce, washed, cut in half down center rib, then cut across in 1/2" wide strips
1/2 small red onion sliced to 1/8" and left in rings or half rings
1 medium cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, seeded and cut in 1" lengths
2 medium ripe vine tomatoes, cored, sliced into 8 wedges and seeded
1 small green bell pepper, sliced into thin (1/8") rings and seeded
Topping:
8 ounces crumbled feta cheese
20 pitted kalamata olives
Dressing:
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon course ground black pepper
Combine dressing ingredients in glass jar, a small glass bowl or tall drinking glass and mix thoroughly
Toss salad ingredients into large salad serving bowl
When you are ready to serve, drizzle dressing over top of salad, lightly toss, then add cheese and olives to top of salad
 
Greek Steak
Ingredients
1 to 2 pound thin cut beef steaks, I've used rib eye so far
Marinade:
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon minced tomato (I am trying this ingredient for the first time, just for color, consider it very optional)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon course ground black pepper
Frying:
2 additional tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Place meat in a gallon size Ziplock® bag or spread out over a large glass lasagna or cake pan
Combine all marinade ingredients together in a small glass bowl or tall drinking glass and mix thoroughly
Pour marinade into bag with meat or over meat in glass pan. Seal bag, removing air and work marinade into meat or spoon marinade over meat to cover well, if using glass pan. Marinate for at least 2 hours. If marinating more than 2 hours, do so in refrigerator
Preheat oven to 400º F and on the stove, heat a heavy (oven proof - optional) frying pan to medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the 2 additional tablespoons of olive oil. When oil is hot, begin adding steaks in a single layer. If they won't all fit, cook them in batches
For the oven finishing method, quickly sear/brown steaks on both sides, pour in lemon juice, then place pan of seared steaks on top rack of 400º oven for about 10 to 15 minutes until steaks are heated through to desired doneness
For the stove finishing method, reduce heat to medium after searing, pour in lemon juice and continue to cook steaks until desired doneness
Serves 3-6, depending on whether you use 1 or 2 pounds of steak

And of course have to have these too :) Greek Potatoes

Next I need to find good recipes for Pastitsio and Souvlaki with Tzatziki (what we had at the restaurant). The ones I linked to above may work :)

Grilled 'tater salad

This Grilled Potato Salad from Southern Living was OMG amazing the other night (make sure you do the rub and the dressing) :) oh and put the bacon on LAST not while stirring the potatoes and onions in the bacon grease. Oh yes, it involves bacon grease. Baaaaad for you but tastes so yummy.

edited to add recipe, in case the interwebs eat it ;)

Grilled Potato Salad

Yield
Makes 4 to 5 servings

Ingredients
8 bacon slices
4 medium-size red potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 5 cups cubed)
1 large white onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
Potato Salad Dry Rub
Potato Salad Dressing
Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
1. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Cook bacon, in batches, in a large skillet over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp; remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon.

2. Add potatoes, onion, and Potato Salad Dry Rub to hot drippings in skillet, tossing to coat. Remove potato mixture with a slotted spoon.

3. Grill potato mixture, covered with grill lid, over 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat in a grill wok or metal basket 30 minutes or until tender, stirring every 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add Potato Salad Dressing, and toss to coat. Stir in bacon. Garnish, if desired. Serve warm.


Potato Salad Dry Rub

Yield
Makes about 2 Tbsp.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
1/8 teaspoon celery seeds
Preparation
1. Stir together all ingredients. Store in an airtight container up to 1 month.


Potato Salad Dressing

Yield
Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients
5 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Preparation
1. Stir together all ingredients. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

skinless twice bakes?

So I am trying this Man-Lovin' Potato Casserole tonight for Dad's birthday dinner. I tried the mixture and it tastes like skinless twice bakes :) yum. The only changes I am making are 2Tbsp dried chives instead of red onion, cheddar instead of american (with a bit of mozz cheese too, I am running low on shredded cheese), and shredded parm instead of grated. I will update y'all if it turns out gross but I think we may have a winner.

***after dinner edit: I thought it was a bit salty, probably from the bacon, season salt, and mayo. I may scale back to use only 1/2 tsp season salt next time or omit all together. With the other seasonings I don't know that I'd miss it. I did use a little bit of "tastefully simple" bacon bacon because I didn't have quite enough bacon bits. That may have added some salt too.

The man's opinion was good, Chris loves salt so he thought they were great ;) Dad seemed to like them. Though he rarely says he doesn't like something.

Texas Country Potato Salad

my Mom's cousin gave me this recipe. It is *so good* and so easy, but is not a healthy recipe by any stretch of the imagination. Is easy to triple since potatoes come in a 3lb bag ;)

Texas Country Potato Salad

4 strips bacon
1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled
1 green onion, sliced
1 boiled egg, chopped
1/4 c mayonnaise
1 t Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Cook bacon until crispy. Drain, reserving a few tablespoons of the grease, and crumble. Set aside.Place the potatoes in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Add a tablespoon of the bacon grease and some salt and place over medium-high heat. (I have omitted the grease before and it turns out okay, just not quite so good) Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and let the potatoes cool and then cut into bite-size pieces.In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper for dressing.Toss potatoes, onion and egg in dressing Add bacon. Serve chilled. Even better if you make it the day before you serve it.