Rosemary-Dijon Stacked Potatoes

Sometimes the best things are the least complicated. Take, for example, these stunning potato stacks...a few minutes of prep, a few ingredients, and you've got an awesome side for an elegant holiday meal....or a simple burger. 

I haven't been posting much lately, or entering very many contests. I've been very occupied with my impending status change to grandmother...er...GlaMa.  A week overdue! Luckily, these are so easy to make (and so good!) that we've had them several times already. So, with no further ado, I present:

Rosemary-Dijon Stacked Potatoes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard (I used Maille Dijon Mustard with Horseradish)
1 Tablespoon chopped, fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced (1/8 - 1/16 inch)*

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.; brush the wells of a 12-cup muffin tin with the melted butter.
Whisk together the cream, mustard, rosemary, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Press the potato slices into the buttered wells of the muffin tin. Pour 2 tablespoons of the cream mixture over the tops of each potato stack.

Wrap foil over the top of the muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Allow the potatoes to cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing from the muffin tin.
Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper to taste and garnish with additional rosemary, if desired.

*Scrub the potatoes clean--no need to peel. Use a mandoline or a food processor to thinly slice the potatoes quickly.

What is your favorite holiday side?

When I was growing up, Sloppy Joe's were every school kid's favorite recipe.  In Wisconsin, however, we called them Spanish Hamburgers. Does anyone else remember this? Perhaps, in the land of meat and potatoes, a mixture of ground beef, celery, onions, and tomato paste was considered exotic? My mother's recipe was seasoned only with salt and pepper, and while I loved it as a kid, I couldn't help but doctor it up when I got older. Usually, this meant some mustard, worcestershire sauce, garlic....whatever I could dig up in the fridge. Until now. Now, there is this.....

Bonus--there's Red Gold Ketchup in there!

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to Indiana to participate in the Red Gold Tomatoes' Farm to Table Event. If you follow my blog, you all know that I'm already a huge Red Gold fan. This trip confirmed what I already knew....Red Gold Tomatoes are the best! I saw first hand how those fresh tomatoes make it into the cans, from one of the 53 Midwest family farms that supply the tomatoes to the actual plant, where the tomatoes are sorted, cleaned, and canned using the finest methods. If there was ever any doubt that not all canned tomatoes are equal, the "tasting" portion of this trip erased all of it. Different brands of tomatoes were displayed side by side. There was visual evidence---you could see the "other" brand's tomato was mushy---and sensory evidence...we could taste a difference! Plus, since Red Gold is committed to providing the best product to their consumers, their tomatoes are certified non-GMO and their cans are non-BPA.

Red Gold Tomatoes mean more than just canned tomatoes and sauce, though...they have ketchup, too! Recently, they teamed up with the original Huy Fong Sriracha to make an incredible Sriracha Ketchup, and they've rolled it out nationwide. So if you can't find the original Red Gold Ketchup in your neck of the woods, look in your local Walmart or Target and you'll find the Sriracha Ketchup. Go get some and make some of these Sriracha Joe's!

I made a slider version using my Homemade Hamburger Bun recipe. If you make your own buns (I highly recommend this), just portion out the dough into 18 portions. Then just butter them, toast them, and fill them up with this awesome recipe. This can be easily doubled or tripled for a bigger crowd.

Sriracha Joe's

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground chuck
• ½ cup diced red bell pepper
• ½ cup diced onion
• ½ cup diced celery
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• ¾ cup Sriracha Ketchup
• ½ cup water
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile pepper, optional

Instructions

• Brown the ground chuck, bell pepper, onion, and celery in a medium skillet over medium heat. Drain, then add the garlic, water, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and chile pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
• Continue to simmer for 20 minutes, adding additional water if needed. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. For less heat, reduce the amount of Sriracha Ketchup and replace with regular ketchup. Makes 8 sliders or 4 regular sandwiches.

Disclosure: I was given a trip to Indiana to participate in Red Gold Tomatoes' Farm to Table Event. I was not obligated to write about the trip and all opinions are my own.

Last weekend I was entrusted with a very important task...to make some treats for a tea party. Now, I've been asked to make goodies before (at least once a week), but this time the event was very dear to my heart, my daughter's baby shower! Yes, I am going to be a first time grandma....a seriously young grandma :-), but a grandma nonetheless. These are very exciting times and as you can imagine, the treats had to be stellar....

Mama-to-be had a few treat requests, mostly involving chocolate. Those were easy for me. Chocolate and I are old friends. But I needed to add a something for the citrus lovers in the group and Lemon Bars seemed the logical choice. First though, I had to research.

The perfect lemon bar...sweet, lemon-y gooeyness on top of a buttery shortbread crust.

I searched the Internet for the perfect recipe. Sweet, but not cloying. Lemon-y, but not too tart. In the end, I mashed up a couple of best. One was Ina Garten's recipe and the other, Ree Drummond's recipe. The result? Perfection.

The BEST Lemon Bars

Lemon-y, sweet, gooey, and beautiful. These lemon bars are truly the best!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup flour
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and the sugar until light. Stir in the flour and salt until the mixture just comes together. Turn into the prepared pan and press the dough evenly on the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned. Cool.
3. While the crust cools, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour evenly over the cooled crust. Return to oven and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until set. Cool completely. Generously dust with powdered sugar and cut into squares or triangle.

Next up...Pink or Blue? Reveal Cupcakes spill the beans!