Paula Deen's Hash Brown Potato Casserole

Hashbrown casserole was not something I had ever had until moving to Tennessee. But how to make potatoes even better than by adding butter, sour cream, and cheese? Now, I know that using condensed cream of ___ soups is considered pretty declasse in food circles, but sometimes you just have to own it. There were a lot of things that I had to turn a blind eye to in this casserole, like the two cups of sour cream, but let's not pretend like we all eat like this all the time. It's an indulgence, so treat it like such. It is also delicious - rich, creamy, and decadent. Just make sure you send the leftovers home with your guests.

Paula Deen's Hash Brown Potato Casserole

source: Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics
Serves 10-12

Ingredients

2 lbs frozen hash brown potatoes

4 cups grated Cheddar cheese (I reduced this to about 3 cups.)

1 10 1/2 oz can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup

2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tsps The Lady's House Seasoning (salt, black pepper, and garlic powder)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, the soup, sour cream, butter, onion, and House Seasoning. Place in a buttered 13X9 inch pan and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with the remaining cheese. Return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes longer.

Varation: Instead of topping the casserole with cheese, you may use 2 cups crushed Ritz crackers mixed with a 1/2 cup melted butter.

Oven-Roasted Red Potatoes

Instead of accompanying the roast chicken with mashed potatoes, I decided to do oven-roasted potatoes instead. I love red potatoes, especially when they're seasoned with rosemary and thyme and covered with olive oil. These complemented the chicken deliciously, and I don't regret substituting them for mashed potatoes at all.

I cut-up about 8 red potatoes into bite-sized chunks, put them in a single-layer in two 13x9 pans, and tossed them with olive oil to coat and rosemary and thyme. I roasted them in a 425-degree oven for about 20 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Walnut-Encrusted Tilapia with Steamed Broccoli and Red Potatoes

Eating more seafood is something that's always on my nutritional to-do list, but it never seems to happen. I really like seafood, but it's usually more expensive than other proteins and sometimes difficult and time-consuming to prepare, like in the case of cooking and shelling shrimp. Last week I was in the grocery store and saw a 3 lb bag of tilapia for $9.99. I was sold. These turned out to be some good-looking tilapia fillets too. I've had some that were so puny, you needed two per serving to make a real meal.

Fortunately, I also stumbled upon a delicious-looking recipe courtesy of Joelen. I changed it up a little and subbed walnuts, which I had on hand from the Lentil Walnut Burgers, for her macadamia nuts.

This turned out really well, and it wasn't too hard to throw together for a nice Friday night dinner. I served it with steamed broccoli and red potatoes tossed with olive oil and parsley. Joe particularly liked the crunch of the Panko breadcrumbs, and I liked how the nuttiness of the walnuts complimented the mild fish.

Walnut-Encrusted Tilapia
adapted from Joelen's Nutty Tilapia

Ingredients:
- 4 frozen tilapia fillets
- 1-2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 cup crushed walnuts (I put some in a plastic bag and crushed it with a rolling pin.)
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk eggs with water for egg wash.
In a shallow baking pan, combine the nuts, breadcrumbs, salt & pepper.
Dip each tilapia fillet in the eggwash and dredge in the nut/breadcrumb mixture until fully coated.
Plate coated fish on a plate and chill for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Place coated fish on a light greased baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Florentine Turkey Meatloaf with Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

This wasn't a terribly appropriate dinner for one of the hottest days of the year so far, but it was a lighter version of delicious comfort food. Unfortunately, Joe ended up having to work later than I thought he would, and I was relying on him to be able to pop this in the oven before I got home. We didn't end up eating until 8:45, and we were hungry, especially with the smell of this permeating the house.

I'm not very particular when it comes to meatloaf. I don't think I've met a meatloaf I didn't like, but I thought stuffing it with spinach was a nice touch, and I'm a big fan of stuffing as many vegetables as possible into things. If you like meatloafs that stay together, this is not the one for you, though maybe it was my fault for not sealing it well enough on the sides. These pictures are not very flattering, but it was good.


Florentine Turkey Meatloaf (recipe from here)

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1 cup spaghetti sauce, divided
1/2 cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs (or 1 egg and 2 egg whites), slightly beaten
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed (optional)
1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained (I used fresh spinach and cooked it down.)
3/4 cup low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8- or 9- inch loaf pan with foil with dull side toward food.
Combine ground turkey, 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce, bread crumbs, onion, eggs, Parmesan cheese and fennel seed in medium bowl.
Press half of turkey mixture into foil-lined pan. Press a 1-inch indentation down center of mixture, leaving 1-inch thickness on all sides.
Toss spinach and mozzarella cheese together; spoon into indentation, mounding in center. Press remaining turkey mixture evenly over top, sealing edges.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes. Spoon remaining spaghetti sauce over meat loaf. Bake 15 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes.

Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes (recipe from here)

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and quartered (I used redskin potatoes and left the skins on because that's how I like them.)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 cup sour cream (I used reduced-fat.)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (I used light margarine.)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
(I also added about 2 tsp of parsley.)

Directions
Place potatoes in a bowl and wash under cold, running water until water runs clear. Place in a medium saucepan with salt. Add enough water to generously cover. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until soft, about 15 minutes. (Drain the water. I don't know why the recipe doesn't mention this, and it made me a little confused.) While potatoes are still warm, mash with a fork, in a food mill, or gently in a food processor.

In a medium saucepan, warm sour cream and butter. Fold warm sour cream mixture into potatoes, add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Garnish with cracked pepper.

These potatoes are so easy that I don't know why anyone would make them with those awful flakes. I just love having the skins in there and the little chunks of real potatoes. Honestly, I probably could eat these potatoes even without the sour cream and butter; they're so smooth and creamy.