Mashed Potato Salad

How have I never posted this before?
I mean, it is the quintessential summer side dish, found at all cookouts and BBQ's.
And, while I think potato salad is Super Easy to make, some people find it a little challenging.
Specifically, what people seem to have the most trouble with on this dish is that they don't know how long to cook the potatoes for. If they are under-cooked, they are raw and crunchy. And if they are over-cooked, well- they are mush.
I have also heard people say that they can never seem to get the dressing right. Sometimes they put too much mayo in, sometimes they season it too much, and they ruin the whole salad.
So here is my version, which hopefully helps anyone who's had trouble with this salad in the past.

Ingredients:
Potatoes (I like the small yellow ones), mayonnaise (I use a little regular mayo, and a little Miracle Whip), yellow mustard, dijon mustard, ranch dressing, celery, onion, eggs, garlic powder, salt, pepper, sugar.

Steps one and two: boil the potatoes and boil the eggs.
For both: add them to pots of water, so that they are all completely submerged. Cover and cook on High.
     For the potatoes: once the water comes to a boil, uncover the pot, and let them continue to boil. The time will depend on the size of the potato (more time for larger ones, less time for smaller ones). These small ones I used took about 15 minutes once the water was boiling. To tell if they are done, stick a fork into the middle of the potato. If it goes in with no resistance, and slides right off the fork, it's done. When done, remove from pot and let cool.
     For the eggs- once the water comes to a boil, turn the burner off. Cover the pot and let the eggs sit for 12 minutes. After that, drain them and put them in a dish of cold water. Let them cool in the water for a few minutes, or let them cool on the rack with the potatoes.

Step three: make your salad dressing.

Forever and always when I made potato salad I would cut up the potatoes and eggs, then start adding mayo, etc. right too the potatoes until I got it "just right", praying all long that I didn't add too much of anything and ruin the salad. Then one day I was at my cousin Melissa's house, and she was making potato salad, but she was making the dressing in a separate bowl, and I thought to myself "Holy Cow! How did it NEVER occur to me to make the dressing, get it exactly the way I want it, and THEN add it to the potatoes?!?!?".

I couldn't believe that for all the years I had been making this that I never thought of that.

Ever since then, this is the way I have done it. 

So thank you Melissa. You have changed my life.

Anyways, the dressing: I have no measurements here. I just add everything to the mayo until it tastes good.

I personally prefer to do a 50/50 mix of mayonnaise and Miracle Whip, and just a little bit of all the other ingredients (yellow mustard, dijon mustard, ranch dressing, garlic powder, salt, pepper, sugar), but again, this is all personal preference so everyone does it their own way.

Miracle Whip

Mayo

Dijon

Ranch Dressing

 

Mustard

Garlic Powder

Pepper

Salt

Sugar

Mix

Step Five: peel and chop the potatoes, eggs, onions and celery.

I think this step is pretty self explanatory, but if not: the potatoes should be bite-sized pieces and the rest should be chopped much smaller, so that you don't get any large pieces when you are eating the salad.

Toss the eggs, celery and onions with the potatoes before you add the dressing to make sure the ratios are where you want them to be.

Also- I don't like a ton of yolks in mine, so I crumbled 2 into the potato mix, then just chopped the egg whites.

 potatoes

 celery

 onion

 eggs

Next step (I think we're on six now): add the dressing.

Make sure you only add a little at a time and mix it up completely before adding any more. You never want to add too much!

Last step (#7): mash it!

I know this seems a little "unconventional", but this is the way I like it.

You see, when I was little my Gramma always made potato salad, and it was sooo good. But my Grampa loved mashed potato salad, so we had that a lot too. And ever since then, if I have potato salad, I mash it with my fork so that it's mashed the way my Grampa liked it. 

So now, whenever I make potato salad, I give it a little mash at the end, and I really think it makes it so much better than big, chunky potato salad.

There you go! I hope you try this and enjoy it as much as I always have!

Oh, and if you really want to be fancy with your potato salad, line the edges of a platter with lettuce leaves and chopped tomatoes, then set the salad on top. It's so pretty that way (sorry I don't have a picture of my own to offer!).

See you soon!

Mocha Frosted Brownies

I know I said in my last post that I am not a baker, but here I am again posting another recipe for a baked good. I just couldn't resist. I mean, who could resist something called Mocha Frosted Brownies?!? Not me, for sure. I mean, just look at them!!!

Oh, and thanks to The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, for this Amazing recipe! (after all, I have to give credit where credit is due. God knows I could not come up with something like this on my own!!!)

Ok, here we go!
The recipe:
   

Brownies:
       4 ounces (weight not volume) Unsweetened Chocolate
       2 sticks (1 Cup) Butter
       2 cups Sugar
       4 whole Eggs
       3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
       1-1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
   

Icing

       2 sticks (1 Cup) Butter, Softened
       5 cups Powdered Sugar
       1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
       1/4 teaspoon Salt
       3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
       1/2 cup Strongly Brewed Coffee, Cooled (more To Taste)

Preheat the oven to 325*. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick baking spray. Or a 9-inch square pan (that's what I used). Or a 9 x 13 if you want them to be a little thinner. The 8-inch makes them pretty thick.

For the brownies:
Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt it in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in-between. Be careful not to let it burn!!! Set it aside to cool slightly. Do not let it cool so much that it starts to solidify though.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar. Then beat in the eggs.

With the mixer on low speed, drizzle in the melted chocolate. Make sure it isn't still warm, as that will cause the eggs to scramble, which will ruin your batter.

Add the vanilla extract and mix.

Add the flour to the bowl and mix just until combined; do not over mix.

Pour the batter in the prepared baking pan. Spread it to even out the surface.

Bake until the center is no longer soft, 40 to 45 minutes. Set the brownies aside to cool completely before icing.

For the icing:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla. Mix until slightly combined, then add 1/2 cup of the coffee.

Whip until the icing is light and fluffy. If the icing is overly thick, add 1/4 cup more coffee. It should be very light and fluffy. If you add too much coffee, just add some more powdered sugar.

You are now ready to frost the brownies!!!! I think we all know how to do this. Just make sure the brownies are cool, otherwise the frosting will melt when you put it on them.
Also, this recipe makes a lot of frosting, so feel free to add as much or as little frosting as you prefer (I prefer a lot!)

Refrigerate until the icing is firm, and then slice the brownies into VERY SMALL squares. A little goes a long way!
Then, ENJOY (which I know you will!!!!)  :)

*Editors note: I took the first picture below before I let them cool for a while. I was too impatient and wanted to eat one!

The second picture is from The Pioneer Woman's website, and is what they look like if you cut them after they have been in the fridge for a while. Again, I need to give credit where credit is due on that picture, since it isn't mine.

Sugared Donut Muffins

If you know me, you know that I don't bake very often. But every once in a while a recipe like this one shows up, and I just can't resist. I mean, the name alone makes you want to make them! But then you see a picture of them, and you just know that you have to whip up a batch:

So let's begin. Here's the recipe:

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat the oven to 350* and grease your muffin tins. This recipe makes 24 mini-muffins or 10 standard muffins. (I made a dozen mini and 4 extra large)

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine.

Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract, then mix until batter is smooth and all ingredients are combined.

Divide batter evenly into muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-18 minutes for standard-sized muffins or 11-12 minutes for mini-muffins.

While muffins are baking, melt butter and pour remaining sugar into a small bowl.

When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar. Cool on a wire rack

Then Enjoy! And you will, because these really do taste like sugar donuts. So moist and fluffy!

Oh, and if you have some jelly, spread it on and they'll taste like jelly donuts (I only had strawberry, but I think grape or raspberry would be amazing!)

You can also add a little cinnamon to the sugar in case you want them to taste a little more cinnamoney :)

Enjoy!

Fish Parmigiana

Sometimes I make these amazing meals, and when I am all done I say to myself "crap! you forgot to take pictures!". That is exactly what happened here kids.
Last night I made fish (cod to be exact) Parmesan and all I have to show for it is a crappy cell phone picture, and a couple somewhat-decent camera pictures that I took after I started eating.
Sorry.
But, this is a really simple meal to make if you like fish and red sauce together (a lot of people don't).
First of all, we all know how to boil pasta, so that part needs no instructions.
And we all know how to make (or open a can of) sauce, so I'll skip that too.
All that's left then is the fish. And you make it exactly how you make chicken parm- dip it in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, and drop it into a skillet with about a 1/4" of oil, heated over medium-high heat. Cook for a couple minutes (depending on the thickness of your fish), then flip and cook the other side for a couple minutes as well, until the entire piece of fish is golden brown and thoroughly cooked through.
Then just put it on top of some pasta and sauce, drizzle a little sauce over it, then grate some fresh Parmesan on top, and Voila! Fish Parm/Parmesan/parmigiana. Whatever you want to call it!
:)