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Hasselback Gratin Potatoes – BBQ Side Dish Style

Hasselback Gratin Potatoes (BBQ Side Dish Style)

This recipe is a mod of several popular Hasselback Potato recipes out there. The "mod" was to bring in some flavor that pairs well with barbecue — and even more specifically, Central TX Style beef barbecue! Think of putting the time into this dish rather than the standard mac and cheese.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Rest time 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Equipment

  • 1 6×9 casserole dish
  • 1 mandolin

Ingredients
  

  • 1/3 cup fine grated parmesan reggiano cheese
  • 1/3 cup fine grated Monterey jack cheese
  • 1/3 cup fine grated mild cheddar
  • 1/3 cup fine grated Oaxaca cheese (asadero works too)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp fine sea salt
  • 2 cloves garlic grated
  • 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 4-5 grinds of fresh black pepper
  • 5 lbs russet potatoes
  • 2 tbsp softened butter

Instructions
 

  • Set a rack in your oven at middle position and preheat to 400°F.
  • In a large bowl, combine the cheeses. Set aside about 1/3 of the combined cheeses for later in a separate smaller bowl.
  • To the rest of the cheeses in the big bowl, add the cream, salt, garlic, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Mix thoroughly, let stand while you prep potatoes.
  • Wash and peel the potatoes.
  • CAREFULLY using a mandolin (or really great knife skills), slice potatoes by the ends at 1/8" thickness.
  • Stir the cream and cheese mixture a bit to ensure evenly mixed. Add potatoes to the mixture, folding to cover and coat. Let stand 15 minutes.
  • Evenly coat the inside of your casserole dish with the butter. Pick up a handful of potatoes, organizing them into a neat stack, and lay them in the casserole dish with their edges aligned vertically. Continue placing potatoes in the dish, working around the perimeter and into the center until all the potatoes have been added. The potatoes should be very tightly packed. If necessary, slice an additional potato, coat with cream mixture, and add to casserole. Pour the excess cream/cheese mixture evenly over the potatoes until the mixture comes halfway up the sides of the casserole. You may not need all the excess liquid.
  • Cover dish tightly with foil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until the top is pale golden brown, about 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and return to oven. Bake until deep golden brown and crisp on top, about 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven, let rest for a 20-30 minutes, and serve.

Notes

One substitute that is totally ok is garlic powder for the fresh grated garlic. About 1/2 tbsp should be fine.
Also, regarding the potatoes, try to use potatoes that are similar to each other in shape. Longer, thinner potatoes will fill a dish more than shorter, rounder potatoes.
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Butter Cream Pasta Sauce w/ Leeks and Mushrooms

Butter Cream Pasta Sauce with Leeks and Mushrooms

This is a wonderfully easy, quick to make, rich and satisfying pasta sauce. We use it on practically every type of pasta there is!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp butter
  • ¼ cup leek tops and tail trimmed off, then chopped
  • 1 cup chopped baby portabella mushrooms
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese fresh grated
  • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add leeks, mushrooms, and garlic and cook, stirring every so often 7-8 minutes. Don't let leeks or garlic brown — simply sauté until leeks are soft and fragrant, and mushrooms have released their liquid and have shrunk in size.
  • Add in white wine and allow to "cook out" as you stir occasionally. Cook until liquid in pan is reduced by half, and has thickened a bit. About 3-4 minutes
  • Lower heat to medium low. Slowly add in cream and stir gently with spatula to combine. Allow cream to warm and start steaming a bit, then add in parmesan cheese ¼ cup at a time. With each cheese addition, continually stir until cheese is totally combined. Aim for an even mix of cheese to the liquid so you don't end up with globs of cheese. Should take another 2-3 minutes for this step.
  • Increase heat back to medium, allow sauce to come to a low simmer (just bubbling at edges). Stir occasionally allowing sauce to thicken, 2-3 minutes, then kill the heat. Season with fresh ground pepper.

Notes

Ditch the mushrooms if you don’t want them (although they truly add a huge amount of unami to this sauce). For a big taste kicker if you ditch the mushrooms, add in some chopped bacon that has been fried off and drained. Add it in at the very end.
Feel free to add more parmesan to both thicken and season the sauce to your liking. I will simply warn you that parmesan is a salty cheese (hence why I don’t season in this recipe other than the black pepper), so be aware of that. Also, the pungent parm flavor will eventually dominate the subtle leek and garlic flavors as you add it.
For pasta choices, you can be simple and just cook up some very al dente flat lasagna sheets (not the frilled edge Americanized kind) and sauté the pasta in the sauce in right in the pan to finish. Or, serve over tortellini, gnocchi, or fettuccine.
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Rumaki

Rumaki

Originating somewhere in Hawai'i or the Bay Area in the 1960s (it was supposedly an old school Trader Vic's speciality), Rumaki is a classic old-school "pupu" or polynesian-American hors d'oeuvre. How can you go wrong with a simple teriyaki sauce for marinade, tender meat and crunchy water chestnut wrapped in bacon? I had you at bacon, right?
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 12 pieces

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1" piece fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 clove fresh garlic minced or pressed
  • 4 chicken livers cut into thirds
  • 3 water chestnuts quartered
  • 4 strips of wide/thick cut bacon cut into thirds
  • Toothpicks

Instructions
 

  • Whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic in a small bowl. Add chicken livers and water chestnuts and toss to coat; place in refrigerator to let marinate for 1 hour.
  • Heat oven to 425°. Remove liver and chestnuts from marinade with slotted spoon, reserving the marinade. Pour remaining marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat to thicken; as soon as it boils, remove from heat and set aside.
  • Place 1 piece of bacon on a cutting board, then top with 1 piece of liver and 1 piece of water chestnut. Wrap bacon around liver and chestnut; skewer bacon in place with a toothpick. Repeat process with remaining livers, water chestnuts, and bacon.
  • Transfer rumaki to a foil-lined sheet pan. (If you have a sheet pan with a wire rack, still line the pan with foil, but then also top with the rack). With a small brush or spoon baste a small amount of marinade on top of each piece. Bake 25 minutes. Use tongs to turn each piece basting every 5-7 minutes with the marinade. Your rumaki will be done when bacon is well browned (they don’t have to be crisp though!)

Notes

Don’t like/can’t find chicken liver? Substitute small chunks of chicken breast!
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Chili

Chili

Our family's chili recipe is as straightforward as it gets. Basically a Texas-style beef chili. Serve this with some fresh cornbread, and make sure you have some shredded cheese, fresh chopped white onion, or some Frito's corn chips to sprinkle on top, and you have a classic on the table. Enjoy!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp avocado oil (or other neutral cooking oil)
  • 1 tbsp Kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp black pepper (coarse ground, not fine)
  • 1½ lb cubed beef chuck steak (aka "stew meat"…but for best results cube up a chuck roast removing extra fat and connective tissue)
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 green bell peppers, chopped
  • 2 red bell peppers, chopped
  • 1½ lb ground beef 80/20
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup chili powder
  • 3 tbsp paprika
  • 3 cups beef stock (or more)
  • 32 oz red kidney beans (precooked/drained)
  • 32 oz crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp corn meal
  • ground chipotle or cayenne pepper (to taste)

Instructions
 

  • In a dutch oven, stock pot, or other large, heavy bottomed pot, heat oil over medium-high heat, and sear off the cubed chuck steak in batches. Take care not to crowd the pot…each batch should be a single layer so the meat is browned not "simmered". Each batch should take 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Set browned off steak aside in a separate bowl.
  • Add the onion and peppers into the beef drippings in the pot; add another ⅔ tbsp of oil if needed, and cook until they start to soften.
  • Add ground beef, seasoning with salt and pepper, and cook along with onions and peppers. Break down large clumps with wooden spatula or spoon. When all pink meat is gone, add garlic and continue to cook and mix together.
  • After all ground beef is just starting to brown, add steak back into pot, add chili powder and paprika and mix thoroughly. Cook for about 2 minutes. Then add beef stock until just covering, stirring and scraping up/deglazing any cooked/browned bits at the bottom. Bring mixture to simmer for 5 minutes.
  • At this point I like to check the seasoning. Take a small tasting sample of the broth. Adjust with salt and chili powder as you like, keeping in mind that more flavor will extract and intensify as it cooks. Simmer for another 30-45 minutes until steak starts to tenderize.
  • Add in kidney beans (ensure they are fully drained) and mix. Add in tomatoes and cocoa powder, mix, and simmer 10 minutes. Add corn meal and mix thoroughly. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes and check seasoning one last time. If you like it hotter, add chipotle or cayenne (use small amounts at a time, let simmer for 5-10 minutes, and recheck flavor).
  • Keep this on a low simmer for as much as another hour at this point until meat is tender to your liking.
  • (Optional Step) Refrigerate 12-18 hours and reheat before serving. This will intensify flavor.
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Cheesy Chowder and Butterbread

This is the recipe you’ve been looking for, brave Annierans! If you are a fan of the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson, you no doubt have wondered what exactly Cheesy Chowder or Butterbread tastes like. We are introduced to this comfort food staple made by Podo Helmer and for his hungry grandkids in first book, On the Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness.

It turns out, Peterson ate a “Cheesy Chowder” that his own mother made for him back in the day, and that he makes for his own family. If you would like to check out his mom’s version (which uses ham rather than chicken) head over to the official Wingfeather website. Our family isn’t a big fan of ham, and I have added a few minor recipe tweaks. Otherwise, I have tried to make this a true to what ol’ Podo would have made!

Also, I have created a recipe for “Butterbread” which we think totally makes the meal. I hope you enjoy!

Cheesy Chowder (with Chicken)

A version of the "Cheesy Chowder" made famous by the Wingfeather Saga book series.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups diced potatoes
  • 1/2 cup diced carrot
  • 1/2 cup celery thin sliced and chopped
  • 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Cheese Sauce

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 cups finely shredded cheese (we prefer the a blend of cheddar, colby, and asadero cheese, but just mild cheddar works fine)
  • 2 cups cubed cooked chicken (pulled rotisserie chicken works great too, just make sure to cut into bite size chunks)

Instructions
 

  • In a large sauce pan or a soup pot, bring the water, vegetables, salt and pepper to a boil. Reduce to a low boil/high simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, make cheese sauce by melting butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and stir to combine and mixture (roux) starts bubbling. Slowly add milk about 1/2 at a time, whisking into mixture. You are aiming for a smooth sauce that has enough thickness to coat a spoon. Add garlic and stir this white sauce, cooking for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Slowly add cheese, melting until fully incorporated into white sauce. Sauce will thicken up quite a bit…but never fear!
  • Skim off any foam/veggie scum that may have formed on liquid and veg boil; Stir cheese sauce into the liquid and veg, mixing well to combine. Add in chicken and heat over medium-low to heat chicken through.
Keyword cheese, cheesy chowder, chowder, wingfeather
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Butterbread

Inspired by the butterbread served with cheesy chowder in the Wingfeather Saga series of novels.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Rise Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Course Bread, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

Yeast Blooming

  • 1 pkg active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 cups milk warmed to 110°-120°F

Dough Forming

  • 4½ tbsp sugar
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted

Baking

  • non-stick spray
  • 1/2 cup butter

Instructions
 

  • In bowl of stand mixer, combine the Yeast Blooming ingredients (yeast, 1 tsp sugar, warm milk). Mix a small bit, allow to stand 15 minutes until yeast starts blooming.
  • In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar). Attach dough hook to stand mixer. Add dry ingredients to bloomed yeast, and start mixer on low speed. Add eggs, and allow to incorporate. Add melted butter and allow hook to mix/kneed dough until smooth and slightly sticky, about 5 minutes on low speed.
  • Coat the inside a large bowl with oil or non-stick spray. Place dough in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel, and set aside in a warm area to rise, about 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Turn dough out onto floured surface. Divide into half. Place each half into loaf pans coated on the inside with oil or non-stick spray. Cover and allow to rise another 15-20 minutes.
  • Bake loaves for 15 minutes. Then pour butter over the top of each loaf. Bake for an additional 15-25 minutes until tops are browned.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing loaves from pans and onto cooling racks.
Keyword bread, butter, homemade bread
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Vegetable Beef Soup

So, what if you wanted a simple recipe for a hearty soup? You would likely want beef (and/or beefy) flavor to reign with a good dose of veggies, right? There are a ton of variations of a beef soup or stew in the world. Ours is simple: cubes of beef from chuck (shoulder) meat, a rich broth, and a good dose of vegetables — without tomatoes!

We have found so many recipes across the interwebs that seem to conflate beef stew/soup with pot roast. Why? Tomatoes. Why? Because, really, busy home cooks want to keep things simple and use what they have on hand. Whether they are canned or fresh, tomatoes are a large staple of American diets in all kinds of recipe.

BUT NOT THIS RECIPE!! Why not? Well tomatoes add an acidity that we simply don’t want here. We want the deep “beefy” flavor of the soup to shine. Also, if tomatoes crash the party, they overpower the other veggies. No fair! Leave the tomatoes out, and be blessed with a deep-flared soup that you can make quick. Add crusty bread as a side to dip/sop up broth and you will have a HUGE win. Enjoy!

Vegetable Beef Soup – InstantPot

This is a SUPER EASY recipe for a hearty soup. Make it your own with any combo of the veggies listed in the recipe notes, making sure to have the "base" vegetables (for flavor's sake!) and the beef included. Add the softer or frozen veggies at the end (not "pressure cooked"). Make sure you have a RICH beef stock (see notes) for max flavor!
Print Recipe
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Automatic Pressure Cooker (InstantPot)

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp avocado oil (or cooking oil of choice)
  • ½-¾ lb beef stew meat in ¼-½" cubes, fat trimmed (cut from chuck roast if not pre-cut)
  • 2 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 yellow onion diced
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled, sliced or chopped per preference
  • 1 celery stalk chopped
  • 1 tbsp thyme
  • 5 cups beef stock (rich flavor required – see notes)
  • 2 cups diced small potatoes yellow or red with skins on
  • 2 cups mixed vegetables see notes
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions
 

  • Turn your InstantPot on "Sauté" and select "MORE" mode. Add in oil and allow to heat at least 3-4 minutes.
  • Season beef with salt. Add to InstantPot and brown the meat by stirring every 2 minutes or so. Should take 5-7 minutes to brown on all sides.
  • Add in onion, carrot, celery, and thyme. Stir to incorporate with beef, and continue to sauté all ingredients for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Press "cancel" on the InstantPot. Add in beef stock and potatoes (if using), along with any vegetables that will not turn to absolute mush in pressure cooking (parsnips, some squashes/zucchini). If you aren't sure, I suggest blanching or simmering the "weaker" and "mush prone" veg at this step SEPARATELY from the InstantPot.
  • Ensure lid on InstantPot is closed properly and set vent to "seal". Press the "Soup" function button, or alternatively choose Pressure Cook at "Normal" for 30 minutes.
  • Once InstantPot completes pressure cooking, rapid vent the pressure and open the pot. Add Worcestershire Sauce and any frozen or fresh veg that didn't need to pressure cook, including any you blanched or simmered and drained. Stir gently (as to not break up potato if you pressure cooked it) to combine. Season to taste. Simmer/heat until vegetables are cooked the way you want them.

Notes

Regarding the Beef Stock: Unless you have a beef stock that is rich in flavor, meaning it is salty/beefy/flavorful enough for you as a broth when you taste it on its own, you need an alternative. This should be a stock that is so yummy that all you want to do is sip it on its own or sop it up with bread. If that isn’t what you have, here is what I suggest:
Option A: Buy pre-package beef stock (not sodium reduced) and simmer 6 cups of it with 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp fine black pepper, and 2 tsp salt. Simmer this for about 5 minutes before you add to your soup.
Option B: “Better Than Boullion” or your other pre-fab boullion powder or cubes of choice work extremely well; I prefer the “Better Than Boullion” brand paste in a jar. Boil 4 cups of water. Use 2 tbsp of “beef stock” flavor per 4 cups of water to make stock.
Regarding Vegetables:
Pressure cooking the potatoes is almost a risk. This soup requires you to make good choices about vegetables. Single-kernel or pod-style veggies (peas, beans, corn) will turn to mush when pressure cooked at 30 minutes like this recipe calls for. The pressure cooking is really for the beef to become tender — the potatoes and (if using) parsnips, zucchini, etc, will be falling apart. I like to simply add frozen peas, beans, and corn in after pressure cooking and simmer for about 10 minutes before serving.
Keyword beef, InstantPot, soup, vegetable
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Chicken Wild Rice Soup – Byerlys, Daytons, etc.

Look, there is a reason this is a family favorite. Both Sarah and I are born-and-raised in Minnesota. Wild rice was a staple food for indigenous peoples of our area for centuries before Minnesota was settled. Particularly among the Ojibwe tribes that settled in central and northern Minnesota, where among flowages of rivers that connected lakes wild rice grew. The use of wild rice in widespread American cuisine did not emerge until the 1980s when restaurants started adopting more “Native American” ingredients and recipes into their portfolios. Among them were Minneapolis-based enterprises such as Dayton’s department stores “Oak Room” restaurants in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as Byerly’s grocery store showcase restaurant in St. Louis Park.

Our recipe riffs off the Byerly’s recipe, but only by a few, small changes. Rather than ham, we substitute chicken. Our kids don’t like carrots much, so the shaved/minced carrots are omitted as well. The Dayton’s recipe has some other amendments, and we note that in our recipe here.

Byerly’s (very successfully) ended up mass-producing this soup and selling via frozen blocks that simply needed to be melted/simmered via stovetop or microwave. You can find it readily in any Lunds&Byerlys store in the deli section these days — made fresh daily. As for Dayton’s — they were purchased by Marshall -Fields, and then Macy’s over the years. The Macy’s purchase involved consolidation, which meant unique non-producing food ventures needed to go. Thus, we saw the Oak Room and the lower level food court in the downtown Minneapolis Macy’s store close in 2017. The Lunds&Byerlys chain of grocery stores still carry their version of this classic fresh in deli, as well as pre-made and ready to reheat either from refrigerated container or frozen packages.

But, unless you live in, or are visiting, Minnesota, you can’t get it. Make your own…and if you need wild rice, make sure to buy from a local, indigenous brand. Google “Minnesota Wild Rice” and make sure to dig a couple pages in on search results. Several Minnesota-based tribes/brands have online stores.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

A classic Minnesota recipe! Based on the famous Byerlys Restaurant original (now known as Lunds&Byerlys), instead of ham, our family prefers chicken.
Print Recipe
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American, Minnesotan
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp avocado oil (or cooking oil of choice)
  • 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1-3 tbsp kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari (optional)
  • 6 tbsp butter (salted butter)
  • 2 tbsp minced sweet onion (yellow, white, Vidalia, or even red onion will work)
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 3 cups cooked Minnesota wild rice
  • 3 tbsp slivered almonds
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 2 tbsp sherry cooking wine (or dry sherry)
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley (for garnish)

Instructions
 

  • In a grill pan or medium frying pan, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken breasts with salt, add to pan. Add soy sauce to pan as you turn the chicken every so often to ensure even cooking and browning. Chicken will be done when all pink is gone, browned on all sides, and internal temp 165°F. Remove from pan to separate plate or bowl to cool slightly.
  • Cube up chicken breasts in ½" chunks, set aside.
  • In a large saucepan, soup pot, or medium dutch oven, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onion and saute until tender.
  • Whisk flour completely into butter/onion mixture (forming a roux) and cook slightly until bubbling. Gradually add 3 cups of the stock, stirring constantly to keep consistency smooth as it thickens. Increase heat to medium-high and allow to just come to a boil.
  • Stir in wild rice, almonds, and cooked/cubed chicken breast. Season with kosher salt to taste. Return to simmer, and adjust heat to medium to maintain simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Blend in half-and-half and sherry, and allow to simmer until soup reaches thickness/consistency you desire. If it is too thick, thin out with reserved cup of stock.
  • Serve in bowls with a sturdy bread for dipping or popovers. Garnish with parsley if desired.

Notes

Since this recipe calls for 3 cups of cooked wild rice, you will most definitely want to make that  ingredient in advance. If you have an automatic pressure cooker (like an InstantPot) or a rice cooker this is a cinch. Simply place 1½ cups of wild rice into your cooker along with 3 cups water and a pinch of salt. Mix so salt, rice, and water are all evenly distributed in your cooker, close and seal (if using a pressure cooker). If you have an InstantPot, use the Normal/High Pressure manual pressure cook setting for 15 minutes, and ensure the “keep warm” function is turned off. Once the cook is complete, allow for “natural release” of pressure — the longer you keep the rice closed up as it cools the better results you will get.
Keyword chicken, comfort food, Minnesotan, soup, wild rice
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