Potato Puffs with leftover shredded chicken and gravy

The next time you have left overs from a roasted chicken (or turkey) and pan gravy, you need to make these melt in your mouth potato puffs!  With a recipe found on TheKitchn.com , SP transformed boring left overs into something amazing!

Ingredients
2 cups mashed potatoes
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup grated cheese such as Parmesan or Gruyere, divided
1/4 cup minced chives
1/4 cup diced cooked bacon or ham, optional
shredded chicken or turkey left overs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Left over gravy (heated before serving)

Process
 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease the cups of a mini-muffin tin.
2. Whisk together the mashed potatoes, the eggs, 3/4 cup of cheese, the chives,  and meat.
3. Season as needed with salt and pepper. 
4. Mound a spoonful of the mixture in each muffin cup, creating a divot in the top as a reservoir for the gravy.
5. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining 1/4 cup of grated cheese.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the potato cups are set, browned on top, and hot through.
7. Let cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then use a spoon or knife to gently release them from the pan.
8.  Reheat the gravy, ladle over the potato puff and serve.

Friday's Fantastic Feast

I'm feeling alliterative, it wasn't really a feast but it was fantastic. Isn't that a pretty dinner?

Better yet it was chocked full of protein, and the dipping sauce was a left over Chipotle dressing I made as an improvement upon the leftover sauce from a Jillian Michael's Chipotle Beef recipe.

We butterflied boneless skinless chicken breast, filled it with spinach, lite salami, and shredded strips of carrot. The were rolled up, skewered with toothpicks, and oven baked. In the last few minutes they were topped with freshly shredded Parmesan. You can see the yummy bundles below, being delicately plated by SP's sexy hands. :D xo

Chef Jef's Veggie Burgers

These are my favorite veggie burgers in the whole wide world!

I have been in possession of this top secret recipe for about six years. It was given to me by Chef Jef (chef, drummer, friend, now father - yea - all around awesome guy) whom I had the pleasure of working with at Freedom Cafe. Having been a vegetarian, I have an interest and appreciation for veggie burgers and these babies were the first thing I ordered off the menu for my staff meal. The moment I had one of these for a staff dinner I fell in love. Jef finally divulged the recipe to me months later. SP distinctly recalls us "putting our heads together" to turn the restaurant kitchen recipe into a more family sized recipe.

This recipe yields about 6 patties and feeds our family for dinner - one burger each with the 6th split between SP and Puckstopper. You can happily double it, prep-cook and freeze, and save for later use. This recipe is perfect for the summer as it makes use of the garden vegetables and squash overload :D Thank you Jef, congrats on your son, and we love and miss you!

Ingredients
1 small zucchini, grated
1 small summer squash, grated
1/2 yellow onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
2 Tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
1 jar wheat germ
4 eggs
1 and 1/4 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients, but don't over mix.
3. Portion out into 6 parts, and shape into patties.
4. Lightly grease a baking dish .
5. Bake patties in oven for 10 minutes. Flip and then bake for 10 minutes more.
6. Cool and freeze.
7. Remove from freezer and throw them on the grill! :D

I took a total of three pictures before I froze them. Only the top photo came out ok, but here are the rest of the blurry iPhone photos I took before they went into our bellies. And the freezer.

St. Patty's Potato Cabbage Bundles

3 out of 5 people in my family have birthdays on a holiday. My Irish SP was born on St. Patrick's day so you can imagine the celebration. In March of 2004, we found this recipe in Gourmet, and it has been a St. Patrick's Day tradition for our family tradition ever since. While making the actual bundles is a high maintenance presentation, the leaves do end up to be quite scrumptious. But hands down, these are the best mashed potatoes ever, so feel free to omit the special equipment and head right for the good stuff!

Potato Cabbage Bundles

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise (1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large head leafy green cabbage (3 pounds)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 lb large boiling potatoes
• 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 3 oz extra-sharp white Cheddar, coarsely grated (1 cup)
• 2 tablespoons drained bottled horseradish
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs from a country-style loaf

• Special equipment: a nonstick muffin tin with 6 (1-cup) muffin cups; 12 (10- by 2-inch) strips of parchment paper
• Accompaniment: Irish bacon

Preparation

Cook onion in oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, 6 to 8 minutes.

Bring a 6- to 8-quart pot of salted water to a boil. Discard any discolored or damaged tough outer leaves from cabbage, then core cabbage and carefully lower into boiling water using a slotted spoon.

Boil cabbage, pulling off 6 large leaves (to be used as decorative wrappers and eaten if desired) with tongs as they soften and leaving them with remaining cabbage, 5 minutes. Transfer large leaves to a bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Transfer remaining cabbage to a colander to drain. Transfer large leaves to paper towels to drain, then pat dry.

Lightly butter muffin cups, then put 2 parchment strips in a crisscross pattern in each cup. (You will have a 2-inch overhang.) Line each cup with a large cabbage leaf. Coarsely chop enough remaining cabbage to measure 3 cups, then add to onion along with garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and water and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender and browned, about 10 minutes.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes, then cover with cold salted water by 1 inch in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain in a colander, then set potatoes in colander over saucepan to steam-dry, uncovered, 5 minutes. Mash potatoes in a large bowl, then stir in buttermilk, cheese, horseradish, 1/2 stick butter, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper until combined well.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook bread crumbs, stirring frequently, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes.

Fill each cabbage leaf with about 1/2 cup potato mixture, then divide cabbage mixture among leaves. Top with remaining potato mixture, then sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Fold edges of cabbage in toward filling (do not completely cover).

Bake until heated through and edges of cabbage are well browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

Transfer stuffed leaves to plates using parchment overhangs.

Cooks' note: Stuffed cabbage leaves can be assembled, but not baked, 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before baking.