Happy 2012, Readers! Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s Eve, and if you had a bit of a rough morning, like us, you might have been in need of a quick, slightly less-than-healthy breakfast (or brunch, as the case may be).
Never you fear! We have something quick & tasty that even fits in with a few New Year’s Day good luck traditions.
First: Loaded Potato Cakes
I woke up craving potato pancakes. I have no idea why—we don’t even have any leftover mashed potatoes in the house. But we DO have a couple boxes of instant mashed potatoes in the pantry. Quick & easy, even with a mild headache. :D
Ingredients:
1/2 cup instant potato flakes (or, if you have leftover mashed potatoes, skip the next 4 ingredients)
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tbsp light butter
1/4 tsp salt
--
2 pieces bacon, cooked & crumbled
1 slice pepper jack cheese, crumbled
1 tbsp fat free sour cream
1/2 tbsp dried chives
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
Add the first 5 ingredients together (or just use leftover mashed potatoes, if you have them). Then stir the rest of the ingredients into the potatoes & mix well (NOTE: If you’re not keen on one or another of the ingredients, just leave it out. I like a lot of stuff on my baked potatoes, so that’s why I added what I did. Whatever YOU like on a loaded baked potato-- that’s the flavor you’re trying to duplicate).
Heat your olive oil in a large skillet until it starts to smoke. Divide the potato mixture in half & form into 2 balls. On a small plate, spread out the bread crumbs & place one of the balls on the plate & smash flat (maybe about 1 inch thick). then flip. Make sure both sides are well coated with crumbs—it makes a better crust.
Add your cakes to the oil, and move them as little as possible. Cook on each side for about 3-5 minutes, or until both sides are golden brown.
Serve garnished with parsley (or cilantro—that’s what we had in the house). Makes two cakes.
We work this into our Lucky New Year’s Day foods because pork (mmm…bacon) represents health & prosperity, and the greens (cilantro) represent wealth & success.
And now, onto FRIED CABBAGE! This was my husband’s recipe, as I don’t recall my mom ever making it. My mom usually made cole slaw so we’d eat cabbage on New Year’s Day.
Ingredients:
About ten cabbage leaves
2 tbsp bacon grease
salt & pepper
Directions:
You can use the same skillet from your potato cakes for this. Melt the bacon grease in the skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, wash your cabbage leaves & then place the pile between two paper towels & nuke them in the microwave for 2 minutes. Once they come out, tear them into quarters & place them in the pan.
Toss the leaves to coat with the bacon grease, and season lightly with salt & pepper. Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring, for about 5-7 minutes or until the leaves have wilted.
Serve & eat while warm. Cabbage leaves are also a symbol of prosperity, thought to resemble paper currency in some countries.
So—any big New Year’s Resolutions out there?
Here, I’ve come to the realization that I have a MASSIVE backlog of recipes that just keeps growing—new cookbooks, new printouts, gifts from friends… but I’m not cooking as many as I print off. Heck—I have printouts that have been sitting inside a cookbook since 2004 that have NEVER been made. So, in 2012: my resolution is to cook my way through the recipes I currently have, & not take in any more. This may be hard to do, but I’m going to give it my darnedest.
This means that the recipes you see posted here may NOT be exclusively Cajun. I hope that’s not a huge issue with my readers. Given the number of Cajun recipes & cookbooks I have on hand, I can pretty well guarantee that there will be PLENTY of Cajun & Louisiana classics for you to sink your teeth into. But in order for me to wade my way through this recipe hoard, I’ll be making & posting a variety of dishes. However, I maintain my promise that they will be healthy, flavorful dishes that hopefully we all can enjoy!
Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday
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