Friday, March 29, 2013

Potato Patties My Way...


Today I want to share with you my way of making potato patties.  They come out crispy and delicious!!
  

Let's go over the ingredients:
* 5 lbs of potatoes ( I used Yukon Gold potatoes)
* Water 
* Salt
* Pepper
* 2 C Mozzarella Shredded Cheese
* 2 Scallions sliced
* Oil 
* 1 Egg (optional)
* 1 - 2 C Flour 

Let's get started:
 1. First you want to rinse and scrub your potatoes to make sure they are
     nice and clean.
 2. Place potatoes in a pot of cold water. Make sure that potatoes are 
     covered by water.
 3. Cover the pot and bring the potatoes to a boil. 
 4. When the water starts to boil add 1 tsp of salt. Cover until potatoes 
     are ready.
    (the potatoes will be ready when you can poke them easily with a fork 
     or when the peel of the potato starts to crack and peel on its own.)
 5. Drain the potatoes. and place in cold water to cool or just wait for 
     the potatoes to cool.
     (do NOT let potatoes get to cold. Cool just enough so you can handle 
       them with your hands.)
 6. Once the potatoes have cooled you want to peel and place them in 
     a large bowl.
 7. Mash the potatoes and add cheese and scallions. incorporate into
     potatoes until you have the nice soft consistency of mashed potatoes
     Taste the mixture for saltiness and add salt if desired.
 8. Scoop a small amount of the mixture into your hand and shape 
     into a pattie. (you can also make them into croquettes or stick shape)
 9. Place patties on a plate and place in fridge for about 10 minutes to cool. 
     (this will help harden the patties so they wont crumble.)
10. After about 10 minutes take out the patties and heat your oil. 
      (Here is where there are different ways of doing this.You can whisk
       an egg in one bowl and place 1 - 2 C of flour in another bowl.  
11. Coat patties in egg then in flour. Make sure you shake off excess flour.
      Then place in hot oil. 

* You can completely skip this step and just fry patties in oil without the egg and flour if you like. Or what I like to do is only coat the patties in flour then fry. The flour help keep the patties together and have them not crumble in the oil.

12. When the patties are browned on one side flip to the other.
13. When both sides are done place on a paper towel lined plate and let cool.

You can serve them on their own or with a salad and sliced avocado.  

TIPS:  
 1. Because of the cheese do not let the oil get to hot or the patties will start losing their shape. 
 2. Remember that the frying is only to brown the patties since everything else is already cooked.
     Therefore you don't need a lot of oil .

Please share your pictures or comments as to how they came out when you try them. Also don't forget to leave any questions or comments ( Which are welcomed and appreciated) and I will answer them gladly as soon as I can.            

Enjoy! 
   

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Yummy Orange Chicken Thighs

I want to share the most delicious recipe I have for making Yummy Orange Chicken Thighs! My family loves this chicken and my boys can't get enough of it. Which is great because I have two who are very picky eaters. The little one, well he just loves everything I make. 

First let's go over the ingredients:
* 8 chicken thighs 
      (you can use boneless and skinless or any part of the chicken you like)
* 4 tablespoons of soy sauce 
      (feel free to use light soy sauce)
* 4 tablespoons of water
* 10 tablespoons of sugar 
       (feel free to substitute honey or use less sugar. I recommend adding 
        5 tablespoons and then adding it 1 tablespoon at a time until you get 
        the sweetness you desire)
*10 tablespoons of white vinegar
* The zest of 1 Orange. 

Now the directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F 
2. Rinse and pat dry chicken thighs
3. Place chicken thighs in a baking pan and set aside
4. In a mixing bowl add the sugar, vinegar, water soy sauce and whisk together.
5. Add orange zest to the sauce mixture
6. Pour sauce mixture over the chicken thighs and cover with aluminum foil. 
7. Place in oven for 20 minutes
8. take chicken out of the oven and flip thighs over.
9. Place back in oven for another 20 minutes
10.Take chicken out of the oven and flip thighs again and leave uncovered
11. Place back in oven uncovered for more 10 minutes
12. When the thermometer reads 180° F the chicken is ready!

serve with rice  and enjoy!!!

Let me know how it came out for you and if you liked it. If there any recipes you'd like to see just let me know. Thanks for reading :)