Chicken Corn Chowder (Monica Brinton)

5-6 potatoes, cubed
2-3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 c frozen corn
1/6 lb cooked bacon bits (2.65 oz) (originally 1/3 lb)
2 c shredded rotisserie chicken
1.5-2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1-2 green onions, chopped (originally 1 bunch)
½ c butter
¾ c flour
4 c milk (1 quart)

In a pot, add cubed potatoes, bouillon cubes, and water barely covering the potatoes. Bring to a boil. When potatoes are almost soft ~15 min, (do not drain water) add corn, bacon, chicken, cheese and onions. In a separate pot, make the white sauce: melt butter, whisk in flour. When bubbly, add milk and whisk more. Cook, stirring constantly, until it begins to boil and has thickened. Add sauce to soup when the first pot of vegetables are ready.

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potatoes, Slow Cooker (damndelicious.net)

These potatoes were so yummy! We ate them for dinner, but they would be great for breakfast, too! Preparation was super easy and quick.

6 slices bacon
3 pounds red potatoes, chopped
1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 Tbsp Ranch Seasoning & Salad Dressing Mix
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chopped chives

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread bacon in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in oven until brown and crispy, about 12-14 minutes. Let cool before crumbling; set aside.

Line slow cooker with aluminum foil, leaving enough overhang to wrap potatoes on top. Coat with nonstick spray. Place a layer of potatoes evenly into the slow cooker. Top with cheese, ranch seasoning, bacon, salt and pepper, repeating 2 more times, reserving ½ cup cheese.

Cover potatoes with aluminum foil and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat 3-4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup cheese. Cover and cook until melted, about 1-2 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with chives.

Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup (Cooking Classy)

Holy cow, this was amazing! Original recipe from Cooking Classy. This will be replacing my old potato soup recipe, which is great, but this knocked our socks off!

3-3.5# Russet potatoes, peeled, diced into .5”-.75” pieces (~7 medium potatoes, 8-9 cups)

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced (1 c)

3 (14.5oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth

1 c evaporated milk
1 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 c butter

1/3 c all-purpose flour

½ c sour cream

1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (6 oz)

9 oz bacon, cooked and diced or crumbled

4 green onions, diced

Add potatoes, onion, chicken broth, evaporated milk and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with lid and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours (poke potatoes with a fork to check make sure they’re soft). Ladle out 2 cups liquid from soup in slow cooker into a measuring cup, set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. While whisking, slowly pour 2 cups soup liquid into butter mixture (it will thicken quickly). Pour butter mixture into slow cooker and stir to blend. If desired, mash potatoes with a potato masher to break down into smaller pieces or use an emulsion blender to puree. Cover and cook on high until thickened, about 10 min. Turn heat off (or to warm), stir in sour cream. Serve warm topped with cheddar, bacon and green onions (you can just mix in those 3 remaining ingredients into slow cooker or top individual servings).

Baked Oven Fries (Annies-eats.com)

Source and nice picture here.

3 Russet Potatoes (~24oz total)

5 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil, divided

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 475°. Peel and cut potatoes lengthwise into even-sized wedges. Place the wedges in a large mixing bowl. Cover with hot water; soak for 10-30 min. Put 4 Tbsp of the oil onto a heavy, rimmed baking sheet. Tilt the sheet side to side to evenly coat the pan with oil (a pastry brush can also help with this). Sprinkle the pan evenly with the salt and pepper. Set aside.

Drain the potatoes. Spread the wedges out on layers of paper towels or on clean kitchen towels. Pat dry with additional towels. Wipe out the now empty bowl so it is dry. Return the potatoes to the bowl and toss with the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil. Arrange the potato wedges on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 5 min. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the bottoms of the potatoes are spotty golden brown, 15-20 min, rotating the baking sheet after 10 min. Using a metal spatula and tongs, flip each potato wedge keeping them in a single layer. Continue baking until the fries are golden and crisp, 5-15 min. Rotate the pan as needed to ensure even browning.

When the fries are finished baking, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain some of the grease. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Creamy Cheese Potatoes (justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com)

These were super yummy! Original recipe here.

5-6 large potatoes (enough to fill a 9×13 dish)
1 pint (2 c) whipping cream or half & half
Salt and Pepper
2 c grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp parsley flakes

Cut potatoes into thin French fry strips, and lay them in a greased 9x13” glass pan. Pour cream over the top of the fries. Salt and pepper them generously. Sprinkle at least 2 cups cheese over the top. Sprinkle parsley flakes on top of the cheese. Cover with foil, and poke a fork through the top of the foil, 2 or 3 times to allow a little steam to escape (so the cream doesn’t boil over into your oven). Bake on the middle rack at 400° for about 1 hour or until potatoes are tender. During the last 15-20 minutes of baking, lower the rack one more step to make the bottom of the potatoes, brown and crispy.

Orange Mashed Potatoes

These potatoes are divine! I love that the orange color is natural - from the sweet potato. Yum!

6 potatoes

1 large sweet potato

¼ c butter

½ c nonfat half & half

Sour cream

Sea salt

Coarse black pepper

Milk

Wrap potatoes in foil and bake in 400° oven for an hour. When cool enough to handle, take off skins and mash potatoes in a large bowl. Add butter, half and half, sour cream, sea salt and pepper. Store in the fridge until mealtime. Before eating, microwave and stir. Add milk if needed for creaminess.

Make into a jack-o-lantern if desired. Spread potatoes in a circular pan. Decorate like a pumpkin face using corn kernels.

Lentil Soup "Esau's Pottage" (Nancy Giles)

4 hours.

2 potatoes, chopped

4 carrots, chopped


5 c water


4 beef or chicken bouillon cubes


½ onion, finely chopped (or 1 Tbsp dried onion)


2 cloves garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)


2 strips bacon, crumbled (or 1 Tbsp bacon bits)

½ tsp salt


1 c lentils

Homemade rolls or Cheez-It crackers (optional)

Mix all ingredients but lentils in slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 hours. Add lentils and cook 1 hour more. Serve with homemade rolls or Cheez-It crackers.

Corned Beef and Vegetables

~3 lbs corned beef brisket

2 large Russet potatoes, cut up into large chunks

5 carrots, chopped

1 can beef broth (~1½ c)

1 c ginger ale (or white grape juice)

Place the corned beef in the crock pot. If beef comes with a seasoning packet sprinkle this over the meat. Pour the broth and ginger ale (or juice) over the corned beef, turn slow cooker on low and cook for 9 hours. About half-way through, add the potatoes and carrots so they don't get soggy.

Swedish Meatballs (Julie Freeman)

Meatballs:

1 lb ground beef

2 slices of bread broken into small pieces

4 Tbsp milk

1 tsp salt

Pepper

1 tsp onion powder

Butter

Mix all ingredients (except butter) together. Shape into small balls and fry in skillet with a little butter until browned on all sides. Cover and simmer about 15 min on low heat.

Gravy:

2 c milk

4 Tbsp flour

½ c milk

1 Tbsp Au Jus mix*

Remove meatballs from skillet and cover. Pour 2 cups of milk into the drippings. Mix 4 tablespoons of flour into ½ cup milk and add. Then add Au Jus mix and stir until thickened, about 8 minutes. Return meatballs to the skillet and coat with gravy. Serve over mashed potatoes.

*Look for McCormick "Au Jus Gravy Mix" in those red packets.

The whole family loved this and devoured it! I served this over my mashed potato recipe from Debra Garry. So good!

Julie got this recipe from her husband Matt's Swedish Grandpa: Eben R. T. Blomquist.

Twice-Baked Potatoes “Potato Boats” (The Sneaky Chef)

6 large russet potatoes, scrubbed

½ -1c white puree*

1 c grated cheddar cheese

¼ c butter

¼ c low-fat sour cream

1 tsp salt

Cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped (optional).

Preheat oven to 450°. Wash potatoes and prick several times with a fork. Wrap with foil and bake on oven rack for 50-60 min until tender. Remove potatoes from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle. Turn oven to high broil. Cut potatoes in ½ lengthwise and carefully scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl, leaving some potato in the skin to keep shells intact. Mash potatoes lightly with a fork, adding the white puree, cheese, butter, sour cream and salt. Refill the shells with the potato mixture, mounding slightly. Sprinkle cheese on top of each potato. Place on a cookie sheet and broil about 6” from the heat for 8-10 min until bubbly brown. Serve immediately.

*white puree = 2 c cauliflower florets, 2 sm-med zucchini peeled and chopped, 1 tsp fresh lemon juice, 3-4 Tbsp water. Steam cauliflower 10-12 min or till very tender. Pulse raw, peeled zucchini with lemon juice only. Drain cooked cauliflower and add to food processor w/2 Tbsp water. Add more if needed. Use in 3 days or freeze ¼ c portions. (Makes 2 c puree.)

*white bean puree: 15-oz can white beans, 2 Tbsp water: rinse and drain beans. Blend in food processor with 2 Tbsp water until smooth. Add more water if needed until no flecks of whole beans are visible. Store up to 3 days in fridge or freeze ¼ c portions. (Makes 1 c puree.)

Mashed Potatoes (Debra Garry)

4-5 potatoes

1 clove of garlic

¼ c butter

½ c nonfat half & half

Sea salt

Coarse black pepper

Sour cream

Milk

Peel and quarter potatoes. Add potatoes and garlic to 8 cups of boiling water. Boil about 25-30 minutes. Drain when soft. Add butter, half and half, sea salt and pepper. Add a few Tbsp of sour cream, if desired. Mash and reheat. Store in the snow in winter or in the fridge until dinner. At dinnertime, microwave and stir. Add milk if needed for creaminess.

Mashed potatoes are a great moldable food for holidays. For Valentine's Day, use a cookie cutter on each plate to shape a mound of potatoes into a heart or shape all of the potatoes into a heart on one giant platter. Surround potatoes with cooked carrots or other veggies.

You can also add some green food coloring (if your family doesn't mind) for St. Patrick's Day. Even without the food coloring, though, potatoes count as an Irish food, right?