Rosemary Potato Bake
As titled, I needed some comfort food. And for me that more often than not means high caloric and/ or starch content. You're welcome.
You'll need:
Bacon
Yukon gold potatoes
Rosemary (I used dried, I had it on hand. I'm sure fresh would be better but...)
Parmesan (I buy a chunk and grate it, its got more flavor to me that way)
Paprika (I prefer to use a combination of regular Hungarian sweet paprika and Spanish smoked paprika for depth)
Salt (I like iodized sea salt)
Black Pepper
Cheddar Cheese, or some such mix
Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce (I'm sure substituting other hot sauces would be fine)
Sour Cream
Green Onions
French onion bowls or some such bake ware depending on the size. I made 2 french onion soup bowls worth...
Preheat oven to 450. Cook bacon until nice and crispy. Reserve 1 Tablespoon bacon grease per bowl or 4 diced potatoes. Scrub and cube the Yukon's. Toss in bacon grease till lightly coated. Shake in about 5 shakes of smoked Paprika, 3 shakes sweet paprika, a light dusting of sea salt, and a light dusting of pepper per dish. Crumble in about 2 teaspoons of rosemary per dish. Add in 1/2 the bacon, finely chopped and a good coating of shredded Parmesan. Toss nicely until evenly coated and dispersed. Put in the oven for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are mostly cooked. Remove from the oven. Switch oven over to broil. Add a swirl of hot sauce/wing sauce and toss. Add a coating of cheddar cheese, or in my case Mexican blend cheddar and jack, an additional swirl of wing sauce. Broil for 10 minutes or so. Remove add a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkling of diced green onions, and a sprinkling of bacon pieces.
I served mine with a summer salad for the guilt and some white wine. Its probably better with a poached egg on top and a bloody Mary as brunch.
Summer Salad
What you'll need
Wild Rocket (or any arugula/ salad blend)
Cherry/pear tomato medley (mine were local from majestic farms, slightly under ripe which helped a bit)
Parmesan
Onion (i used white probably better with red but it doesn't take much so what you have on hand should be fine)
Balsamic vinaigrette
In a bowl rip/ shredded arugula medley into small fork sized bites. Dice the cherry tomatoes and add to the top. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Eat a few, they taste so good. Finely slice onions into thin rings. Give the thin rings a rough dice. add to the top. Pour on a small circle of balsamic vinaigrette. Top with shredded Parmesan. Chill. Toss everything just before serving.
Like I said, this wasn't the healthiest meal. But it was definitely a hearty/ satisfying one!
