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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

I'm Not Sure This is Biggest Loser Material...

I subscribed to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food for about 5 years.  It was as this magazine piled up around my house that I decided that I needed to actually make things in the magazines that came in the mail and not merely admire the pretty pictures.  This is a recipe that I first made for J and I just after he moved to Canada.  At that point, I was still working on impressing him with my culinary skills.  It's amazing what 4 years of marriage will do for you.  The impressing my boy phase is gone.
I will tell you that I have a love/hate relationship with Martha's recipes.  Her baked goods are hit and miss.  I've made pancakes from EDF that were more dry, rubbery hockey pucks than things I wanted to waste perfectly good maple syrup on.  But her entrees and sides are usually winners, and there are many EDF entrees that are staples in our kitchen.  I make these maybe once a year.  It's hard to put that much fat in one dish and not somehow think that we should be eating a healthier version.  But these potatoes are so good.  I love goat cheese.
In honour of The Biggest Loser starting at work this week, I present a recipe that none of my work colleagues would currently eat, despite the fact that these are about the only sort of scalloped potatoes that I will eat.  If you make these, do not replace the cream with milk.  That verges on sacrilege.  They wouldn't be the same.  I think the idea is to not eat too much in one sitting.  From October 2006, I present to you Potatoes Gratin:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c cream
5 oz soft goat cheese, crumbled
1 garlic clove, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 1/2  lbs baking potatoes (about 3)

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 375F. Butter an 8" square baking dish; set aside. In a large saucepan, combine cream, goat cheese, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper.
2.  Peel potatoes and slice crosswise 1/8" thick; add to cream mixture as you work. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook until potatoes are crisp-tender, about 12 to 15 minutes.
3.  Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish; using a spatula, press potatoes into cream to cover. Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until golden and potatoes are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
From Everyday Food, October 2006

They make flatiron steaks with a red wine sauce to go with these...I've never made them, but the reviews are favourable.  We had them with baked ham and broccoli.  Mid-Winter yum on a plate.

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