Perfect Rustic Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Of course, that has everything to do with the food, and nothing to do with being symbolically thankful for all the help the native Americans gave the first white settlers (who then showed their appreciation by slaughtering most of them). In any case, this was my first time actually contributing to the feast – I didn’t make the turkey, but I did make the mashed potatoes, as well as Crack Pie for dessert (which was a huge hit, by the way).

I’ve had mashed potatoes as a side dish for a number of meals that I’ve posted here on Screw Your Diet, but I usually don’t include a recipe since everyone likes to make them their own way. So I figured it was time to show you how I make them. Unfortunately, there won’t be any visual aides in this recipe, but mashed potatoes are pretty straightforward, so hopefully you won’t need them. If you do find yourself having trouble, feel free to shoot me an email!

Dauphinoise Potatoes

I've been cooking with potatoes quite a bit these days. That's no accident - potatoes are what we've all been using in class to practice our knife skills. Rather than tossing away perfectly good potato, why not put it to good use? And speaking of class, that's where I learned about dauphinoise potatoes, the delicious dish you see here. It's similar to scalloped or au gratin potatoes, but a bit richer and made specifically using Gruyere cheese. It's fairly simple, doesn't use a ton of ingredients, and is incredibly tasty, so give it a shot!

Homemade Pickles

As someone who grew up in a Jewish family, the 83% of my blood that should be water is actually pickle juice. I've loved pickles since I was very young, and a jar of them never lasts very long in my presence. Ever since I discovered my love of cooking, I've wanted to make my own pickles, but could never find a good time to start them.

I was finally inspired to make my own pickles by a very dear friend of mine named Jessie, from whom I also acquired this recipe. If you like your pickles crunchy, tart, and garlicy, this is the recipe for you!

The Many Faces of Shar-Pei Bread

My cinnamon pull apart bread recipe has been quite a hit amongst my friends and family. Based off the fact that I said that every loaf resembles a wrinkly Shar-Pei dog, most of them are now referring to this recipe as Shar-Pei Bread. So there you have it – pull apart bread is now Shar-Pei bread. I have spoken!

Since my original post, I’ve been tinkering with the cinnamon sugar version to the point where I have created what I feel can be called the “definitive” version of the recipe. Not content to make it the same way every time, however, I decided to test out the versatility of the Shar-Pei bread’s basic template to see if I could create some interesting variations. I’d say the results were a resounding success. So what we’ve got here is a trio of Shar-Pei Breads – cinnamon sugar, garlic parmesan, and honey herb. As always I’ve got detailed, step by step instructions for all 3 of them, so pick your favorite and get baking! These are just a few of the possible variations, and I’ll likely do other posts in the future as I experiment further.