Trish's Mean Mashed Potatoes

These are the best, but perhaps not the best for you. That is why, in combination with their incredible taste, we call them mean...

Yukon gold potatoes. Plan for 1/2 potato per person.
Water
Salt
Pepper
Butter (unsalted), 1 tablespoon per 4 servings
Heavy cream, a few tablespoons to 1/4 cup.

Peel and quarter the potatoes. Rinse potatoes, and transfer to a heavy pot for boiling. Submerge by 1 inch with water. Bring to a simmer and cook until tender; test by inserting a fork. Potatoes easily break apart when done. Do not overcook, as mushy potatoes will become gluey when mashed. After they are cooked through, drain all of the water off the potatoes and reserve the water for making gravy. Allow the now-drained potatoes to evaporate the residual water from the hot pan for a few seconds. Immediately add 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter. Mash by hand with a potato masher, stirring and mashing until potatoes are mostly mixed. Add a generous amount of heavy cream and continue mashing, being careful to not over mix as to avoid a gluey texture than can result with too much energy. After the desired consistency is reached, add a dash of salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix well, and transfer to a serving dish.

Herbed and Salt-encrusted Chicken Breast

This has to be our absolute favorite main course. It is wonderful with our mashed potatoes and the gravy that is made from the juices arising from cooking this chicken.

Ingredients:

1 bone-in, with-skin free range chicken breast (Rocky is excellent)
fresh herbs: marjorum, rosemary, thyme, two 3 inch sprigs of each
sea salt: flake
1 cup chicken stock (organic or homemade)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons flour
water for thinning the gravy

Wash the chicken breast and pat dry with paper towels. Evenly divide the herbs into two bunches. Slip one bunch between the skin and each breast half. Salt the exterior generously using 1 tsp of sea salt, and rest uncovered at room temperature for 1 hour. Preheat an oven to 450 or 500 degrees F. Heat a 12 inch, oven-proof heavy saute pan on the stove with 3 tablespoons olive oil, until just smoking. Add the chicken, breast side down, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes until the skin is crusted and brown. Turn the chicken over, so that it is breast side up, and cook for another 4 minutes. Transfer the saute pan with chicken into the preheated oven. Cook for 10 minutes, then add 1/2 cup chicken stock into the pan around the chicken but not poured over it. After 10 minutes more, add another 1/2 cup of stock similarly. Cook until an instant thermometer registers 160 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Remove the saute pan with chicken to a hot plate. Remove the chicken to a cutting board, draining the juice into the saute pan at the start of the transfer. Move the saute pan with fats and juices to the stove. Heat to simmering. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour, as needed, and stir until fully distributed with a wire whisk. Pour water into the roux while whisking and heating, to make a thickened gravy. Continue whisking water into the gravy until the desired consistency is reached. Season as desired with pepper, and with some salt but not too much as the salt from the chicken will carry over into the juices. If desired, color with Kitchen Bouquet to reach a darker brown. Slice the chicken just before serving, allowing some of the crispy skin to accompany each portion. Serve with mashed potatoes (see our recipe, this site) and some vegetables of choice.

Post solstice (and beyond) Meatballs (hallelujah)

These are adopted from "Molto Italiano" by Mario Batali (2005). The pine nuts (toasted) add a fantastic texture. The combination of veal, pork and beef are unbeatable. And, yes, there is just a little bit of garlic in these.

Makes 25 golf-ball sized meatballs, 3 per person...

3 cups of 1-inch cubes of day old bread (cut the crusts off; whole wheat worked well)
1/2 pound of each: ground chuck, ground veal, and ground pork
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted in a saute pan (careful: they burn easily)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil, as needed to cook the meatballs

1. In a shallow bowl, soak the bread cubes in water to cover for 20 minutes. Drain the bread cubes and squeeze the excess moisture.

2. In a large bowl, combine the bread, meats, eggs, garlic, pecorino, parsley, pine nuts, salt and pepper, and mix with your hands just until blended. With wet hands, form the mixture into golfball-sized meatballs.

3. In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until almost smoking. Add the meatballs, then reduce the heat to prevent excessive browning of the meatballs or the cheese will form a hard crust. Cook in batches, approximately 10 minutes each, while continuously turning in the pan during cooking. Still be careful when turning while cooking: the meatballs are delicate and will fall apart with too much motion. After reaching a deep golden brown, remove from heat.

We ate a few of these with a marvelously light whole wheat cappellini pasta. The meatballs were briefly re-heated in a saute pan with with fresh, seeded, peeled and diced tomatoes plus garlic. This mixture was lightly tossed with the warm pasta. Wonderful!