Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Across the country, the not-so-hot-economy is adding appeal to cooking at home. But, I’m not talking about staying home to make your favorite macaroni and cheese. People who have grown accustomed to dining out still want to eat in style.

The interest of cooking at home has also been heightened by attention given to reality cooking shows and the explosion of celebrity chefs on the television and entertainment scene. With such a hunger for eating and entertaining in our own dining rooms, I feel there is a need for ideas on how to eat better at home for less. In other words, a little, “gastronomy for the economy” is in order.

When I patronize a fancy restaurant, I love to indulge a bit and order steak and lobster. However, making quality steak and lobster at home can be pricey. In order to satisfy my urge for this type of meal, I’ve put together a Surf and Turf Sizzle that is easy to prepare and won’t put a dent in your pocketbook. 

It’s just a fact.  If you don’t love these, it’s over between us.  The dialogue will stop.  Okay, it’s been sort of one-sided up until now anyway, but these potatoes are defining.  They are comforting.  They are easy.  I’ve been cooking them for years. Believe me, they taste fabulous. You will thank me later.    

I can eat these potatoes three times a day.  But they are meant for dinner.  Still, I bring this up because the potato is one of the few vegetables that people feel comfortable with in the early morning hours.   Most people hear the word eggplant and see the sunrise and feel the need to go back to bed.  Which is to say, you can make these potatoes for dinner and reheat them in the morning in a skillet with your scrambled eggs and we have what is known as a slice of heaven.  This is not something most people want to do with eggplant parm. 

Which leads me to mustard.  An underachiever.  In so many ways. 

Now we know, from experience, that the potato is simply a vehicle for a sauce, an oil, or a spice. 

This recipe takes advantage of all three propositions.

You’ve seen recipes for triple chocolate cookies, right? Well, why not triple peanut butter cookies?

I come from a long line of peanut butter-lovers. My uncle was so consumed with the creamy, sticky stuff, he named his dog Skippy. My mom made sandwiches with peanut butter so thick, each bite would take several minutes to finally swallow, let alone try to get a word out.

I grew up on my mom’s peanut butter cookies. They were crunchy and sweet and the little criss-cross marks made with a fork on the top of each cookie glistened with crystals of sugar.

Of course, I married a peanut butter-lover. Nothing makes him happier than a bag of chocolate peanut butter cups.

When I discovered the bags of Reese’s mini peanut butter cups at the store, I knew at least one bag of the adorable, bite-sized p.b. cups would go home with me to get chopped up and stirred into cookies. And how easy it is to do, because the tiny chocolate peanut butter cups come unwrapped.

I have made four turkey dinners this month, needless to say I have had a lot of leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge! They are never really the same when reheated, so it was time to turn them into something totally different.

Since the mashed potatoes are already seasoned, they are the easiest thing to turn into soup. In fact, regardless of what you have added to them flavor wise, it's most likely going to work. Potatoes are versatile that way.

Anyway, I had this simmering on the stove and my oldest son insisted on having it as an after school snack, he loved it. It's delicious and naturally thick. It takes only minutes to make since the potatoes are already cooked and you're really just heating them through.

This will be a great way to use up holiday leftover mashed potatoes or you just might find yourself making extras just so you have leftovers. Either way, enjoy this dish.