_potatoes Aka Taters Spuds Recipes

_POTATOES AKA TATERS, SPUDS

Steps:

• Though someone, somewhere other than in Idaho, coined the phrase, "meat and potatoes", growing up in SE Idaho pretty much guaranteed one saw plenty of "taters" at meal time. Being a native Idahoan who happened to be born on the same day Idaho gained statehood, I'm duty bound to include a special section on spuds.(Actually I entered the scene sixty years after statehood).Besides having eaten enough spuds in my life to say I've done my share to make "Idaho Famous", as a kid growing up I worked on several large potato farms. After graduating from college (as I related earlier in this book), I spent some time driving truck, long haul for my Uncle Harold. While doing so, I continued to do my part to make "Idaho Famous" by hauling 20 ton loads of spuds to areas not known for their tuber production!In camp or in the kitchen, spuds are considered a staple world wide. The list of things spuds don't go well with is so short I'm not going to bother. Conversely the list they do go with is so long it would be prohibitive to list here. Besides having countless uses as a side dish, or as an ingredient in various recipes, spuds make great menu extenders. On those occasions when company comes unexpectedly, or your brother-in-law, without your knowledge, invites all of his in-laws to your deer camp, an extra sack of taters cooked any way you want will at least get you through meal time. My dad, who spent more time than he cares to remember on KP duty in the army, could easily write a book just on peeling potatoes. However, the folks who count calories, grams of fat, and list all the nutrients in our chow tell us we're short changing ourselves nutritionally by peeling our taters. As camp cooks, anything which saves time fixing a meal means a little more time to spend fishing before heading back to camp to cook! Unless I'm making mashed potatoes for a formal dinner (which is rare) I save the hassle.Fixed fancy or simple, spuds should be a staple in your grub box. I prefer fresh potatoes over all the other ways one finds them packaged in stores. However you fix them, always plan for seconds all the way around.A Back Country Guide to Outdoor Cooking Spiced with Tall Tales - Vegetables in Camp

TORNADO POTATOES RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325ºF (160ºC).
• Microwave the potatoes for 1-1 ½ minutes, then leave in the microwave for a few minutes to cool down and soften. Insert a wooden skewer into the bottom of each potato and gently push it all the way through the top. Working in a spiral motion from one side to the other, hold a sharp, thin knife at an angle and cut in the opposite direction you are turning the skewered potato, cutting all the way down to the skewer. Take your time and work to make thin, even spiral all the way down the potato.
• Gently fan out each potato down the length of the skewer, until you have even gaps between the slices. Brush the melted butter all over the potatoes.
• In a medium bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and salt. Place each skewered potato over the bowl and sprinkle half of the spice mixture over each potato until they are entirely coated. Carefully set the potatoes on a baking pan, letting the skewers rest on sides of the pan so that the potatoes are suspended.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until nicely browned. Garnish with additional Parmesan and parsley. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy!

SPUD'S TWICE-BAKED TATERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Place potatoes on a baking sheet and pierce once with a fork. Bake for one hour. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Slice potatoes in half and scoop the potato flesh into a bowl, leaving some to form a shell. Place potato skins in a lightly oiled casserole dish.
• Season potato mix with Diamond Crystal® Kosher Salt and pepper. Add the butter and begin to mash with a fork. Add sour cream, half of the cheese, and the cream. Continue to mash and stir until creamy. Stir in the bacon and half the green onion.
• Scoop filling evenly into potato shells, mounding as necessary. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and green onion.
• Bake until cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Let cool five minutes before eating.

_CHICKEN ALA S*#T

Steps:

• About six years ago, just after I'd moved to the Nampa, Idaho, patrol area, the boss asked me to cook dinner after a district meeting. In those days, my signature dish was chicken caccitiore. At the meeting happened to be one of my fellow officers who would later become my boss. This native son of Idaho, like many, was raised on a diet of "meat and taters". I'm not saying that Norris had led a sheltered life up to this point, but it would be safe to say he hadn't explored many culinary horizons! As the night wore on and a few malted beverages consumed, Norris began to refer to my chicken caccitiore as "Chicken ala S*#T"! My daddy always taught me not to get mad, but to get even and then get ahead! I bristled up enough that Norris knew he'd got my goat. As the years went by and Norris was promoted, he ate enough of my cooking that he reached the point of occasionally bragging about it. Now the stage was set to get even and ahead all in one fell swoop! A couple of years ago, I came back from a fishing trip to the gulf coast of Texas with two coolers full of jumbo shrimp and fillets from red snapper, red drum, and sea trout. I called the boss and invited him and his wife to a seafood dinner."Sure" he said, "how about next weekend?" A couple days before the dinner, I went down to a local fast food restaurant and bought a hamburger-as simple a hamburger as can be made by modern technology. I set it on a plate in the cupboard and proceeded to let it dry out a bit. When Norris and his wife Jan arrived, preparations for dinner were well on the way. After I mixed him about three fingers of corn squeezings with some cola over ice, old Norris really began to brag on my cookin'! About five years had elapsed between the two occasions, and Norris was about to learn that I'll wait quite a while to "get ahead"! In those five years we'd shared quite a few horse patrols, boat trips, and job related camping trips with no complaints about the chow. If memory serves me correctly, I'd prepared a dozen or so jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce as an appetizer, fillets of red snapper poached in white wine with a little seasoned butter and lemon juice, new red potatoes boiled in their jackets and dressed with butter and minced parsley, a green salad, and sourdough garlic bread. All was set on the table except for the shrimp and cocktail sauce, and all was set for pay back time! I walked into the dinning room with the shrimp cocktail and I set one each in front of Jan and my place settings and presented Norris with his entree! You'd have to know Norris to truly appreciate the look on his face. Have you ever witnessed the pained expression people get when they pass gas in a crowded public place or when they've stepped onto a substance in the grass which twelve hours before was perfectly good dog food? The look on his face said it all ! It had taken five years , but now I was ahead!Our dinners almost got cold, we laughed so long! I haven't yet tried it, but I suspect for old "Mr. Meat & Taters", I could cook up some tofu along with a soy bean burger and get no complaints.A Back Country Guide to Outdoor Cooking Spiced with Tall Tales