Chili Dog Chili

This recipe was inspired by left overs.  We had come home from vacation and had an open package of chedderwurst brats and an open pack of hot dogs.  I decided that chili dogs were in order, but I was out of hamburger.  I decided to grind up the brats & hot dogs and use them for the meat!  The result was a really delicious rich mildly spiced chili that we slathered over oven roasted potatoes, cheese and ranch dressing.  It was really amazing, I'm here to tell you!


Chili Dog Chili
makes 6-8 servings
1 pack cheese brats OR 2-3 brats and 4-5 hot dogs, whatever you have on hand, about a pound of meat.
1/2 onion fine diced OR 1t onion powder OR 1t dehyd onion
1 can tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
1 T tomato paste
1/2 c salsa
1/4 c Franks Red Hot hotsauce
1/2 t. cumin
1 1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t oregano flakes
1 cans beans drained & rinsed (I used pinto and light red kidney beans)
1 t kosher salt
pepper to taste

Grind or chop up hot dogs & brats very fine, like ground beef texture.  Sautee ground hot dogs with onion about 5 minutes or until it starts to brown slightly.  Add the tomato paste and spices and cook until it begins to brown & smell really toasty, about 2-3 minutes.  Add tomato puree and salsa, stirring well to incorporate the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add beans and simmer on medium low for about 45 minutes with the lid off, stirring often.

Serve chili over fries, oven baked potatoes or on it's own.

Potato Salad - the best ever!

Happy 4th of July!  What goes better with a cook out than potato salad?  Here's a recipe for a delicious and easy one that even potato salad haters will like.  This recipe is from Andrea the Kitchen Witch archives - it's an oldie but a goodie!

Let me first say that the Kitchen Witch is NOT a potato salad kind of girl. I have this mayo hate issue that I just can't seem to get past...and cold potatoes, well lets just say there's not much to potato salad for me to like. That is until I tried this one. I've adapted it from America's Test Kitchen. I liked the techinque they used of pouring pickle juice and mustard over the hot potatoes, the potatoes absorb this flavorful liquid as they cool, so each potato piece is seasoned. That intrigued me.

Lets just review real quick like, shall we? The Kitchen Witch does not like the following things:
Mayo
Mustard (I know, I know, I try to like it but its just not my thing I'm sad to say)
cold potatoes
pickles
celery seed

And yet this recipe has all of these in it. (Well except the mayo, I used Greek yogurt this time, awesome! I have made it with mayo as well and even then it was delicious.) So its chock full of all sorts of ingredients that on their own I don't like. At all. But for some strange reason of cooking Witchcraft, when combined into this potato salad, well they are a symphony of flavors that compliment each other perfectly. And this is from a tried and true potato salad hater.

Try this one, I'm pretty sure you'll be glad you did!

Potato Salad
makes about 6 servings
4 large or 6 small red potatoes, peeled & diced into 1/2 in cubes (Yukon golds are good too)
1/2 red bell pepper finely diced
1/4 small onion, finely diced
2 large dill pickles, finely diced
1 small rib celery, finely diced
4 hard boiled eggs, diced
3 T yellow mustard
½ c pickle juice
1/4 c Greek yogurt
2T sour cream
1/2 t celery seed
S&P

Boil potatoes in heavily salted water about 7-9 min or until done but still firm. DO NOT OVER BOIL or they will fall apart.


While potatoes cook mix mustard & pickle juice w/ about 1 t kosher salt and 1/8 t ground pepper, set aside until potatoes are cooked.


When potatoes are tender and no longer crunchy inside, drain them then pour onto a sheet pan. Pour mustard mix over potatoes, stiring to coat all sides. Allow potatoes to cool at least 1 hour.

While potatoes cool chop all veggies and set aside.

Once potatoes are cooled mix the yogurt, sour cream, celery seed & a pinch of kosher salt & a few grinds of pepper until smooth & creamy.

In a large bowl add potatoes (drain off any excess mustard liquid, there shouldn't be much as the potatoes absorb this flavoring) and diced veggies. Mix well to incorporate. Add the dressing, stir well to coat potatoes in creamy sauce. Top with diced eggs & serve.


Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 191.3
Total Fat 4.7 g
Saturated Fat 1.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.7 g
Cholesterol 143.1 mg
Sodium 630.6 mg
Potassium 699.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 27.9 g
Dietary Fiber 3.7 g
Sugars 2.7 g
Protein 10.1 g

Roasted tri color potatoes with herbs and cheese

Roasted potatoes are a staple in the Witch household. The browned bottoms, crispy and chip like compliment the soft and creamy insides while the skin is crispy and salty. If you're a potato lover you have got to try these!

The potatoes take about 30 minutes to roast, making them an ideal side dish. While you're working on the main dish these little gems mind their own business, getting all delicious in the oven with very little interaction from you. Adding an herb oil to the finished potatoes brings out all the bright flavors in the herbs and compliments the earthy potato nicely.

If you've never tried a Peruvian blue potato this is a great place to experiment. They taste like a regular potato but have a great blue color. Their flavor is slightly more earthy and really good. The blues are my favorite roasting potatoes, not just for their flavor, but its fun to eat blue food! Baby Yukon golds, Red Bliss or any fingerling potato will work fine here too. I hope you enjoy this easy and tasty dish!


Roasted potatoes with herbs and cheese
makes 4 servings
8 small potatoes, red bliss, yukon gold and Peruvian blue are all fantastic
3 T olive oil
3/4 t kosher salt, divided
ground pepper to taste
fresh herbs including chives, parsley, rosemary and thyme, minced
fresh grated Asiago cheese, or cheese of your choice, about 1/3 c grated

Preheat oven to 425F.

Wash and scrub potatoes. Cut potatoes in half. Pat potatoes dry with paper towels.

Place potatoes on a sheet pan and drizzle with 1.5 T of oil, 1/2 t kosher salt and pepper. Toss potatoes to evenly coat in oil and salt. Place potatoes cut side down and put into the hot oven.

Roast for 30 minutes until the bottoms are browned and the potatoes are soft.

While potatoes roast make the herb oil by mincing your herbs very fine and stirring into the remaining oil with the last 1/2 t of salt & pepper. Stir well.

Once potatoes are roasted remove from sheet pan and put into a bowl. Pour the herb oil over top and toss. Add your grated Asiago cheese, toss. Top potatoes with any extra cheese, if desired, and enjoy.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Amount Per Serving
Calories 382.3
Total Fat 13.1 g
Saturated Fat 2.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 8.0 g
Cholesterol 6.3 mg
Sodium 465.4 mg
Potassium 1,431.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate 59.4 g
Dietary Fiber 7.5 g
Sugars 2.7 g
Protein 8.6 g

Smashed Potatoes

I love small potatoes; they are so creamy and sweet when baked, not to mention very cute. They also get very golden when the flesh is exposed to heat and oil. The creamy texture is something you just can't get in a larger baking potato. We were having a big fancy steak dinner and potatoes were the side dish. I knew that I wanted the best of both worlds, creamy potato flesh and the crispy skin that you can only get from an oven baked spud and so these were created.

After baking the small tubers I smashed them, exposing the inner flesh and making the sides flat, perfect for crisping up in the oven. A small amount of oil helped the crisping process. Toppings were kept traditional, why mess with a good thing? Crispy fresh cooked bacon bits, grated extra sharp cheddar, tangy sour cream and onion-y chives made for the perfect side dish.

These potatoes were a hit! Not only were they delicious, they're really cute on the plate. The kids and adults alike were really excited to eat them and there were no left overs. I have big plans for these babies, left over chili would be awesome on them, or, they'd make a great side dish for a brunch. Smashed potatoes were a smashing success!

Smashed Potatoes
makes 8 servings

4 slices bacon
8 red bliss potatoes, about 2 inches diameter
2T sour cream
1 oz shredded cheddar cheese
fresh snipped chives
1T canola oil
kosher salt

Heat oven to 350. Put the washed potatoes into the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until soft.

Remove potatoes from oven and put onto a cutting board. Hit each potato with a meat mallet or a heavy pan to smash it flat, bursting the sides open but the potato is still intact in one piece.



Pour the oil onto a sheet pan, rub the potatoes on both sides with oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and bake again for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bottoms are browned and crispy.



While potatoes are baking cook the bacon. I slice the bacon into bits before cooking, it gives more even pieces and cooks up faster. Drain cooked bacon bits.



Top each smashed potato with grated cheddar cheese, a small dollop of sour cream - a baggie with the end cut off works fantastic here, some bacon bits and chives.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Amount Per Serving (1 topped potato each)
Calories 181.7
Total Fat 5.8 g
Saturated Fat 1.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.5 g
Cholesterol 10.0 mg
Sodium 387.8 mg
Potassium 7.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 27.2 g
Dietary Fiber 2.5 g
Sugars 2.0 g
Protein 5.4 g

Roasted corn, potato & chipotle chowder

Another wonderful summer soup! This one was inspired by the veggies in the fridge that needed to be used up TODAY! You know the ones, usually a victim of a fantastic sale, in this case: corn, 5/$1. 4 ears and over 8 days later the corn was a bit past its prime. Not quite compost fodder, but also not hydrated enough to be eaten off the cob.

What do you do with corn that's dehydrated and needs to be used? Roast it in the oven! You could use the grill but I was lazy and wanted to stay in the AC. I've talked before about roasting peppers indoors, and the same steps apply to corn. A word of caution, as the corn roasts kernels will pop and explode. It's fairly loud, and as long as you keep your face a safe distance away, something that's not too hard to do around a hot broiler, you'll be fine. But be aware of some noises, its completely normal.

Chipotles were added for a few reasons, a bit of spice is always nice in a chowder, especially one consisting of corn and potatoes, which can be on the bland side. Chipoltes are dried, smoked jalapenos. The adobo sauce that they're packed in is tomato, onion and spices. The smoking of the chipolte adds an amazing flavor, reminiscent of bacon almost, and worked perfectly with the roasted corn and earthy potatoes. Finally, the chipolte and adobo sauce adds a delightful blush and burst of spiciness to the soup, elevating it to a delicious chowder that's full of veggies and flavor to boot.

Roasted corn, potato & chipolte chowder
makes 8 servings
2 ears corn, roasted
2 green chilies roasted & peeled
2 chipolte in adobo finely minced
dollop of the adobo sauce from the can (1T approx)
4 small yellow potatoes diced
1/2 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 t cumin
3 T butter
4 T flour
2 cups milk
4 cups chicken stock
4 oz grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
kosher salt & pepper

Roast the corn and green chilies in an oven under the broiler until the corn is slightly charred all over and the chilies are blackened and blistered. Allow to cool. Peel chilies and finely dice. Cut corn off the cob, discard cobs.

In a large soup pot heat the butter until melted. Add the onion and garlic, cooking until the raw smell cooks out, about 5 minutes.

Add the flour and whisk well to incorporate. It will be quite dry, this is ok.
SLOWLY whisk in the milk, about 1/2 cup at a time. The 1st addition of milk will make a very thick paste, each further addition will smooth it out, whisk constantly to avoid lumps.

Add the potatoes, corn, chilies and chipoltes along with the chicken stock and stir to incorporate. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

Once potatoes are tender and cooked through add the cheese and stir well to melt cheese into soup. Once cheese is melted and thoroughly incorporated, soup's on.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
8 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 239.1
Total Fat 10.8 g
Saturated Fat 6.5 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.1 g
Cholesterol 33.9 mg
Sodium 938.3 mg
Potassium 476.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 27.3 g
Dietary Fiber 2.8 g
Sugars 4.4 g
Protein 9.3 g

Parmesean Garlic Mashed potatoes

Mashed potatoes are what many consider the quintessential comfort food, but they can be bland, lumpy, gluey and generally lackluster if not done right. The Kitchen Witch is here to show you how to make not only fluffy mash, but flavorful fluffy mash.

Here's a few common mistakes that people make when it comes to mashed potatoes
1. Cooking potatoes too long
~~This results in watery potatoes, since the spuds absorb the cooking liquid, cooking them until they fall apart is bad, you'll end up with nasty wet watery mash. Cook until they are tender enough to easily split open with a fork and no crunch is left in the center.

2. Adding raw garlic to the cooked potatoes
~~This results in a overpowering sharp garlic taste, not a gentle perfume. Too much garlic can overpower your pallet rendering it useless to taste anything but garlic. Cooking the garlic cloves with the potatoes allows the scent of the garlic to infuse in the potatoes, leaving you a definite garlic flavor, but not one that everyone in a 2 block radius can smell as well.

3. Bland mashed potatoes
~~This is the easiest one to correct. Salt! Add a bit more salt & taste again. Still bland? Add more salt! Salt enhances foods flavors, adding more won't make your food taste salty, it'll just make it taste good. I salt the water the potatoes cook in and I salt again when mashing. Taste often to determine correct seasoning level.

4. Cold mashed potatoes
~~With mashed potatoes you really want to smash them minutes before serving dinner. As soon as you break the tubers open they start to lose precious heat. As you mash, whip & stir the heat is escaping quickly. Have your meal ready to go THEN mash the potatoes and serve. If you HAVE to mash them before you're ready to put the meal on the table, keep them covered and turn your heat on LOW/KEEP WARM. If worst comes to worse, you can microwave cold mashed, but be warned that the microwave can alter the texture of the potatoes.

Parmesean Garlic Mashed Potatoes
serves 4-6 as a side dish
4 medium/large potatoes (I used russets because thats what I had)
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 T butter
1/2 c milk
1/2 c shredded parmesean cheese (I have used the green can as well as real Parmesean, both were delicious)
S&P

Peel potatoes and cut into large chunks. Put potato pieces and garlic cloves into a large pot of cold water. Bring water and potatoes up to a boil. Once it boils reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are fork tender all the way through, about 15-20 minutes at my altitude.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tips: put cut potatoes into a pot of cold water and bring it up to a boil together. Starting the potatoes in cold water helps them not absorb as much water, keeping your mash nice & fluffy and not watery or gluey.~*~

Drain potatoes well and put them back into the cooking pot. Cover the potatoes with a clean tea towel (or paper towels) and allow them to steam for about 5 min with the towel on. This process of steaming the potatoes allows the surface moisture to evaporate resulting in a smooth fluffy potato that doesn't get gummy. You'll know your potatoes are ready to mash when they are white and fluffy looking on the outside. They may appear dusty, this is GOOD, its the starches coming out, in insuring that you'll have fluffy mash.

Heat the butter and milk together in a microwave until its hot (about 1 min 30 seconds).

With a potato masher smash the potatoes and garlic BEFORE adding the liquids. this breaks up the potatoes but the gluten is not activated in the potato. What that means is that you can go to town on these babies and get them nice & mashed with out worrying about them turning gluey.

Once the potatoes are nicely mashed add the liquids. Switch to a wooden spoon and start to whip them up.

Add the cheese, stir it in well and allow it to melt a bit, like 1 minute. Stir it once more after cheese has melted and serve.

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 253.5
Total Fat 8.1 g
Saturated Fat 5.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.8 g
Cholesterol 18.0 mg
Sodium 682.8 mg
Potassium 907.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 39.4 g
Dietary Fiber 4.7 g
Sugars 3.1 g
Protein 7.5 g

Beef Stew

The calender may say spring has sprung but here in Colorado, that just means that our snowy season has begun! The day that I made this stew we got 4 inches of snow. With snow in the air stew needs to be on the stove! What's better for the husband to come home to after a long day of work, and even longer drive home in the snow, than a pot of chunky beef stew?

When choosing meat for the stew choose chuck cuts. Do NOT choose 'stew meat'. 'Stew meat' is just scraps left over from the butchery process and that meat tends to be very rubbery & chewy, filled with excess fat & gristle, not my idea of a good stew! Round cuts (top round, bottom round roast) all are very lean but they dry out & get chalky when cooked in stew. Avoid them. Chuck is the best cut for this process, it has lots of beefy flavor and is ideal for long slow cooking processes, that allows the meat to break down & become very tender.

One of my big beefs (pun intended) with stew is chewy flabby flavorless meat. I won't stand for it! The Kitchen Witches' stew is exceptionally tender as a result of the cut of meat, the red wine and the long slow braising process. The red wine is essential: it helps to tenderize the meat, in addition to bringing lots of flavor to the dish. The acids & enzymes in the wine help to break down & tenderize the beef, resulting in nice soft pieces.


Beef Stew
makes 8 servings
3-5 lbs Chuck roast, cut into 1-2 in cubes
Kosher salt & pepper (about 2T salt, if using table salt use 1/2 as much)
3-4 carrots, peeled & sliced
3-4 ribs celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 t thyme leaves, dry or 4 stems fresh
3 bay leaves
3/4 bottle burgundy red wine (about 4 cups if you're using a boxed variety like me)
4 c water or beef broth (I used water, out of broth)
1/2 cup frozen peas
2-3 potatoes, peeled & diced
1T oil for sautee

Cut the roast into 1-2 in cubes, discarding any excess fat & connective tissues. Pat dry with paper towels, this helps with browning. Season beef cubes with salt & pepper (1T salt & 1/2 t ground pepper) and toss in the EVOO just before sautee.
Heat large soup pan over med hi heat, once hot add beef in a single layer and brown. You'll probably have to do this 3-4 times (kind of a pain but the flavor pay off is worth it). Don't crowd the pan, cubes shouldn't be touching, that causes the meat to steam & not brown, resulting in grey meat. yuck! Once cubes are browned remove & set aside. Repeat with remaining beef until done. Don't worry about the yucky brown stuff on the bottom of the pan, that's your fond, AKA flavor :)

Once meat has been browned, add onions, carrots & celery to pan. Stir. Add wine & scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon to release all the cooked on brown bits. Add the thyme, garlic & bay, stir well. Add the beef back to the pan and add 3/4 of the beef broth, stir well. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours. Taste stew hourly for seasoning, keeping in mind the flavors change as it cooks, and the salt tends to cook out somewhat. Add more salt & pepper accordingly.

After 2-3 hours of simmering add your diced potatoes, stir well, recover and cook about 30 min longer or until potatoes are soft.

Add the frozen peas, stir them into the stew and allow to rest for about 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves, ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Oven roasted potatoes

Mmm...potatoes! These innocent tubers are the stuff that dinner dreams are made of! If you're sick & tired of mashed, baked and boring potatoes, the Kitchen Witch has the solution for you: Oven Roasted Potatoes!

With minimal ingredients (4, including salt & pepper!) and simple preparations you'll have an awesome side dish on the table in no time. These golden cubes of potatoey goodness are the perfect accompiment to pretty much anything! Having a dinner party? Add some fresh chopped herbs to the finished potatoes - the heat of the potatoes will draw out the herbs essential oils, scenting your dish with deliciousness. Grate on some fresh asiago or Parmesean cheese and you've created potato perfection!

But don't regulate these golden gems to the dinner table only! Top your roasted beauties with scrambled eggs, veggies, meats & cheese and you've got a skillet meal that any 24 hr pancake joint would be jealous of. With a fraction of the fat & calories - not to mention the PHO's that most restaurants use for their frying - they are almost health food!

However you decide to serve your oven roasted potatoes I'm sure you'll find them to be a Kitchen Witch Essential recipe and one of your go to's for a simple side dish!

Oven Roasted Potatoes
1 potato per person to be served (Russets are used here however Yukon Gold are my favorite potatoes for this application. Feel free to use what you have!)
drizzle of oil
Kosher salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 450*

Peel and rinse potatoes. Dice into 1/2 in cubes. Dry off cubes, this removes the surface startch and moisture which helps the potatoes to brown. Believe me if you skip this step your potatoes will be cooked thru but won't ever develop their golden crust that makes this dish so delicious.


Once potatoes are dried put onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, about 1 t per potato, toss with 1-2 heavy pinches of salt and a grind or 2 of pepper per potato. Toss with hands to evenly coat all potato cubes. Its very important that you get nice even distribution of oil & seasonings here.
Bake potatoes for about 15-20 min OR until bottoms turn nice & brown. With a spatula stir potatoes trying to turn as many over as possible. Trying to turn them too soon will cause the cubes to stick - the starches haven't cooked all the way, which will A. frustrate you when trying to turn them, B. make a HUGE mess on your baking sheet and C. result in gummy potatoes, not a good thing in this Kitchen Witches opinion! If they stick and/or the backs peel off the potato & stick to the tray, put them back in the oven & try again in 5 minutes.

Put tray back in oven after turning, bake for 5-7 min longer, remove & stir again. Repeat this one more time before serving. The potatoes are done when the exterior is golden brown & crispy, the interior is soft & fluffy (30-40 min total).



Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 205.7
Total Fat: 4.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 1,175.5 mg
Total Carbs: 37.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.7 g
Protein: 4.3 g