I have become addicted to buying produce at the Pole Green Produce Market down the street from me. One of the reasons is that they have had the tastiest fingerling potatoes. I have been roasting them, boiling them, and sautéing them. They have been side dishes and main dishes. Tonight it was a side dish that became the main dish.
I am a huge fan of Pinterest. Back in April, I pinned a recipe from Southern Living, called Harvest Mashed Potatoes. I had been dying to make these and wanted to wait until the fall, because tasty mashed potatoes belong in cooler weather. Summer mashed potatoes just does not do well with me.
Being a Friday night, my husband and I were too tired to do anything crazy and cumbersome. There was a pork loin defrosted and a jar to Stubb’s to marinade with. I scavenged Pinterest and remembered my harvest potato recipe. We made a few adjustments to the original recipe to use ingredients we had left over and were quite pleased with the outcome. The dish was so tasty that we ate more of the potatoes than the pork loin.
When I first read the recipe, I was skeptical about using horseradish. Butter, milk, potatoes, cinnamon… and horseradish? After tasting the earnest goodness of the cinnamon and the potatoes, I discovered that the horseradish was needed to break up the overwhelming monotony of the sweetness. The spicy pinch gave the dish a little extra kick that allowed the cinnamon to shine even more as it overcame the complexity.
I highly recommend making this dish in either the recipe I created below or the Southern Living recipe linked above. It embodies the full aromatic flavors of fall and makes me feel like the leaves are turning.
Harvest Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Serves 6
Ingredients
18 fingerling potoates, or 2 pounds
2 medium sweet potatoes
¼ cup butter
½ cup half and half
¼ cup sour cream
¼ heaping cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Method
1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces. Wash the fingerlings and quarter. Boil them in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes or under tender. Drain them and place in a large bowl.
2. Add the butter, half and half, sour cream, cheese, horseradish, salt, pepper, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Blend the ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth.
One of the best things I have done for myself is begin taking photography classes through Flying Photo School. I found a Groupon for them and originally decided to try it on a whim. I have officially completed their Digital 101 and 102 courses.
A few years ago, my husband bought me a decent camera. Before, I was using disposable snap and shoots. Horrific, right? So, once I had a nice camera, I realized that the nice camera doesn’t just take wonderful shots all by itself. I actually had to learn all of the settings. For example, I would play around and mess up a bar that went from, -2 to +2 and have no idea what I did. Then, all the pictures turned out horrible. I became scared of the camera.
When trying to fix it, I pushed buttons like manual focus or changed the settings to “P” or “TV” and didn’t see a difference. I thought TV actually meant it was a video setting. Crazy.
The long story made short, was that Flying Photo School was an easy way for me to learn the basics of my camera. With the recipe pictures below, hopefully you can see the difference.
If you are interested in checking them out, visit their website at:
Now, on to the burger. I made a turkey burger. This was not just any old turkey burger. It was a touch of deliciousness, a glorified tribute to making something healthy and turning it back to being not too healthy again.
Once again, my style for this is flexible. You can add toppings on your own, or subtract others. We used this recipe for three servings, one manly half pound burger, and two smaller quarter pounders for me at different meals. The servings below are proportioned for four quarter pound hamburgers.
Cilantro Turkey Burger Recipe
Serves 4 half pound burgers
Ingredients
12 slices bacon
1 lb ground turkey
1 ½ cup cilantro, chopped
8 slices pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Sriracha, to taste (we used 2 Tbsp.)
Juice of ½ lime
4 hamburger buns
1 large tomato, sliced
1 large avocado, sliced
Suggested Equipment:
Large Skillet
Broiler Pan or Flat Sheet Pan
Directions
1. Heat a skillet to high and cook bacon to desired crispness. When finished, place the bacon on a plate with paper towels but do not discard the bacon grease from the skillet. Set it aside.
2. Mix the turkey and cilantro in a large bowl. Pat out four equal sized burger patties. We roll it into a ball, then press down with hand cupped to keep edges together in a circle. Cook the burgers in the skillet with bacon grease on high heat until cooked through.
3. Heat broiler at standard heat, at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the burgers on the broiler pan and place two slices of pepper jack cheese on top of each. When heat has been reached, put the burgers on top rack and broil until the cheese has melted.
4. Mix the mayonnaise, Sriracha, and lime juice together to form a spicy sauce.
5. Place the burgers with melted cheese on the bottom hamburger bun. Add three slices of bacon on top of the cheese of each burger. Then divide the tomato and avocado equally to each, placing the tomato and avocado on top of bacon. Drizzle the mayonnaise sauce on top of the stack and finish it with the top bun. Enjoy the masterpiece!
I have become addicted to buying produce at the Pole Green Produce Market down the street from me. One of the reasons is that they have had the tastiest fingerling potatoes. I have been roasting them, boiling them, and sautéing them. They have been side dishes and main dishes. Tonight it was a side dish that became the main dish.
