Creamiest Potato Salad

Macaroni salad is over, now let’s try potato salad. This is still the continuation of my creamy series where I needed to finish up that all purpose cream that I have inside the fridge. Actually this recipe I have twisted a bit since I don’t have other ingredients like mayo, mustard paste and sweet pickle relish so what I did to improvised for the missing ingredient was to use Thousand Island dressing which has sweet pickle relish into it and I didn’t regret it, the taste was just superb.

Don't blame me, it's really creamy the way I want it!


It is just easy to prepare just boil the potatoes and cut them into bigger chunks and don’t overcook those potatoes because you are not preparing mash potatoes but a salad and you need to stir other ingredient into it so be extra careful not to crush the potatoes. I am sure it won’t be if you have cooked the potatoes right.

Sorry folks the cream really covered the ingredients obviously!


I was able to make 2 bowls full for 4 medium sized potatoes


Here are some ingredients you may need for the salad:

4 medium sized potatoes (boiled and sliced into bigger chunks)
Onions (chopped into bits)
Thousand island dressing (just in case you don’t have mayo, pickle relish and mustard sauce)
All purpose cream
4 eggs (hard boiled)
Sweetened milk
Salt and pepper

4 medium sized potatoes can serve 20+ people


Mix all the said ingredients above. If you have noticed I didn’t put any amount of measurements since you will be the one to measure it according to your liking. These 4 medium potatoes gave me two big bowls full which is good to serve 20 plus people. I just used one and a half cup of all purpose cream, ¾ cup of sweetened milk, half cup of Thousand Island dressing.

About the egg, you just need to mash the egg yolk and slice the egg whites into smaller bits and pour it into the mixture together with the chopped onions. Just season your salad with salt and ground black pepper and put inside the fridge. Some would include vinegar into their dressing, but as for me the Thousand Island dressing is perfect so I did not include any vinegar. You can include some cayenne or paprika for coloring only and some flavor but at this preparation, I did not include any. Enjoy your salad with buttered bread or side dish it with your favorite fried chicken.

Round Gourd with Potato in Chili Flakes

This time it’s another veggie meal. I have posted before some recipes about round gourd or what we call in tagalog as Upo. This dish that I wanted to share with you is from India since it needs to include some spices like chili, mustard seed and cumin powder. It is just easy to prepare especially if you’re in a quick mode to prepare a meal for lunch or for dinner.

Round Gourd with Potatoes in Chili Flakes, garnished with fresh coriander


I have never eaten round gourd with potatoes before. It was my first time to try this recipe and for me, it is just fine since it does not complicate the taste. Round gourd is watery unlike potatoes; it absorbs water so I guess these two veggies are good to combine. You can’t go wrong with it if you wanted to sauté it with fried fish for this meal. But since I don’t have fish in stock, I did not include any but still it taste great so without further due, here is the recipe for cooking Round gourd with potato in Chili flakes.

Ingredients:

Round gourd (cut into bigger chunks)
Potato (1 medium size and cut into quarter size)
Onion (chopped)
Mustard seeds
Cumin powder
Ginger-garlic paste
Tomatoes (medium size, chopped)
Turmeric powder
Curry leaves (5-6 pieces)
Fresh coriander leaves (for garnishing)
Salt
Water
Chili powder
Chili flakes
Vegetable oil

Preparation/ Methods on Cooking Round Gourd with Potato in Chili Flakes:

Step 1: On a pan heat oil and put the mustard seed. Once it crackles you can now put half a teaspoon of cumin powder.

Step 2: Next you need to put the onions and put salt into it so that it can easily fry. After this you can now put a pinch of turmeric powder and one teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste. Stir well so that it won’t stick at the bottom of the pan. When your onion is already light brown in color, you can now put your chopped tomatoes.

Step 3: If the tomatoes are already mashed a bit, you can now add your curry leaves and half a teaspoon of chili powder. After this you can now put the round gourd and potatoes together and stir it carefully so that the ingredients are all mixed well.

Step 4: Sprinkle some chili flakes as you add about one cup of water. Put the flame into medium heat and simmer the veggies for 2 minutes. Check the taste if it needs more salt. If the veggies are not yet done, wait for additional 4 minutes and don’t overcook your round gourd.


Step 5: Garnish with fresh coriander leaves to make it more appealing. You can also include fried fish for this recipe right after you simmer your round gourd and potatoes with water. Serve hot with rice and with any fried meat or fish. I do hope you enjoy and try this delightful meal.

Potol with Aloo

I have remaining potol (pointed gourd)and aloo (potatoes) in the ref so it was just timely to cook this recipe. I do have researched some recipes concerning this one but I cannot do it since the ingredients calls for some spices that I do not have. Luckily there was this recipe posted by a lady from the south that she delighted to share this dish. The only ingredient I lack was sesame seeds which she added. Anyway no big deal for that one since the rest of the ingredients I have here and I would also like to share to you.

Potol with Aloo (Pointed gourd with potatoes)



By the way if you would ask me where in the world can you buy pointed gourd or potol or parwal, it’s in every sidewalk market of India. I haven’t seen this veggie in Philippines yet, even if I try to visit bigger groceries and malls, they don’t sell such. So just in case you would like to try this recipe, I suggest you can also check an Indian store for this one, who knows they might have it. Here are the ingredients on how to prepare Potol with Aloo masala.

Ingredients:

Potol (pointed gourd) 5-6 pieces
Aloo or potatoes (one medium size)
Onion (medium size)
2 cloves of Garlic
Rai or mustard seeds (one teaspoon)
Jeera or cumin seeds (one teaspoon)
Lemon juice
Coriander powder
Red chili powder
Green chilies (slit)
Salt
Ground black pepper
Sesame seeds (optional)
Turmeric powder (a pinch only)
Ginger-garlic paste (one tbsp.)
Coriander leaves (for garnishing)
Cooking Oil
Water


Method/ Preparation on how to Cook Potol with Aloo:

Step 1: Scrape off the potol by scrubbing it with a knife. This removes the outer skin of the veggie. Cut it into halves and then slice it vertically. You can remove the seeds if you think it is too hard or if the potol you bought was already old.

Step 2: On a pan heat the oil, and then sprinkle the mustard seeds. If it crackles, then it’s time to put the jeera or cumin seeds. After this you need to put the onions and sauté them. Once the onions turned light brown, you need to put turmeric powder and then your ginger-garlic paste.

Step 3: Next step will be the coriander powder and chili powder. If you have put these powders be sure to put a few drops of water so that you don’t get to burn the powders. After this you can now put the potol veggies and simmer it to two minutes.

Step 4: Put the flame into medium to slow heat and then add your aloo or potatoes. You can now add some salt and black ground pepper to taste and add some more water to keep the potatoes softer as you cook it. Cover the pan and cook the veggies till it gets tender. Garnish it with fresh coriander leaves. If you happen to add some sesame seeds into this dish, you can add it once you have put your potatoes.

Beef and Potatoes Omelet

I didn’t put all my minced beef and potatoes into the pan when I cooked it yesterday. I subdivided it and cook it with egg and made an omelet out of it. I just wish I had cheese and grated some to put it in my omelet but anyway, it was as good as this one anyway.


Minced beef and potatoes omelet



Simple ways to prepare your omelet:

Potatoes (cut into smaller dice) so that it can be easier to cook
Beef (toast it first) I don’t include it as raw because some minced beef are hard and rubbery

I do cook my potatoes first before I include it in egg. Why? It’s because I don’t want it hard from the inside while your egg was already over toasted on the outside. About the beef, what I can instruct you to do is to boil it first with enough water, meaning if you’re going to use ¼ kilo of minced beef, then your water should be about 4-5 tbsp. of water. Once the water is drained, then that is the time that you can put your oil and toasts the minced beef.

But if you like to put raw minced beef and raw potatoes, on your omelet it’s up to you, but I can guarantee you that it will be hard and rubbery and the egg will be overcooked. When combining the two ingredients together with your batted egg put some salt and ground black pepper first on your mixture so that there is taste in your omelet.

Never put a lot of oil when frying it, you can just add 2 tbsp. of oil and that will be sufficient if it’s only a portion of beef and potatoes. But if you have more than ¼ kilo, well you can figure it out obviously if the pan needs more oil or not. It will be bubbly and froth once the beef and potatoes soaked in egg are placed in the pan. Use a big flat spatula to overturn the omelet and avoid messing it.I don’t have a measure cup for placing the omelet into perfect round; just a spoon to place it in but it’s still gorgeous to look at. Hope you like this meal!

Minced beef with potatoes

Its beef and potatoes for the day since starch are also needed by our body as well as protein. I have mince beef this time to match with potatoes and I diced them in small sizes so that it can be cooked well.

It is also great to match potatoes with corned beef although there are no canned goods here (particularly beef) being sold in the market since it is a Hindu nation. Anyway, hubby bought this mince beef in a store nearby since there are Muslims and Christians who sell it. I know that at home we used to include sotanghon or vermicelli bean thread noodle in this recipe. It is just easy to prepare although for me what I like is to toast first the mince beef by placing water and let it boil for some time. I added salt so that it will have a taste and once the water is gone, I can now put oil and cook it further.

Easy to prepare minced beef with potatoes



I like to toast the beef well till it gets that dark brownish color. About the potatoes, make sure that it was just sliced smaller so that you can cook it very well. Once your beef is done, you can now sauté it with garlic and onions. Then you can put the diced potatoes and add some water.

On this recipe, I don’t put too much water. It was just half tea cup water which is enough for simmering the beef and potatoes. Once your potatoes are half cooked, you can season it with soya sauce, salt and ground black pepper. There’s no problem if you wanted to add more flavor by putting some beef bouillon while simmering the beef and potatoes.
If you want some more flavor and color, you can add green and red bell peppers into it, but for this recipe, I don’t have a stock so you won’t be able to see in the picture. I have another version of cooking this recipe but I will post it by tomorrow. Hope you try this delicious recipe also.

Spicy Aloo Bhindi Recipe

Aloo means potato and Bhindi means okra in Hindi. These two are always present in every Indian dish since most of the people here are vegetarians and they have a lot of recipes concerning these two wonderful veggies. I know some people don’t like to eat okra because it is too slimy. But potatoes will always be a natural favorite since it is one of the easiest to prepare and you can do a lot of great recipes using potatoes.

Spicy Aloo Bhindi Recipe




Spicy Aloo and Bhindi is one of which I favored to eat because it captures the taste of the masala you use. It is also easy to prepare as long as you have the ingredients like spices at home. Well you can visit any Indian stores in your place to look for this spices that I am going to share in this recipe. Here is the instruction of how to cook Spicy Aloo Bhindi recipe:

Ingredients:

1 large Aloo (potatoes)- Chopped into smaller cubes
¼ kilo of bhindi or okra- cut into small rings
1 medium size onion
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
Turmeric
Ginger-garlic paste
Salt
red Chili powder
Coriander powder
Jeera or cumin powder
2 green chilies (cut into small rings)
Hing or asoefetida
Coriander leaves (fresh)
oil

Preparations/ Methods on How to cook Spicy Aloo Bhindi Recipe:

Step 1: Heat oil in pan and put jeera powder, hing and then garlic. Once it is light brown you can now add the chopped onions and green chilies. Put salt in your onion so that it can be cooked easily. Once the onion is golden brown you can now add your turmeric and then put ginger garlic paste.

Step 2: Next you need to put the coriander powder and red chili powder and put 1tbsp of water so that your powder would not be burnt in taste. Then you can now put the chopped aloo or potatoes and add some more tbsp. of water and simmer it for 10-12 minutes. Once your potatoes are half cooked, you can add the bhindi or okra and cook it for another 5 to 8 minutes.

Step 3: If you think that it still lacks taste, just sprinkle salt into your potato and okra. Just don’t put a lot of water so that it will not get slimy and the taste of the masala will stick to your veggies. Keep the flame slow and I hope you just use a non-stick pan for this recipe since this dish is supposed to be dry and not saucy.

Beef Stew (Nilagang Baka)

I am not a fan of beef stew since I really don’t like how it gets my mouth greasy all over whenever the dish gets cold. I just wanted it hot when served as I sip the beefy goodness of the soup. Sometimes, you won’t be able to tell the beef that you bought was soft or as hard as steel that will take you time to boil it. Better yet most housewives use pressure cooker on tenderizing their beef.

Do not over cook your veggie when you cook Beef Stew



Although I cannot deny the fact that it is easy to cook if the beef meat is just young and soft to chew. It does not need too much ingredients. You can use green beans, cabbage and potatoes in it. But this time, I only have green or French beans and potatoes. I will share to you how to cook and prepare Beef stew:
Ingredients:
Beef meat (1/2 kilo) cut into big cubes
1 Medium size onion (cut into 4)
1 Beef bouillon cube
1 lady finger chili
Green beans (remove both ends, don’t cut in half)
1 big potato (cut into quarter)
Water
Salt / fish sauce (for seasoning)
Black ground pepper

Preparations/ Methods on how to cook Beef Stew (Nilagang Baka)

Beefy soup goodness!


Step 1: Boil the beef meat for 30 minutes or more (just check if the beef is soft and tender). Include some salt and onion while boiling.

Step 2: If the beef meat is tender and not rubbery, you can now put the beef bouillon cube, lady finger chili and potatoes and just check the water. If it’s not enough, add some more water and season it with salt or you can use fish sauce into this dish. Don’t worry about the amount of water you use, this is a soup, it’s okay for your beef meat to swim.

Step 3: If the potato is half done, you can now put the green beans and put some ground black pepper into it. Once your veggies are all done, you can now turn the flame off. Serve this dish hot.

Jeera Aloo ( Cummin Potatoes )

I was thinking on what to prepare on our potatoes since we bought it last week and I don’t want to spoil it by just letting it sit there together with our remaining onions. Well I have found the best and one of the easiest ways to cook it and that is Jeera Aloo or Potatoes with Cummin seeds.
The scent of jeera or cumin in the kitchen was really awesome whenever you try this recipe. The taste is also delicious and what I like is that I don’t have to sweat to prepare this meal since it is just simple and does not need a lot of ingredients. If you just have your spices at home, then this will be perfect for your potatoes. Here is the instruction on how to prepare Jeera Aloo recipe:
Delicious Jeera Aloo Recipe



Ingredients:
Medium size potatoes (boiled and cut into bigger cubes)

Boiled Potatoes
jeera seed
jeera powder
coriander powder
masala powder
turmeric
curry leaves ( 5 pcs. )
green chili (what I used was bird’s eye chili)
coriander leaves
salt (to taste)
vegetable oil

Procedure / Methods on how to cook Jeera Aloo :

As I have said boil the potatoes first and slice it into bigger cubes. After this set it aside and heat up a pan and put oil. Once your oil is hot, you can now put your jeera seeds, one teaspoon will be enough but if you have more than 3 big pieces of potatoes, then you can add more of your jeera seeds.

Garnish Jeera Aloo with Coriander leaves


Once your jeera seeds started to crackle, then put some of curry leaves and chopped green chili, and then followed by the following powders like jeera powder, coriander powder, a little bit of masala powder and turmeric. Don’t burn the powder so stir it well and put the potatoes. Be sure that the flame was put into slow flame only and stir the ingredients to blend well with your potatoes. Cover the pan and simmer for 2 minutes and now you can garnish it with coriander leaves or cilantro. Just taste your potatoes if you needed to put more salt, then just add. Hope you enjoy this dish.