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So long, see ya, 2018 sheet pan scalloped potatoes

I’ll be honest, there’s not much I’m going to miss about 2018. It was a long slog of a year. But I am a bit disappointed to be leaving sheet pan recipes behind. It turned out to be more challenging and have more variety than I even imagined going in.

And that was delightfully true with my final sheet pan recipe of the year.

Mostly I was just looking for something that would be versatile for the many smoked meats my sweetie made over the Christmas holiday, but I was delighted at how tasty my scalloped potatoes were. Especially for my first time and really fudging the recipe.

Sheet pan scalloped potatoes ingredients.

They also might have the distinction of being one of the fattiest things I’ve made this year. Helped by the fact that I added more cheese and more cream because that’s what I do.

My fudges — I chose to do a bechamel sauce instead of just heating cream because I also wanted to add leeks. Then, because it was thicker, I added more cream than the recipe called for. And as usual, I added more cheese.

But despite all that, it worked. It was — much like my lasagna — quite crusty but in the most delightful way.

My only note: Don’t be lazy like me, and instead, put it in Tupperware or storage containers while it’s still warm/room temperature; otherwise, you’ll be scraping at the pan to get all the potatoes and solidified fat off your sheet pan.

So much fatty goodness. Just look at it.

Here’s what I did, tweaking another Food Network recipe:

Ingredients

  • 4 T. unsalted butter, divided
  • 3 T. flour
  • 2 ½ c. heavy cream
  • 1 large leek, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used more)
  • 1 T. dried thyme
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 ½ lbs. Yukon gold potatoes (or similar), scrubbed and thinly sliced (a mandoline works best)
  • ½ c. grated Parmesan
  • 2 c. shredded Gruyere (about 6 oz.)

Directions

Grease a large rimmed sheet pan (the recipe calls for 18 by 13 inch, but mine is 15 by 12, and it was fine) with 1 T. of butter. Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Melt the remaining butter in a medium saucepan. Add the sliced leek and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until the leeks are softened. Meanwhile, mix the flour with the thyme and salt and pepper. Slowly add the flour mixture to the leek mixture.

Stir for 2 to 3 minutes until lightly browned.

Add the cream slowly and stir in. Thicken slightly but not too much. Set aside.

Arrange half the potato slices in a single overlapping layer on the prepared sheet pan. Add half the grated Parmesan (and some of the Gruyere if desired). Arrange another layer of potatoes using the remaining slices. Spread the sauce mixture on top.

Cover the sheet pan with foil and bake the potatoes for about 20 minutes.

Carefully remove the sheet pan from the oven and remove the foil. Top the warmed potato mixture with the remaining Parmesan and Gruyere. Cook uncovered for another 15 to 20 minutes until the top is brown and crusty on top, the potatoes are cooked through, and enjoy!

Happy New Year, dear readers, and I’ll be back with in 2019 with a new plan for a new year.

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Make friends happy with mini meatloaves

My friend David loves meatloaf, so I knew as soon as I saw a sheet pan meatloaf recipe that I would be making it this year and sharing with him on one of our regular gaming days.

This past week seemed as good a time as any, as we were in the midst of an epic battle that required comfort food. Plus, I like meatloaf too.

Sheet pan meatloaf ingredients.

The recipe technically comes from a random blog I came across — Strawberry Blondie Kitchen — but I just made my regular meatloaf recipe and divided it as she suggests and also paired it with the recommended potatoes and green beans.

So, like a lot of sheet pan recipes, particularly the dinners, this recipe can be adapted to preferences. I’m sharing my meatloaf recipe but if you have a favorite, feel free to make it to your tastes. Don’t like potatoes or green beans? Feel free to alter with something else.

It’s been fun to have these recipes be so adaptable, and that was especially the case this week.

As the recipe calls for dividing the meatloaf into 8 patties, it was easy enough to make it to particular tastes. One friend hates onions, so I separated one pattie before adding the grated onions. One friend didn’t want spice — I used Sriracha in place of ketchup — so his pattie just had cheese.

With little effort, I could make everyone happy and share my yummy meatloaf recipe.

*drool* meatloaf *drool*

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1 c. whole wheat bread crumbs
  • 1 medium onion, diced or grated
  • 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 t. oregano
  • 1 t. garlic powder
  • 1 t. ground mustard
  • 1 t. dried parsley
  • 1 large egg
  • Sriracha, to taste (or ketchup)
  • 8 slices of sharp cheddar
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Oil for coating
  • Olive oil for drizzling
  • 12 to 16 oz. potatoes, cut into quarters or eighths depending on size
  • 8 oz. green beans, trimmed

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with oil.

In a large bowl, mix together the beef, milk, bread crumbs, onion, Worcestershire sauce, spices and herbs, and egg. I just use my hands to mash it all together, which also helps determine if more bread crumbs might be necessary.

Divide the meat mixture into 8 even amounts and then shape into patties. Place on one half of the baking sheet, and squirt on a bit of Sriracha and then top with the cheese slices.

On the other end, place the potatoes and green beans, and drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the meatloaves are fully cooked and enjoy!

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Perfect timing for first sheet pan chicken

After my blog post a couple weeks ago where I roasted asparagus (with tilapia), a good friend reached out to me to rave about roasting vegetables.

During our back and forth, she mentioned that one of her newly discovered favorites was roasted radishes. The idea intrigued me, as did her description of their taste as “so sweet and caramely.”

I made a mental note to try it at some vague point in the future, but I admit I didn’t immediately go out and seek a recipe or even just put radishes on my grocery list. And yet, just a few days later I was scrolling Twitter when I found a sheet pan recipe from Epicurious that included roasted potatoes, and yes, radishes.

Sheet pan paprika chicken with roast vegetables ingredients.

Even better, it combined them with a roast chicken and my list of sheet pan roast chicken recipes has been growing, and I hadn’t yet made one. And, if that all wasn’t enough, the food was flavored with a simple sauce that was mostly paprika, garlic, and mayonnaise.

I decided right then it’d be my next blog post.

It was perhaps a bit ambitious to make it on a weeknight, but I was determined. And if I’m honest, it still wasn’t that bad. It would have been better if the timing listed in the recipe was enough to be safe that the chicken was cooked through instead of an additional 10 to 15 minutes. But otherwise, there was a lot of down time between steps, enough that I could do dishes, even.

And the end result couldn’t have tasted better. The chicken was perfect; the potatoes sufficiently roasted; and the radishes — wow, they just burst with flavor and juices. It was an amazing combination, made better by the addition of a simple salsa verde that used up the radish greens.

I can say I’ll be returning to roast radishes, and this recipe, again.

So many good flavors combined. Nom noms.

Here’s what I did, tweaking the recipe a bit:

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken
  • ½ c. mayonnaise,
  • 1 T. paprika (smoked if possible),
  • 4 cloves garlic, divided
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb. golden potatoes, cut into fourths or eighths
  • 2 bunches radishes, halved, reserving greens
  • 1 bunch cilantro, with tender stems
  • 1 bunch parsley, with tender stems
  • ⅔ c. olive oil
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • Juice from 1 lemon

Directions

Place oven rack in the middle of the oven, and heat to 425 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, paprika, half the garlic cloves, and salt and pepper. Once mixed, move  2 to 3 T. of the mix into a large bowl (it will ultimately be mixed with the vegetables so bigger bowls are better).

Pat the inside and outside of the chicken dry. Place on a large sheet pan with rimmed edges. Coat the mayonnaise mix from the small bowl under the skin of the chicken and outside it, including on legs. Tie together the legs with kitchen twine.

Bake the chicken for about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Toss the potatoes and radishes with the reserved mayonnaise mixture in the large bowl.

After 25 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees, and remove the chicken from oven. In a single layer, add the potatoes and radishes to the pan around the chicken.

Continue to bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, in a blender, mix together the parsley, cilantro, radish leaves, olive oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice, the remaining garlic cloves, and salt and pepper. Blend until coarsely chopped.

Once chicken is cooked through, transfer it to a cutting board and let cool for 15 minutes before carving. Serve the chicken with the roasted vegetables and salsa verde, and enjoy!

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Thank god for a family of foodies

This year for Christmas we got a cooking utensil and a cookbook from my brother and his wife. They know us so well.

At first I wasn’t sure why a Jamie Oliver cookbook was the one my brother chose. But, of course, he is the type to read through a cookbook like a book, and therefore, understand cooking better. And this book is perfect for that.

It’s the British chef’s “5 Ingredients,” and as its name implies is cooking with just 5 ingredients (and OK, also 5 pantry items that you likely have lying around if you have this book, and full disclosure, we do). And because of that, it’s perfect for both its simplicity but also understanding how flavors interact and how to build from just 5 ingredients.

So far, we have only made a handful of things out of it, but every single one of them has been my new favorite dish.

This week’s recipe here is no exception.

It’s got 5 ingredients, plus two I added (one that’s optional and one that amends a hard-to-find item), and one pantry item (pepper, which I hope most people have in their pantry), and a bit of water. It took time only because it roasted potatoes, fennel and artichokes for a long time, and then had a cheesy cream sauce.

Vegetables covered in cream and oil, so you know it’s delicious

It’s pretty healthy, though I did add more of the unhealthy bits than Oliver’s original calls for. And other than the time, it takes just cutting potatoes and fennel for prep.

So, yeah, this is a good one. Here’s what I did to amend the original:

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. yellow potatoes, quartered or eighthed depending on size (His recipe was in grams)
  • 2 bulbs fennel, sliced thinly, and including the clean stalks
  • 1 jar (14 oz) marinated artichoke hearts, quartered (including the oil!)
  • 1 sprig rosemary (optional)
  • 1 c. heavy cream (the recipe called for double cream, which I think is thicker so I mixed in sour cream too)
  • ½ c. sour cream
  • ⅔ c. grated Parmesan, divided
  • Pepper
  • 1 c. water

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the potatoes and fennel on a large, sided sheet pan (about 15 ½ x 12 inches). Add the quartered artichoke hearts and their oil. Season with rosemary and pepper. Pour over the water.

Cover the vegetable mix with olive oil and bake for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the heavy cream, sour cream and ½ the Parmesan cheese. When the vegetables have baked for an hour, remove the foil and dot the vegetables with the cream mixture, and sprinkle on the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered for another 20 minutes until the cheese has browned. Let cool slightly and enjoy!