VRC Roundup - Potatoes

Potatoes, taters, or spuds. Whatever you call them, they are one heck of a versatile veggie. Our round-up this week features a wide range of recipes. In some, the potato is the star of the show, in others it's the co-star. One creative recipe even includes sweet potatoes. Which just goes to show how easily it is to work with them. There were soups, stews, side dishes and main courses, including dishes with Greek, Indian, and Mexican flavors.

I'll admit that I was a wee bit nervous during the first of the week when I didn't get any entries. But sure enough, you all pulled through and sent me your recipes. So without any further ado, here they are for your reading pleasure.

Alysha from The Savory Notebook, and creator of the VRC, sends in these little nuggets of goodness, Roasted Potatoes.

From The Web Sorceress, a delicious looking dish called Mahogany Broiled Chicken with Smoky Lime Potatoes and Cilantro Chimichurri

Sweetnicks whipped up this Valentines Day heart healthy dish, Potato and Lentil Stew. (And get well soon Sweetnicks)

Christiane from 28 Cooks gave me this luscious dish called Greek Potatoes.

Ruth from Once Upon A Feast gets brownie points for including sweet potatoes in her dish, Potato and Sweet Potato Galette.

Joe from Culinary in the Desert sent in this Mexican inspired dish, Tortilla Española, also known as Tortilla de Patatas (potato and onion omelet).


A big WELCOME! to a new blogger, Kate from Pie in the Sky with this decadent looking recipe for Kitchen Sink Mashed Potatoes.

Sailaja from Sailu's Food Blog send this tasty dish from India called Aloo Tikki (Pan fried Potato Patties).

Alanna sent in this Turnip Potato Puree from her blog A Veggie Venture.

Patti from Adventures in Food and Wine sent a winning combination for a cold winter's night, Potato Soup with a ooey-gooey cheese sandwiches made with homemade bread. Hey, Patti, great way to support Kayln over at Kaylyn's Kitchen!

My brother who does Tasty Bytes sent me his recipe for a Potato-Leek Gratin

My sister (who is blogless, sad - isn't it?) sent me this recipe:
Potato & Crab Tamales
Dough:

12 Corn Husks (soaked in cold water for about 1 hour)
2 cups chicken Stock
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp salt
3 cups finely shredded potatoes
5 cups Masa flour

Filling:
1 1/2 lbs crabmeat or substitute chicken breasts
2/3 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup chipotle sauce
1/2 cup crushed peanuts

Sauce:
3 tsp olive oil
1 cup whole kernel corn
1/4 cup Tamarind Paste
2/3 cup guava juice

DIRECTIONS:
In a 2 qt electric mixer, mix the chicken stock, vegetable oil, potatoes, baking powder, salt and maseca flour using the paddle until smooth, (about 6 minutes at medium speed).

Boil the crabmeat in 1 qt of water until tender, then cool and shred, mix the shredded crabmeat with the tomato and chilpotle sauce and peanuts. Spread about 3 ounces of dough on each corn husk and place 3 tablespoons of the crabmeat filling in the middle of each tamale.

Secure each tamale by closing and folding each end of the corn husk and inside of a 4 qt steamer, steam for 30 minutes.

For the sauce: In a 5” skillet sautee the corn kernels in the olive oil for about 3 minutes, whisk in the tamarind paste and the guava juice, cook for another 2 minutes and keep warm for plating.
Serve each tamale cut in half and spoon about 2 Tbsps of sauce on the side.


And finally, my potato recipe.
Potato Leek Soup
(gee, me and little brother were on the same wave length).
3 tbsp. butter
3 large leeks (white & pale green parts only), halved lengthwise, thinly
sliced, and washed well
2 large russet potatoes (about 18 oz.), peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 1/2 cups chicken stock

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks; stir to coat with butter. Cover saucepan; cook until leeks are tender, stirring often for about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, potatoes and celery. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Using a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth. A few little chunks of potato are ok. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4

Virtual Recipe Club - Potato Edition

Alysha at The Savory Notebook started the Virtual Recipe Club (VRC) a while back and asked for a guest Host for this week's edition. I jumped at the chance. I love reading new recipes and the VRC is a great way to collect recipes that share a common theme.

When I told Alysha that I would gladly host this week's edition, she asked me to pick the topic. I mulled over several things and decided upon potatoes. The other items I toyed with were chocolate, cinnamon, or biscuits (Imagine that, Biscuit Girl choosing biscuits).

But in the end, potatoes won. Probably due to a discussion at work about what our March Staff Soup would be. I offered to bring in my potato leek soup recipe since soup day would be right around St. Patrick's Day and what's more Irish than potatoes.

So guess what potato recipe I'll be using for this week's VRC? I'd love to have your potato recipes too. You can submit them by e-mailing them to me at biscuitblog at earthlink dot net. If you post your recipe (with or without pictures), send me the permalink. I'll gather all the recipes up and post them here on Sunday evening.