Smushed Potatoes with Bacon Dressing

Using small, new Yukon Gold or red potatoes makes for a nice presentation as part of the entrée.  If you steam the potatoes, they should be fluffier than if they are boiled. While the potatoes are steaming, one can get the dressing ready.  And, who does not like bacon?

Method:

Place the unpeeled potatoes in a steamer rack or basket over boiling water and cook, covered for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the potato. 

While doing that place the bacon in a medium sized fry pan over medium heat and stir and cook until crisp.  Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain off the oil but leave the bacon renderings in the fry pan.  

To the pan drippings add the balsamic vinegar, sugar, and salt and pepper and stir. Finally add the bacon back into the pan and give it a stir.  

Take the steaming potatoes from the stove and if a fork can pierce them, they are ready. Place potatoes on a cookie sheet and smush each one with the bottom of a juice glass. 

Transfer the potatoes to a platter and pour the hot oil/bacon mixture over the tops of the potatoes so they soak up that liquid and serve. Potatoes can be prepped ahead as well as dressing and warmed in a 300 degree oven or microwaved to reheat before serving.

Vegetable Side Dish:

If I were serving this dinner after a festive day of house visiting and garden touring, I think of the soup as a first course and the heavy dessert would be more than enough to accompany the tenderloin with onions and the potatoes. One could add a salad and/or warm fresh bread or maybe sautéed zucchini fresh from the garden or perhaps some fresh green beans that you harvested that morning.

Chocolate & Caramel Tart:

This dessert is good for you as it is prepared with dark chocolate and that makes it heart healthy!  Start with making the crust and while that is baking, you can start the caramel and the tart filling.

Crust:

Method:

With the crust ingredients, take the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt and in a food processor pulse until well combined. Add the cold butter and pulse again until the mixture resembles coarse sand.

Add the egg yolk and 4 or 5 teaspoons of the icy water and pulse again until the mixture is formed into a ball around the processor paddle.

Add the water through the processor tube slowly so there is not too much water incorporated and the mixture becomes too mushy and not sandy.

Press the mixture into a fluted tart pan. Use the bottom of a glass to tamp mixture to keep bottom and sides at equal levels. Refrigerate form 45 minutes to an hour to keep butter cold.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the crust from the refrigerator and line the inside of the crust with parchment paper and pie weights or dried beans and bake until the crust looks dry - probably 15 minutes. At that point, remove the weights and parchment paper and put back into the oven for another five minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack so air circulates around it.

Turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Chocolate Caramel Filling:

Method:

Combine the sugar and water in a medium sized heavy metal saucepan on medium high heat.  With a cover on, let the mixture come to a boil.  Cook covered for 5 minutes or so until the sugar is completely dissolved in the water. Remove the lid and stir constantly, cook until the sugar/ water mixture turns an amber color and turns to caramel- maybe 3 to 5 minutes. If you smear a line of vegetable oil around the lip of the pan it will help keep the contents from boiling over onto the stovetop.  

Remove the caramel from the heat at this point and add the cream whisking until the caramel stops bubbling. Add the vanilla and sea salt and stir until well incorporated and let come to room temperature. 

Combine the chocolate and the butter in a glass bowl and either place over boiling water and melt them together or microwave in 15 second intervals to melt together.  Let this sit on the counter to get to room temperature.

Check the oven temperature to assure it is down to 325 degrees. Whisk the 5 egg yolks and the 1 whole egg in a large bowl until light and frothy. SLOWLY whisk in the caramel and incorporate well before adding the melted chocolate mixture. Incorporate that in well also.

Place the prepared tart shell in its tart pan on a baking sheet and now pour the chocolate filling mixture into the tart shell. Carefully transfer to your oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.  The edges should be firm, and the center should be a tad jiggly at which point you know it is time to remove tart from the oven. 

Let come to room temperature on a cooling rack on the counter and then place it in the refrigerator for several hours to firm and chill.  You can sprinkle a few more grains of sea salt on top before serving.

To Serve:

Maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, fresh berries or a drizzle of melted dark chocolate chips with a sprig of freshly picked mint from your garden could be the final added touch to this grand dessert. 

This is not a dinner at the White House, nor it is a repast shared with a POTUS, but it is another simple and delicious dinner to serve to your fellow Chester County Day tour goers.  Good Day, good friends, great travels to the Chester County countryside, lovely old and interesting homes and properties.  Our tour may not be as old and as historic as our nations capitol city, but we have kept up the longest running house tour and the traditions have lasted for 82 tours and may they continue to come for many more years as we pledge our efforts to The Chester County Hospital.

Chester County Day Menu | 2022

Here is a good one dish soup that accompanied with a “hunk” of fresh hot bread, or a warm roll, would make a chilly fall evening meal a treat.  I worked this as a vegetarian opener, but one could easily add chicken or turkey to the recipe and satisfy all realms of food intake.  If you buy a store roasted chicken or turkey breast, the leftovers could be added to make a meat version. Ditalini can be used for a more filling dish or use pastina for a lighter version.  If you want a thick soup, cook the pasta in the broth and use that for your one quart of stock removing the pasta with a sieve.  If you do this method, add pasta at the last minute or two of cooking as it needs to only heat up in the soup.

Since this is a rather heavy course, I have skipped a salad this year.  If that is a must on your menu, then plan on something to incorporate some blue cheese with pears and walnuts or apples and Smoked Gouda with chopped pecans on a bed of chopped endive or spring greens with a light dressing.  If you do the pasta, then maybe a green salad is all you would need to add to the entrée.

Many years ago I included a recipe for an Onion Soup comprised of seven different types of onions and many people commented on what a great soup it was.  I have used that as a stimulus for a pasta sauce for a main dish of pasta for this year’s main entree.  This time around though, it is five types of onions.  This is a first for the menu as there is no meat—one could add some bacon into the sauce which I will get to in the procedures.  You can make your own pasta from scratch, use frozen / fresh pasta, or use boxed, dry pasta.  I would suggest Rigatoni if you use boxed and or dried pasta, Cavatelli if you are buying it fresh or frozen, and if you make your own, then definitely go with homemade gnocchi.