Cheesy Potato Hash with Eggs

CHEESY POTATO HASH

Serves 30

• 12 lbs frozen potato wedges or steak fries (we like Trader Joe's Crinkle Cut) 
• 4 TBS unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 lbs yellow onions, diced
• 10 assorted bell peppers, diced OR X oz frozen, diced bell peppers 
• 2 lbs sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preheat flattop grill to medium-high heat.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a full-size hotel pan on a warming shelf to preheat.

Prepare peppers and onions as described above.  Add butter and canola oil to flattop grill and heat until bubbles have subsided.  Add peppers and onions to grill top and saute until lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Transfer the pepper mixture to the preheated hotel pan and cover tightly.  Keep warm.

While peppers and onions are cooking, arrange potato wedges in single layers on several sheet pans, being careful not to crowd the pans.  Roast potatoes until the edges have become browned and crispy.  Remove pans from the oven and transfer potatoes to a clean, dry cutting board.  Working in batches with a large chef's knife, roughly chop potatoes into thirds and immediately transfer to the hotel pan with the pepper mixture, forming a layer of potatoes on top of the peppers. Top the potatoes with the shredded cheese and recover the pan.  Keep warm.

Just before serving, mix potatoes and cheese into the peppers until well combined.   Return uncovered pan to the oven if necessary to briefly reheat.  Serve steaming hot, topped off with a pair of eggs (recipe below) and sprinkled with a garnish of fresh parsley.   Be sure to offer a bottle or two of hot sauce at the table.

EGGS in a BASKET

Makes 64 eggs, or 2 per person

• Olive oil and basting brush OR non-stick cooking spray
• 64 large eggs, cage-free
• 64 slices of bacon, nitrate-free
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Spray the inside of (6) 12-count muffin tins with non-stick spray or brush the compartments with olive oil making sure to get full coverage on the pans.  Line the sides of each muffin slot with a slice of bacon.  The bacon will form a ring around the interior of each muffin slot.  Transfer pans to hot oven and cook until bacon has begun to crisp.  Cooking time will vary depending upon your oven.

Remove pans from oven and break one egg into each muffin slot.  Season each egg with salt and pepper.  Return pans to oven and bake until egg whites are set and yolks have reached your desired degree of firmness.  Cooking times will vary greatly depending on your oven, but will probably range from 10-15 minutes.  (We've found that it's a good idea to offer eggs cooked to different degrees of firmness as preferences vary.)

Remove pans from oven and allow eggs to rest for several minutes.  Using a butter knife or very small spatula, loosen the bacon from around the edge of the muffin slots and gently remove bacon-wrapped eggs with a spoon.  

Serve immediately aside the hash or transfer eggs to a pre-heated, covered hotel pan to keep warm until ready to serve.

[One note:  you may have to BYO muffin tins as many shelter kitchens will not stock the pans, but it's well worth the effort.]

Potato Soup with Kale and Chorizo

This is a go-to winter soup for several reasons.  It's deeply flavorful, relies on just a few winter vegetables, and the wonderfully satisfying final product belies the modest effort required in the kitchen.  If you're not a fan of kale, or at least don't think you'd enjoy a soup which showcases it as a main ingredient, keep an open mind when considering this recipe.  This soup is built on the classic and easy-to-love Spanish combination of chorizo and potato.  Roasting the kale as called for below turns the vegetable into something unexpectedly savory and perfectly compliments the other hearty flavors in the soup. 

When we need chorizo, we typically call ahead to Whole Foods to request a batch of loose turkey chorizo for our guests who shy away from pork.  Ordering the sausage in its loose form saves you the trouble of removing it from casings and requesting turkey keeps the soup a bit lower in fat.  The traditional pork version is available in nearly every supermarket or at Mexican grocers throughout the city.  If you can't find chorizo, you could try a spicy chicken sausage instead.  If you're using one that's precooked, just slice the sausage into rounds before sauteing. 


The original soup recipe from Bon Appetit magazine, and all recipes related to authentic renditions of patatas bravas, call for Spanish chorizo.  This is a dry, smoked sausage that can be difficult to find in the states. While we feel comfortable substituting a fresh sausage instead, we can't imagine the soup without the addition of smoked Spanish paprika.  It may take a little searching, but this is a spice which is worth the trouble.  Once you use it, you'll find yourself reaching for it time and again.  In Chicago, it's available in several well-stocked groceries, but the freshest and tastiest Pimentón de La Vera Dulce is to be found at the Spice House on Wells.  Enjoy!





POTATO SOUP WITH KALE AND CHORIZO
Serves 50

• 3 gallons spring water
• 7 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed into 1/4" pieces
• 36 oz good quality Potato Soup mix
• 8 cubes (about 3oz) salt-free vegetable bouillon (we like Rapunzel brand)
• 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
• 4 large onions, diced
• 3 lbs chorizo sausage, loose (we use turkey Chorizo special-ordered from Whole Foods)
• 9 lbs kale, leaves torn from stems and roughly chopped into thin strips
• 4 TBS smoked Spanish paprika 
• 1 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 
• 1 loaf bakery bread, cubed into crouton-sized pieces plus 1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Decant 3 gallons of spring water into your largest (really large!) stock pot and put over high heat. 

Scrub potatoes clean, removing any blemishes with a small knife, and dice into small pieces.  When water reaches a roiling boil, stir in soup mix, bouillon cubes and diced potatoes. Reduce heat and allow soup to cook at a gentle boil for 15 minutes.

While soup is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat in a very large skillet.  Add onions to pan and saute for 6-7 minutes until translucent.  Add chorizo to pan and saute until just lightly browned.  Transfer contents of saute pan into the stock pot and stir well to combine. (You can add a ladle or two of hot soup to the saute pan as necessary to help transfer all the contents.)

While soup is cooking and chorizo is being sauteed, toss strips of kale in a large bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and season generously with sea salt.  Divide kale between two XL sheet pans (or several smaller sheet pans) and roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the edges of the leaves have become crisp.  Transfer kale to the stock pot and stir well to combine. 

Using the same bowl as the kale, toss cubed bread with 1/4 cup olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Transfer bread cubes to a sheet pan and roast in the same oven with the kale until cubes become crisp and lightly browned.  Set aside until soup is ready. 

To finish soup, stir in paprika and parsley and taste for flavor.  Season with salt and pepper as desired.   Continue to cook soup until potatoes are soft, turn off heat and allow soup to sit for about 5 minutes.  Serve hot and garnish with homemade croutons.

The Fully-Loaded Potato Bar

Serves 40

The list of things that could compel us to happily revisit our teen years might be short, but there's a good chance it includes at least one happy recollection of being dropped off at the mall, allowance in hand, for the thrill of an parentally-unsupervised visit to the food court with friends.  Or at least it includes a longing for the imagined perfection of that visit.  Such freedom!  So many choices!  1 Potato 2!  The parents are gone... you're a little nervous but loving every minute of it.  You choose the potato stand because it's comfortable and familiar, but you never have THAT many toppings to choose from on the table at home.  And somehow, potatoes at home never tasted THIS good.

The food court at the mall looses its magic, to be sure, but we would venture to guess that most everyone still likes to choose his or her own toppings.  Long gone are the teen years, thankfully, but does anyone ever really tire of the simple pleasures of a potato bar?  We've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating that in a shelter community where guests live without access to a personal kitchen for extended periods of time, the toppings bar is phenomenon that gives back a wee bit of culinary autonomy, if only for a meal.  Prefer turkey to ham?  OK!  Don't like broccoli?  No problem!  Extra cheese sauce?  Naturally!  It's a small gesture, but it can draw forth a smile and you'll find more than a handful of guests coming back for a second helping of their topping of choice.  And don't be shy with the cheese sauce!

P.S. The rendition below represents the potatoes of our childhood, before more interesting, international flavors took up permanent residence in our pantries.  Below is the chef's salad of baked potatoes...  with deli meat, cheddar cheese and a creamy topping of choice.  But feel free to scan the recipe for quantities only and take the flavors in any direction you choose.


Baked Potatoes

• 25 XL russet potatoes or 40 small russet potatoes, well-scrubbed
• 1/4 cup olive oil for brushing
• Sea salt
• Freshly grated black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Scrub the outside of each potato with a vegetable scrubber or with the rough side of a clean (i.e. new) kitchen sponge.  Thoroughly dry each potato then arrange on XL sheet pans making sure there is plenty of room between the potatoes for air flow.  Poke each potato  10-12 times with the prongs of a fork to allow steam to escape while cooking.  Using your hands or a basting brush, lightly oil the potatoes on all sides and generously season with salt and pepper.  Roast potatoes for 40-60 minutes, depending on size, until the skins are crisp and the flesh yields easily to a fork.  When ready to serve, divide each XL potato in half, and halve again to create a space for the toppings.  Serve a single half to each person, but allow two halves for some.  If you're using small potatoes, split each down the center to create a space for the toppings.

Cook's note:  XL potatoes take a bit longer to cook, but require less work to scrub and prep as there are less of them.


Roasted Broccoli Florets

• 6 lbs broccoli florets (pre-packaged) or 8 lbs whole broccoli heads, washed and trimmed
• 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
• sea salt and freshly grated black pepper
  

Divide broccoli into two batches and toss each batch in a large bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil.  Season each batch with sea salt and pepper and arrange in a single layer on a foil-lined sheet pans.  Roast  in a 425 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until crisp-tender.   Transfer to a deep hotel pan, cover tightly with the cooking foil and keep warm until ready to serve.


Roasted Cauliflower Florets

• 3 lbs cauliflower florets (pre-packaged) or 5 lbs whole cauliflower, washed and trimmed
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• sea salt and freshly grated black pepper
  

Toss cauliflower in a large bowl with the olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper.  Arrange in a single layer on a foil-lined sheet pan.  Roast in a 425 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until crisp-tender.   Transfer to a deep hotel pan, cover tightly with the cooking foil and keep warm until ready to serve.



Deli Meats

• 3 lbs good-quality, low sodium deli turkey breast*
• 3 lbs good-quality, low-sodium deli ham steak* 
• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided

Cube the deli meats into 1/2" bite sized pieces.  Lightly oil the grill top or a large saute pan with half the olive oil and saute cubed turkey for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.  Transfer turkey to a small serving dish, cover with foil and keep warm until ready to serve.  Repeat process with ham steak.

* At the deli counter, request 1/2" thick slices of low-sodium, hormone-free and fill-free turkey breast and ham steak.  Overall, this is a very economical meal, so don't be afraid to spend a few extra dollars on high-quality deli meats.  Look for the brands Boar's Head, Dietz and Watson, Thumman's or Appelgate Farms where available.  In the Chicago area, Applegate is available at Whole Foods, Dietz and Watson is available at Stanley's and Boar's Head is available at NYC bagel.  Ask for a sample of each meat and taste for flavor and freshness before placing final order.  Try to purchase from a store that has good turnover in the deli department and don't be afraid to request a fresh batch.


Sharp Cheddar Cheese Sauce

• 1 lb unsalted butter
• 2 bunches scallions, white parts only 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 gallon milk
• 3 lbs sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 TBS Dijon mustard'
• sea salt and freshly grated pepper to taste

Wash, trim and slice scallions into very thin rounds.  Transfer the green rounds into a serving bowl for garnish and reserve the white parts of the scallion for the cheese sauce. 

Melt butter over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed, medium stock pot.   Add the reserved scallions to pot and saute until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.   Whisk flour into pot and stir constantly as flour cooks for 4-5 minutes, or until the smell of raw flour has passed.  Add milk to pot and cook until warmed through.  Add shredded cheese to pot in thirds, stirring between each addition.  Add mustard and stir to combine.  Taste sauce for flavor and season with salt and pepper as desired. 

Garnish Bar

• 24 oz Reduced Fat Sour Cream
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced into super thin rounds
• 2 lbs shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 large bunch fresh chives, rinsed and minced

Finish off potato bar with the toppings above in matching bowls with lots of spoons.

Simple Greens with  Ranch

• 1 lb mixed baby salad greens, organic where possible
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered into bite sized
• 1 bunch scallions, very thinly sliced
• 8 oz yogurt ranch dressing
• sea salt and freshly grated pepper to taste

Toss greens, halved tomatoes and scallions in an XL bowl to combine.  About ten minutes before serving dinner, lightly dress greens with yogurt ranch and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve along side potatoes and enjoy!

Thoughts for Food: Potatoes

In Chicago, the need for comfort food isn't limited to the dead of winter.  In the temperamental days of early spring, when the sun tries to shine but is overcome by rain and wind, when the thermometer just doesn't acknowledge that winter, in fact, is over and when you know that all things green and fresh are still around the corner, hearty winter fare makes its last stand.  March is here, but the sun is not, and so this month we turn to the potato and cross our fingers that April brings better weather and fresher fare.

These last winter potato dishes are born of menu fatigue as much as the desire for comfort. Potatoes are indeed a winter-long companion and so run the gamut from the expectant mood of the cool weather holidays, through the frigid doldrums of the new year and on to the lingering decline of the season.  With the romanticism of the first crisp days long past (stealing away the cheerful dishes like souffle), with the holidays having been exhaustively celebrated (using up the ambition required to assemble a gratin), with the brutally cold January evenings behind us (taking with them the constant craving for garlic mashed) and in the midst of waiting out the ever-so-slow transformation to spring (requiring for sanity's sake to suppress the desire for garden tomatoes just a little while longer) there remains little energy or optimism with which to design a menu.  Not only is the pantry bare, there is no desire to fill it with another canned good, root vegetable or frozen vegetable ever.

But in the places of need, where people await so much more than the sun, or the garden or the flavors of summer, you still must cook.  And you must still think of the meals you provide in terms of the satisfaction they might bring to the table rather than how much you would prefer to be grilling kabobs in the courtyard than stirring the pot under an exhaust hood that moonlights as a combustion engine.  So you keep it simple but you keep it comfortable, and you're really glad there are so many things you can do with a potato.