Parmesan Potato Stacks from Mary Jane Maffini

MARY JANE MAFFINI

PARMESAN POTATO STACKS     

Where have you been all my life? That’s how I felt when I first tasted these wonderful little potato stacks the first time!  I thank Noreen Campbell for giving me the recipe which I tweaked a bit as I I am sure she did.  We all loved them so much that I tried them with company the second time.  Of course, I was immediately asked for the recipe, a sure sign that something is heading for a Mystery Lovers Kitchen post.  The slightly crunchy base had a delicious potato chip taste.  They are easy to make and take an hour or so to cook, freeing up time just before dinner.  We have added them to our repertoire for everyday meals but also for company. They are a great side for steak or ham (both are shown) but I think would be flattering to roast chicken too.

I am often on a low-carb program, but, for me, potatoes almost always get a 'hall pass'. Maybe it's my Irish genes. This has been a good week for potato lovers: I'm looking forward to trying Leslie's Karst's easy and delish fries from yesterday.  So how about you - are potatoes essential and are you always looking for new twists? 

 INGREDIENTS:

3 tbsp. butter, melted

3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp hot Paprika

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

7 medium yellow potatoes sliced thin (about 1/16 inch thick).

It is easy to make smaller or larger quantities of the stacks.  Next time we might mix in a few chopped chives too. If you have more potatoes than muffin tin, you can layer and bake the leftovers in an ovenproof dish too.  They’ll be eaten!

 

 

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter 12 muffin cups and set aside. Cut the potatoes into thin slices.

Combine melted butter, Parmesan cheese, thyme, garlic salt, paprika, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Add potato slices and toss to coat evenly.  As you can see,  I was late adding the paprika, but it all got mixed in.

Layer the potato slices into stacks and place in the prepared muffin tin, going a bit past the top of each muffin well as the potatoes shrink a little bit.  If the potato slices are too big, just snap off a bit and make 'em fit. 

Sprinkle with some freshly ground black pepper.

 

Bake until the edges and tops are golden brown and the centers are tender, about an hour.

Remove from the oven, let them rest for 5 minutes before moving to plates. 

You can add extra parmesan cheese and thyme or vary the herbs if you wish but we found them fine as is.  Here are the potato stacks with ham - an excellent combo.

Mary Jane Maffini is the award-winning author of three and a half mystery series: the Camilla Maffini mysteries, the Fiona Silk capers and the Charlotte Adams organizer mysteries – number six coming soon! With her daughter Victoria Maffini, MJ collaborated on The Book Collector Mysteries as Victoria Abbott. Victoria Abbott spent several happy years on Mystery Lovers Kitchen. MJ  is very glad to be back and Victoria is waving at you all!

The first five Charlotte Adams are being reissued by Beyond the Page Publishing. Recipes have been added and of course, the organizing tips continue! The Charlotte Adams books have recently been optioned for television films.

Organize Your Corpses was re-released as an e-book and a trade paper on May 18. There's a great deal for the e-book.   You can order it HERE!

The Cluttered Corpse was reissued on June 15th and Death Loves a Messy Desk arrived on July 13th. 

Closet Confidential was out in August and The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder was released in September. 

THE BOOK COLLECTOR MYSTERIES BY VICTORIA ABBOTT

Jordan Bingham has a tough time: she's the first person in her large family to go straight. She has learned some useful skills from her crooked relatives but she's trying to hang on to a legit job working for a curmudgeonly book collector. But of course, the bodies keep piling up.  There's plenty of fun in the book collector series from Victoria Abbott, but watch out for explosions.

Don't forget to check out MJ's Canadian books:  Camilla MacPhee features a fortyish widowed lawyer who runs an advocacy agency for victims of violent crime, in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. Life would be easier if she didn't have the world's worst office assistant, the world's bossiest sisters and, arguably, the world's greatest stubborn streak. If you like your mysteries a bit edgy with a side order of humor, these could be for you.  

All six of the Camilla MacPhee books are currently bundled on Kindle at 20 % off!

Keep up on the news!  You can sign up for updates about MJ and Victoria plus fun and prizes through our newsletter HERE 

 

A Fishy Fairy Tale

Once upon a time not so long ago, in a place not so far away, a baby boy was born.  His eyes were as blue as the sky and his hair had been kissed by the sun.

His mother, a very wise woman, knew the dangers of selecting only one godmother from among her friends, so she asked three of them to do that honor, and from that day forward they were called the three fairy godmothers.

Now, it's not very well known, but fairy godmothers are cursed with weaknesses as well as endowed with strengths.  Among the three, two were blessed with culinary skills and the desire to enjoy foods of all varieties.  One fairy godmother, while generous to a fault and possessed of many sterling qualities, was, well, a picky eater.

And so it happened, as it sometimes does, that when the three fairy godmothers bestowed gifts upon the baby boy, in a moment of confusion the child received the gift of -- picky eating.

Interestingly, the foods which the boy refuses to eat mirror the foods that his fairy godmother refuses to eat!

The baby is a charming young man now.  And his mother likes to tell the tale of the time a teacher tried to explain to him that fairy godmothers don't exist.  The frustrated teacher took the problem to the boy's mother.  Imagine the teacher's surprise when she told him that her child had three fairy godmothers!

As is their want, the mother of the child and the three fairy godmothers came together to celebrate New Year's Eve.  This fairy godmother, knowing that the boy's mother was fond of smoked salmon, procured it from her local fishmonger.  But she didn't dare serve it in the presence of the picky eater fairy godmother.

The mother of the child had to take her leave of the festivities.  And then the picky eater fairy godmother traveled many miles home.  Unexpectedly, the mother of the child returned, bringing her son with her!  The remaining two fairy godmothers were delighted to see him!  Alas, due to the picky eating gift, the salmon still could not be served in his presence.

And so it was that this fairy godmother was left with a package of salmon that she would not let go to waste, and she concocted this recipe. 

Crispy Potato Stacks with Smoked Salmon

and Caramelized Onions

Caramelized Onions

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 medium onions
3 tablespoons champagne
pinch of thyme
1 - 2 cups chicken broth

Slice the onions quite thin.  Over medium-low temperature, heat the butter with the olive oil and add the sliced onions.  Cook until soft and translucent.  Sprinkle with pinch of thyme and add the champagne.  Add the chicken broth (1 cup if you want mostly onions, 2 cups if you want a bit of sauce).  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced.


Crispy Potato Stacks with Salmon

Ingredients
2 medium russet potatoes
olive oil
2 ounces smoked salmon
7-8 teaspoons grated Gruyere

Utensils
1 or 2 large frying pans or cast iron pans
1 potato ricer
1 potato grater
1 baking pan
salt to taste (if you have very salty salmon, you might want to omit salt)

Peel and grate the raw potatoes.  Press the raw potatoes in the ricer to eliminate excess liquid.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in each pan at a temperature just below medium.  When hot, scoop approximately 2 tablespoons of raw potato into your palm.  Press into a circle about the size of your palm and flip into the frying pan.  Repeat with all the raw potatoes.

Preheat oven to 350.

The potato rounds won't be very thick, so each side should only take about 4-5 minutes to cook.  They should be golden brown.

Remove the cooked potatoes to a plate lined with a paper towel and dab with another paper towel to eliminate excess oil.

Assembly
Each stack will contain 3 potato rounds.  Begin the stack by placing potato rounds on the baking pan.  On top of each potato round, add a thin slice of smoked salmon.  Top the salmon with approximately 1 teaspoon of grated Gruyere.

Add another potato round.  Top with salmon and Gruyere again.  End the stack with one final potato round.

Bake in oven for about 8 minutes.

Serve with caramelized onions.  Then hope that your fairy godmother comes to wash all the pots and pans.

This made 4 stacks, enough for two average eaters.  But we snarfed it.  Next time, I might be inclined to double it.
; )