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Up next: A soup that uses the left overs of this great casserole.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Wild Rice
• 2 Cups Heavy Cream
• 1 8 ounce container of Mushrooms (washed and quartered)
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Ground Celery Seed
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt or to taste.

Boil the wild rice in salted water for 45 – 60 minutes. You should cook the rice in excess water like boiling pasta; you don’t need to measure the water like you would normal rice. The rice will be done when most of the kernels split open.

Drain and mix the cooked rice with the rest of the ingredients and put in a buttered casserole dish, salt to taste. Note that if you are planning ahead you can refrigerate this overnight.

Bake for 45 – 60 minutes at 350 degrees

We have been making this potato salad for about 4 years and it is very good. I like to use a combination of purple and red potatoes for a nicer presentation. Purple potatoes are slowly becoming more popular here, as they are showing up in our grocery store every so often, and they are even at our local Farmer’s Market. Be careful when cooking purple potatoes, as they are not as forgiving as red potatoes and can turn mushy very quickly if overcooked.

Ingredients:

• 12 – 14 Potatoes, combination of red and purple
• 1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced
• Cilantro leaves, roughly torn
• Toasted, salted Pine Nuts, for garnish

For the Dressing:

• 1/2 cup Mexican Table Cream (Crema Mexicana)
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Juice of one Lime
• 3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• 1/2 cup finely chopped Cilantro

Boil the potatoes for 15 – 20 minutes in salted water or until fork tender, and let them cool. Be sure to check the purple potatoes sooner as they cook quicker. I like to boil them whole with the skins on as I find they get less waterlogged. Also, I bring the water up to a boil with the potatoes in the pot to make sure they cook evenly.

Mix the dressing ingredients together.

You can leave the potato skins on or off; personally, I like to take them off. It is fairly easy to just peel them off now that they have been cooked. When the potatoes have cooled down, cut them in approximately 1 inch cubes (or whatever size you like) and carefully mix them with the dressing, onions, and the roughly chopped cilantro. You may not need all of the dressing so start with half and go from there. Be sure to taste, as chances are good that it will need a little more salt. Garnish with the toasted pine nuts and a little fresh cracked black pepper.

I had always made these with Yukon gold potatoes and recently tried this with russets and failed horribly! They turned to a gluttonous mush and stuck to the foil. Stick to the Yukon golds.

Ingredients:

• Yukon gold Potatoes
• Kosher Salt

Shred up the potatoes with the large side of your grater.  I like to leave the skins on but if you want to go through the extra effort to take them off, by all means do so.  Squeeze out any excess moisture in the potatoes by wringing them through a clean kitchen towel.  Spray the bottom of a sheet of heavy duty tin foil with oil and place potatoes on top. Season potatoes with salt. Spray top of potatoes with oil and cover the other side of potatoes with foil making a flat pouch.

Cook foil pouch over indirect heat for 15 minutes on one side.

Flip pouch over and place directly on grill for 5 minutes.

Open package up. Hash browns should be firm enough to be taken out of the pouch and placed directly on the grill. At this point, they should be pretty much done, but need to cook just a little longer in order to crisp up. Here is where the magic happens.  The  air is able to  circulate around the hash browns and make them very crispy.

Ingredients:

• 4 – 6 Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Softened Butter
• Kosher Salt
• Thinly sliced Prosciutto
• Finely chopped Parsley
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Fresh cracked Pepper

Lay a sheet of heavy aluminum foil out on a flat work surface; liberally coat the bottom with butter–do not skimp out on this step or the potatoes will stick. If you want to make sure the potatoes won’t stick to the foil, in addition to the butter, spray the foil with some Pam or brush with olive oil.
Slice the potatoes on a mandolin so they are about 1/8 of an inch thick, and lay them out as shown so they overlap a bit. Add a layer of the prosciutto, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Since the parmesan and prosciutto are somewhat salty, go light on the salt.

Add another layer of potatoes, filling , then top it off with another layer of potatoes. Brush the top with olive oil.

Liberally coat another sheet of aluminum foil with butter and cover the whole thing with the butter side down making a flat pouch. Place on indirect heat and cook for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Place the pouch directly on the grill and grill in the pouch for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, carefully open the pouch and slide the whole thing out directly onto the grate. Grill this way until brown and crispy flipping one time to get each side crispy.