How to Make the Perfect Crispy Home Fries

• Cut the potatoes into even pieces to ensure even cooking
• Boil in heavily salted water. Boiling the potatoes makes them fluffy on the inside. Salt water is essential to get flavor into the potato itself. Do not overcook the potatoes. They should be JUST cooked/tender when you take them off the heat and drain them.
• Shake the boiled potatoes vigorously to create a layer of soft potato fluff. When this is shallow fried in the oven, that will create a beautiful crispy crust.
• Use lots of oil so roast the potatoes in the even. You are essentially shallow frying the potatoes in the even so enough oil is necessary.

Serve these crispy home fries with my classic garlic herb prime rib or orange glazed miso salmon.

Print

Crispy Home Fries

Crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside, the perfect crispy home fries

Course Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine American, british

Keyword british roasted potatoes, crispy home fries, home fries

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 4 Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 5 quarts water
• 1 tbsp salt for salting water
• 1/2 cup neutral oil
• 2 tsp salt for salting potatoes

Instructions

• Bring a 6 quart pot of water to boil. Then add in 1 tbsp of salt. Add in cut potatoes. Boil for approximately 8-12 minutes, or until just fork tender. Do not overcook the potatoes. You want them to stay intact.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and add in 1/4 cup oil.
• Once potatoes are just tender, drain all the water from potatoes. Cover the pot with a lid and shake the potatoes vigorously for 10 seconds, or until there is a layer of fluff surrounding each piece of potato.
• Then place the potatoes onto one layer on the baking sheet. Make sure each piece of potato makes contact with the baking sheet and oil. The potatoes should be sitting in a shallow pool of oil. Add more oil if necessary as they will be frying in the oven.
• Roast potatoes for 40 minutes or until the underside of the potatoes are golden brown. Once the underside is golden brown, flip the potatoes to allow the other side to brown for another 15-30 minutes, depending on your oven. This is assuming your heat source is at the bottom.
• Once potatoes are golden brown on both sides, remove from oven and onto paper towels. Immediately sprinkle remaining 2 tsp of salt on the potatoes. Serve immediately.

Print

Garlicky Buttery Sauteed Corn

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword fresh corn, sauteed corn

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 4 ears fresh corn on the cob
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 shallots thinly sliced
• 1 pinch red pepper flake
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• ½ tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 2 sprigs scallion finely chopped
• 1 tsp fish sauce optional

Instructions

• Cut corn off of the cob.
• Heat a skillet on high heat and add butter and oil. Once butter is melted and well incorporated with oil, add shallots and red pepper flake. Saute for 2 minutes on medium heat or until shallots are softened.
• Add corn and continue to sauté on medium heat for ~10 minutes or until corn becomes slightly golden brown. Stir frequently as it will stick.
• Add garlic and scallions and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Continue to sauté for another 3-5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust seasoning to taste.
• Optional: add a little splash of fish sauce for extra umami.

Cooking Tips for Garlicky Buttery Sauteed Corn

• This garlicky buttery sauteed corn is best when you use fresh corn on the cob. However, frozen corn would also do the trick. You might need to add a tablespoon of sugar halfway into the sauteing process to add some sweetness that is often lost in frozen corn.
• I add garlic toward the end of cooking of this dish because if you add garlic too soon, it could burn before your corn has finished cooking. In general this is a good rule of thumb when you are doing sautes that do not include the addition of wines, broth, or any other kind of liquid. Stir-fries are an exception because the vegetables used often release liquid into the pan, which prevent garlic from burning during the cooking process.
• If you want to infuse your dish with a specific herb or spice, make sure to sauté it in your cooking oil for a minute or two before adding other ingredients. In this dish, I did this with both red pepper flake and shallot, as well as garlic toward the end.

This is a great side dish to a yummy prime rib dinner.

Why are my mashed potatoes gummy?

You’ve probably over-mixed or over-blended them. You can try adding more heavy cream or butter to thin it out.

Try this creamy cauliflower potato puree with my classic garlic herb prime rib roast.

Why do I have lumps in my mashed potatoes?

It’s very important to make sure that your potatoes are boiled and cooked all the way through so that they are easily mashed.

One way to make sure you have no lumps in mashed potatoes is to run them through a food mill or potato ricer. Blend only if you are adding cauliflower to it. Otherwise, you will end up with a gluey and gummy mess.

Print

Creamy Cauliflower Potato Puree

A cheesy creamy puree with potatoes and cauliflower

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword cauliflower potato puree, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, pureed cauliflower

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Equipment

• 1 blender

Ingredients

• 4 quarts water
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 bag frozen cauliflower
• 6 small russet potatoes peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano grated
• 1/3 cup aged white cheddar grated
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup milk

Instructions

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put salt into the water.
• When the water is boiling, add in potatoes and allow to simmer on medium for 15-20 minutes until tender.
• When potatoes are almost tender, add cauliflower into the boiling water. Allow to simmer 3–5 minutes until softened.
• Drain water from potatoes and cauliflower and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
• In a separate small pot, turn heat on medium. Add in butter and garlic. Sauté garlic until golden brown about 3 minutes. Then add in milk and cream. When this mixture is almost about to bubble, turn off heat.
• Add cauliflower and potatoes into a blender. Then add in cream mixture. Add in grated aged white cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano, and garlic salt. Blend on high until completely smooth but do not over-blend.
• Serve while warm.

How to Make the Best Mashed Potatoes

Ideally you would use a food mill or potato ricer to process your boiled potatoes, before hand mixing with the cream and butter mixture. But this process is laborious and tedious, and not ideal for most busy home cooks. So if you are pressed for time, I find that whipping the mashed potatoes with a hand mixer yields very creamy and fluffy mashed potatoes. Using a handheld blender is another option, but will often lead to gluey mashed potatoes because it easily leads to over mixing.

Print

Cheesy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Creamy, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes. The perfect side dish.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword cheesy garlic mashed potatoes

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 6 Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cubed
• 6 quarts water
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano grated

Instructions

• Bring a large pot of water to boil. Then add in salt and potatoes. Allow to boil for 15-20 minutes, or until fork-tender.
• While potatoes are boiling, put a large sauce pan on medium high heat. Add in butter and minced garlic. Saute until garlic is golden brown. Then add in heavy cream, milk, and garlic salt.
• When potatoes are tender, drain the water completely, leaving potatoes in the pot. Add in butter and cream mixture into the potatoes. Add in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
• Using a hand-held mixer, mix on low until potatoes have been incorporated into the cream mixture. Slowly increase the speed and whip potatoes until they are completely smooth and creamy. Do not overmix or potatoes will become gluey.

  Optional: For best results, you can use a food mill to process the potatoes, and then use a whisk to incorporate the riced potatoes into the cream and butter mixture. But for most home cooks, a hand mixture should yield good enough results.

Have you ever made a layered potato casserole using raw, but the potatoes took forever to become tender? The solution? Par-boil your potato slices before putting them in the casserole. This will cut down on oven time and let your mind rest at ease that the potatoes will come out tender and soft.

Print

Easy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Tender thinly sliced potatoes swimming in a cheesy sauce. The perfect side dish.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword cheesy scalloped potatoes, potatoes au gratin, scalloped potatoes

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 3 red potatoes peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 quarts water
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese grated
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Bring a pot of water to boil. Then add salt. Boil potatoes in salted water for 5 minutes. Remove from water and drain.
• Take out a small casserole dish and rub the surface with butter.
• Put 1/4 of the cream at bottom. Then lay down 1/3 of the potatoes. Season with black pepper and sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat until all potatoes are used up. Top with cream and another layer of cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes.
• Then broil at 400 degrees for 5 mins until the cheese is golden brown at the top.

How Do I Make a Stir Fry?

• Use a large frying pan. Avoid non-stick because stir fries require high heat, which will release toxic chemicals in a non-stick pan. A wok is nice, but a cast iron pan works really well.
• Use high heat. I mean the highest heat your stove can produce. A proper stir fry has some level of smokiness from the pan. In Cantonese, we call it “wok hei” or the breath of the wok.
• Use enough oil. Plan to use 1 tbsp of canola or vegetable oil per pound of vegetables you are stir frying
• Use steam: Add 1/4 cup of water and cover with a lid to partially steam veggies and finish cooking. For harder veggies such as broccoli, or green leafy veggies, it is helpful to blanch them quickly and draining them before stir frying. If you do this, then you can skip the step of adding water and covering with a lid to steam.
• Add lots of aromatics: garlic, ginger, shallots, serrano chiles, fresh basil
• Add lots of umami: soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, fermented bean sauce

Keep Your Veggies Crunchy

One of the biggest mistakes in stir fries is to overcook your vegetables. A proper stir fry keeps a slight crunch in its vegetables for some texture. When in doubt, try to undercook your vegetables by a few minutes. The carryover heat should help to do the rest of the softening.

For my other quick and easy stir fry recipes, check out my steak stir fry and sesame ginger chicken stir fry.

The Case for Cast Iron Pans

With the recent body of research showing the health risks of Teflon and non-stick coating when heated to high temperatures, I’ve gotten rid of all my non-stick cooking pans. It might be fine to keep some non-stick items around that you do not plan on heating up to high temperatures. But if you do any kind of high flame cooking like the kind that is usually involved in stir fries and Asian cooking, I would suggest switching to cast iron skillets. Cast iron skillets can hold heat well, so they are a great substitute to using a wok with high flame.

What is Tofu?

Tofu is essentially bean curd made from soy beans. Soy beans are boiled, then ground into a fine paste with its water. After adding some chemicals to help with curdling (similar to cheesemaking), it is then filtered to remove the excess liquid, and then shaped. You are left with a jiggly bean curd.

Types of Tofu

• firm tofu
• medium firm tofu
• soft tofu
• silken tofu 
• stinky fried tofu
• fried tofu puffs
• dessert silken tofu (usually served with ginger syrup)

What kind of tofu do I use for a tofu and snow pea stir fry?

Ideally, use fried tofu puffs. All other forms of tofu will be too wet and will fall apart in the stir fry. You can use a firm tofu, but you should pan fry it ahead of time to give it structure and make it hold its shape before stir frying.

For other quick stir fry recipes, check out my mapo tofu and steak and green onion stir fry.

Print

Tofu and Snow Pea Stir Fry

A healthy stir fry with yummy fried tofu puffs and sweet crunchy snow peas

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Keyword healthy stir fry, snow pea stir fry, stir fry, tofu stir fry

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes minutes

Total Time 17 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 3 cups snow peas deveined
• 1 cup fried tofu puffs
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp ginger minced
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup water

Instructions

• Prep snow peas by removing the tips and pulling to remove the vein from the side.
• Heat a large frying pan on high. When pan is hot, add in oil. Add in garlic and ginger. Saute for 1 minute. Then add in snow peas and tofu puffs. Stir fry for 1 minute.
• Add in water to the snow peas, then cover with a lid. Allow to steam for 1 minute. Then add in oyster sauce. Continue to stir fry until sauce is well incorporated into the snow peas, about 1 minute.
• Remove immediately from the pan and serve. Snow peas should still retain a crunch.

Southern greens are typically made with collard greens or sometimes even turnip greens. They are slow cooked to break down the fibers of the greens, usually with ham hock or bacon.

Can I eat kale stems?

No. I would not recommend eating kale stems. They are very fibrous and hard, and would probably interfere with the texture of whatever dish you are making.

What do I eat with bacon braised kale?

It is a lovely accompaniment to pulled pork or barbecue chicken, roasted chicken, or whatever protein you are making. You can also insert it into a grilled cheese for a little acidic pop of flavor.

Print

Bacon Braised Kale- Southern Greens Style

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword bacon braised kale, Southern greens

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb bacon roughly chopped
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 4 cups fresh kale stems removed, chopped
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Heat a large Dutch oven on high heat. Add in bacon and cook fo 5 minutes, rendering fat. Then add in diced onion. Saute for 3-5 minutes until onions are light brown. Then add in garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
• Add in chopped kale, brown sugar, vinegar, water, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Then put on lid and simmer on low heat for 1 hour.
• Taste for seasoning and add salt, pepper, sugar, and vinegar as needed.
• Serve hot.

My problem with steakhouse creamed spinach is that it is oftentimes overcooked and browning. This is probably due to the demands of dinner service and keeping everything hot. My steakhouse garlic creamed spinach recipe features vibrant green spinach because there is no overcooking. In my opinion, there is nothing as awful and overcooked brown vegetables.

What is the secret to preventing the browning of spinach?

1. Don’t overcook
2. Submerge spinach in iced water once cooked to stop cooking process
3. Drain spinach thoroughly and squeeze out any excess liquid

How do I make a perfect creamed spinach?

1. Choose good quality fresh spinach
2. Steam or boil spinach until just cooked through
3. Submerge spinach in ice water
4. Drain spinach and squeeze any excess liquid out
5. Make a bechamel sauce
6. Add sharp delicious cheeses for body and flavor (e.g., Parmigiano Reggiano and aged cheddar)
7. Add aromatics such as caramelized onion and garlic

For the perfect steak, please check out my steak tutorial.

Print

Steakhouse garlic creamed spinach

A tasty side dish to a steak dinner

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword creamed spinach, garlic creamed spinach

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 bunch spinach washed well
• 1/2 sweet onion thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano grated
• 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Instructions

• Blanch spinach in boiling water for 1 minute. Then place spinach into ice water bath to cool.
• Once spinach is cooled, drain. Place the bunch of spinach in your hands and form into a ball, squeezing out any excess liquid. Then set aside.
• Heat a medium size skillet on medium heat. When pan is hot, add in oil and sliced onions, mixing thoroughly into the oil. Place a lid on the onions, turn fire to medium low and allow onions to slowly caramelize for 5 minutes. Check on onions and mix with a spatula. For more caramelization, place lid on and allow onions to cook another 5 minutes.
• Then add in garlic to the onion mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add in cream, nutmeg, pepper, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
• Add drained spinach and mix well into the sauce. Add salt to taste.

If you have 10 minutes to spare, then you can make pan seared zucchini. Drizzle a little bit of Lawry’s garlic salt and you’re set for your veggies for the evening.

Food does not have to be complicated to be delicious and satisfying. The best part? This side dish is a healthy vegetable. That’s a winning combination for most working adults, especially those with little ones.

Feeding pan seared zucchini to babies/toddlers

For all the young mommies and daddies out there: this zucchini dish can also be served to babies who are eating solids, about 6 months or older. Just make sure to give them the middle parts of the zucchini, which are soft. Edge pieces are usually too hard so make sure to eat those yourself.

For baby-led weaning, make sure you read up on what sizes and shapes are appropriate to feed your baby based on their age and finger grasping abilities. If your baby does not have good finger grasp, then you can give him/her long strips of the soft zucchini. But if your baby does have good finger grasp, cut the zucchini up into chickpea-sized pieces to reduce risk of choking. I found out the hard way because my 6 month old had much better grasp than I realized, and giving her long pieces was a choking hazard.

Print

Baby Food Roasted Zucchini

Roasted and steamed zucchini for babies

Course Baby Food

Cuisine Baby Food

Keyword baby food, baby led weaning, zucchini for babies

Prep Time 3 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 18 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Cost $5

Ingredients

• 1/4 zucchini cut into thin 1 inch strips for babies with poor pincer grasp, cut into chickpea size pieces for babies with good pincer grasp
• 1/2 tsp canola oil
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place zucchini on a roasting pan. Season with oil and garlic powder, mixing thoroughly.
• Roast zucchini for 4 minutes at 400 degrees. Then cover zucchini with another piece of foil, and place back into oven at 350 degrees. Allow to steam for another 7-10 minutes until zucchini is completely soft. Test the zucchini by smashing a piece with your thumb and forefinger. The zucchini is ready when it can be easily smashed.
• Allow to cool completely, then serve.

For more veggie dishes, check out my balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon.