Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes

You probably know how to make mashed potatoes. But did you know they make a great glue (between your turkey cake layers) or an excellent icing (again - turkey cake!). What I learned while making these is that salting the water when you boil the potatoes makes a huge difference in flavor. I already knew Greek yogurt is a tasty replacement for sour cream and it lends a subtle creamy tang to these potatoes.

Look at that fantastic mashed potato icing!

Recipe Time: Greek Yogurt Mash Potatoes
adapted from Chow site
serves 8-10

3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
Salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup skim milk (if the mash seem too dry add milk a little bit at a time)
1/2 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Peel potatoes, cut into 1-1/2-inch chunks, you can place the chunks in a large bowl of water to prevent browning while you're chopping.
2. When the potatoes are all cut, place in a large pot. Immediately add cold water to cover the potatoes by at least 2 inches and enough salt so that the water tastes like seawater.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork and just begin to fall apart, about 15 minutes.
4. Drain potatoes in a colander and let sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in the pot used to cook the potatoes, warm the butter and the milk over medium heat until the mixture is hot and the butter has melted. Remove from heat.
5. Add the milk mixture to the potatoes and mash it together.
6. Fold in the yogurt until evenly combined and smooth, being careful not to overwork the potatoes. If the potatoes are too thick, add more milk and stir to combine.
7. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Casaba Melon Granita

For the sake of consistency I am still posting recipes months behind. Now that we've had our first snow I think this cool summer treat will be perfect. You can make granita with any squishable fruit, really anything sweet that liquefies. Okay, the recipe is sweet + water + flavor = granita, got it? Good.

I made my granita at the end of melon season after a new summer romance with hami and casaba melons. This particular melon had a great flavor but the texture was too soft for my taste (perfect for squishing!). I used a little bit of local honey for the sweet, but the melon really was sweet enough. My true love casaba also provided the liquid and the flavor. So easy. May I suggest using pomegranate or cranberry juice for a holiday granita? Yay! This recipe isn't out of date I swear.

Did I mention why I like granita? It is kind of creamy, kind of crunchy, a little sweet, a little icy. I've tasted tomato and basil granitas that made me weep tears of joy.

Scoop out the seeds and toss, scoop out the melon and place in a freezer safe dish (with a lid if possible), mash up the melon - a fork worked for me, stir in enough honey for your tastes, cover and freeze. The hard part is taking it out of the freezer every hour and scraping into fluffy ice pillows. You don't want a solid block of ice. I forgot one hour and it was tough! I pulled through.

 

ps. Make sure the container fits in your freezer before you put your mix in it. Mine just fit as you can see.

Recipe Time: Casaba Melon Granita
adapted from the many blogs I was reading at the time (probably Smitten Kitchen and Pioneer Woman)
serves 6

1 Casaba melon
1 Tbs honey

1. Cut the melon in half.
2. Scoop out and toss the seeds.
3. Scoop out the melon and place in a freezer safe dish (one with a lid if possible) .
4. Mash up the melon - a fork worked for me .
5. Stir in enough honey for your tastes.
6. Cover and freeze.
7. Every hour take the granita out of the freezer and scrape it with a fork, make sure to mix the sides and middle together. You don't want a solid block of ice.
8. When it's reached snow cone consistancy it's ready to eat!