Thursday, May 21, 2009

Super Easy Hot and Cheesy Potatoes and Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecue Sauce

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! We have lots of family coming to soak up some sun, sit by my parent's pool (across the street from my house), and watch our little human tadpoles splash around. I'm planning on joining in the poolside revelry, which means food prep has to be kept to a lazy minimum. I'm happy spending the whole day in the kitchen on cold holidays, like Christmas and Thanksgiving, but on warm holidays it feels like indentured servitude to be slaving over a hot stove. So save yourself some work and some pennies and follow my lead to a delicious Memorial Day feast.
Here's what we're having:
Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecued Chicken
Hot and Cheesy Potatoes
Corn on the Cob
From our Garden Spinach Salad with Homemade Ranch
Lemonade
Ice Cream Cones

It might seem counter intuitive to serve hot potatoes at the official summer kick off weekend, but they are always a huge hit. I kid you not, I've made these AND potato salad AND put out potato chips for barbecues, and these hot potatoes always go first. (And then there are people like me, who take a heaping scoop of all three, and then go back for seconds.) They couldn't be simpler to put together; no peeling, no pre-cooking, and they always come out perfect.
I'm also including a recipe for my Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecue Sauce that you can throw together and slather on some chicken. It's heavenly and miles above any bottled sauce. It's got tang, sweetness, spice, smoke, and overall fabulous balance. Have barrels of fun and be safe. Put on your sunscreen and eat your veggies and call your mother. See you after the weekend!
Super Easy Hot and Cheesy Potatoes
Estimated Cost: $4.00 to serve 6
Notes: Don't make these ahead of time or the potatoes will turn brown. Sometimes I make a double batch by using the same size of pan but making four layers of potatoes, then increasing the cooking time by 30 minutes.
about 6 medium potatoes, unpeeled, scubbed
1 onion
about 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
about 3/4 cup -1 cup half and half
Coat a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with no stick cooking spray. Thinly slice 3 of the potatoes and layer on the bottom of dish. Sprinkle with half of the onion and season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat with remaining potatoes, onions, and cheese. Pour in half and half at the corners to cover the bottom. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 for about 1 hour or a little longer until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with green onions for garnish, if desired.
Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecue Sauce
Estimated Cost: $2.00
Notes: Set aside half of the sauce to pass at the table. Always be careful to not dip any utensils in the sauce that have been in contact with raw meat juices. Just a little public service announcement. If you don't have a grill, you can dump all the sauce and a few chicken breasts into a crockpot. Yum!
3/4 ketchup
1/4 cup dijon
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
2 tablesooons worcestershire
juice and zest of one orange
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon-1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Combine all ingredients in medium skillet. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Store in refrigerator for up to one month.
Up Next:
Chipster Topped Brownies

17 comments:

MK and Co. said...

Boy am I glad to be heading your way for Memorial weekend! All of this looks very delicious and just my kind of meal. I love a good barbecue and that sauce sounds so good! Can't wait to see everyone today! Thanks again Prudy for these great recipes that will make any holiday seem fabulous!

Amber said...

Both these recipes sound delicious! I'm going to make the potatoes right now! I only have heavy whipping cream, do you think I could use half milk and half cream? Also, I always love a good homemade BBQ sauce I'll be trying that too. Thanks!

Leslie said...

Human tadpoles..LOL
Too funny girl.

Prudy said...

Amber:
You can definitely thin it with milk or you can even make it with all cream. It's wickedly good either way.

Marjie said...

My boys swear everything is better with BBQ sauce. I told them I don't believe that applies to chocolate cake. I think they'd love your honey BBQ sauce! Have a fun weekend with the family.

Jamie said...

Prudy,
I am making your barbecue sauce today. I've never made my own sauce and I love all the ingredients.

Also, there's an award for you over at my blog! Come by and pick it up when you get a chance.

Heidi said...

Everything looks so good! That sauce sounds yummy.

Maria said...

Everything is looking good! I bet the orange and honey are great together!

Michal said...

i've been dreaming about those potatoes since i read this post two days ago! oh, but the calories! how do you do it, prudy? (i know you are a much more diligent runner than i am. not that that's saying much. i really need to run more so that i can eat these potatoes!;)

Aggie said...

What a great meal! Hope you enjoyed your day with your family!

Elder Christian Sullivan said...

This sounds really good. Is chipotle chili powder the same as chipotle chili pepper?

Prudy said...

Sally:
It's the same pepper but they dry it and grind it up for the powder. You could use a canned pepper. I love buying the powder because it's just so much easier. When you buy the canned peppers, you can only use one a time and you end up having to freeze all the others.

Sara @ Our Best Bites said...

you had me at orange-and-honey! Sounds so yummy.

Jennifer said...

We loved the barbecue sauce! We did crock-pot style due to impending weather and it was just a heavenly smell in the kitchen all day. Thanks!

Bill Bird said...

Okay, so I made this last night using freshly harvested ALL BLUE and CRANBERRY RED potatoes from the potato garden. Very good Prudence! Very good. As for the chicken -- not bad. Didn't like the sauce as a dipping sauce so much, but it went fine on the chicken. We'll try using it on some New York steaks this weekend.

Jaime said...

try the southwestern potatoes i recently posted - i think you'd like them!

Marge said...

Prudy, Try beer instead of the cream in the potatoes. It tastes great. I've been making Cheezy Potatoes for years and always use a can of beer.