North Idaho Cooks Take Honors In Potato Recipe Contest
If you want a really great gumbo recipe, look to Louisiana. Baked beans? Boston, naturally.
And for potatoes, of course, it’s Idaho - North Idaho, to be precise.
North Idaho cooks took two of the top three places in the first Idaho Potato Commission statewide recipe contest last fall, as well as one of the three honorable mentions.
Second-place honors went to Surprise Potato Pancakes, a recipe Julie Clark of Coeur d’Alene cooked up with help from her 12-year-old daughter, Jane.
It’s a variation on a traditional Norwegian crepe to which the Clarks added mashed potatoes. “We both felt it really improved the texture and flavor,” says Julie, who with her husband operates Clark’s Jewelry. “They were a little sweeter, a little denser.”
And if you’ve had trouble getting thinner crepes to turn out properly, relax. Jane made this recipe for the contest all by herself.
Dani Klontz, assistant seafood manager at Tidyman’s in Moscow, was the third-place winner with As Good As Mashed Potatoes (But Fat Free!), an old family favorite.
Klontz developed the recipe with her mother, a chef and caterer. “She’d add one thing, and I’d add another,” Klontz recalls.
The result is a low-calorie concoction with creaminess from nonfat sour cream and mustard, and some zing from horseradish and Tabasco sauce.
“It’s the way we’ve always had potatoes,” Klontz said. “We never used all the butter, milk and such. It’s really healthy, especially if you leave the skins on.”
Klontz is now two-for-two in cooking contests, having previously placed first in an imitation crab competition. She already has her potato recipe planned for this year’s contest, and while she won’t say what it is, she confidently promises: “You’ll be calling me back.”
Joy Williams of Hayden Lake received an honorable mention for her first-ever contest entry, Potato and Green Chili Soup.
Williams, a mortgage loan processor, based the recipe on one described by a co-worker and fellow soup fan, adding a few of her own twists.
The day she made it, one of her daughter’s friends, a notoriously picky eater, was at the house.
“She had a bowl, then another bowl, then another bowl,” Williams said. “I figured if I could please her, I could please anybody.”
Surprise Potato Pancakes
From Julie Clark, Coeur d’Alene.
2 potatoes, peeled and cooked
2 cups 2 percent milk
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
8-10 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Fillings/toppings:
Chopped fruit
Syrup (maple or other)
Sugar, brown or powdered
Cinnamon
Whipping cream
Peanut butter
Ice cream
Puree potatoes in food processor. Add remaining ingredients (except fillings/ toppings) in order listed and blend.
Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and heat to medium high. Pour about 1/2 cup batter into pan and gently tip pan to distribute batter evenly into a thin pancake. Turn pancake when first side appears to be browning; cook until second side is done, remove and keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.
Place a large spoonful of fruit, sugar, syrup or any combination of filling ingredients in the center of each pancake and roll up. If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or cinnamon before serving.
Yield: 4-6 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 353 calories, 9 grams fat (23 percent fat calories), 11 grams protein, 56 grams carbohydrate, 158 milligrams cholesterol, 314 milligrams sodium.
As Good As Mashed Potatoes (But Fat Free!)
From Dani Klontz, Moscow.
4 medium potatoes (about 1 pounds), scrubbed
1-1/4 cups water
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons parsley, chopped
3 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
Peel potatoes if desired. Cut into 1-inch cubes and place in a heavy medium saucepan. Add water, garlic, parsley, Tabasco and salt and bring to boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat, cover and let cook about 20 minutes, stirring and breaking potatoes up with a fork (add more hot water if mixture seems dry). Continue stirring and mashing potatoes for about 5 more minutes, until water is absorbed and potatoes are soft and lumpy.
Remove from heat and stir in mustards, horseradish and sour cream.
Yield: 4-6 servings.
Note: Leftovers make a great potato salad by adding chopped onion, celery, pickles, hard-boiled eggs and fat-free mayonnaise or sour cream.
Potato and Green Chili Soup
From Joy Williams, Hayden Lake.
12 potatoes
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 large (7-ounce) can diced green chilies, with juice
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 pound jack cheese
Peel potatoes if desired and thinly slice. In large pot, saute sliced potatoes and chopped onion in butter until onions are transparent. Cover with water.
Add chilies, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cover pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender. Add cheese about 5 minutes before serving.
Yield: 12 servings.
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