Right Wing Nation

Roasted Garlic and Gruyère Mashed Potatoes

We’ve been through this before. No, there are no “peels” in the mashed potatoes. Disgusting. And no, there are no lumps, which is just as disgusting. The Baby Jesus cries when you make lumpy mashed potatoes, as do my mother and both my grandmothers from beyond the grave. And by the way, when I was a kid and we still lived in a decent, God-fearing nation, potato peels went into the bucket with the rest of the hog slop, where potato peels belong.

And by the way. I know what you’re thinking. No, these potatoes need no butter! The gruyère contains plenty of butterfat, and as is, these potatoes are quite rich — though if my mother had made these, she would have tossed a stick of butter on top and let it melt into yellow pools.

1 head garlic
1 T. olive oil
4 large potatoes, peeled and boiled until done
1/2 lb. gruyère (or Emmenthaler), shredded
milk

First, roast the garlic. Preheat the oven to 375, cut off the very top of the head of garlic, and put it (no reason to peel it) on a piece of foil. Drizzle with the olive oil, wrap up tightly, and toss it in the oven. Bake for about an hour, until soft. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic out of the peel into a mixing bowl.

When the potatoes are done, drain them and add them to the mixing bowl along with the shredded cheese. Add a couple of tablespoons of milk. Beat at high speeed until smooth, adding more milk if necessary (or desired). Serve immediately.

Rotkohl

Gott im Himmel!

1/4 lb. bacon

1 large onion, halved and sliced
2 heads red cabbage, quartered and sliced
3 tart apples, cored and shredded
1 c. beer, Riesling, apple cider or chicken stock (I prefer half cider and half stock, but try them all and use whichever you prefer)
4 T. ea: red wine vinegar and brown sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper

Cook the bacon, drain, and crumble. Add onion, cabbage and apples to the bacon fat, and saute uncovered until the cabbage begins to soften. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for an hour.

Kentucky Bourbon Sweet Potatoes

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
4 T. brown sugar
6 T. bourbon
4 T. butter, melted
1/2 c. pecans

Arrange sweet potatoes and pecans in a buttered baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients together, then mix with sweet potatoes and pecans. Cover and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Green Beans As God Almighty Eats Them

Screw the chi-chi “tender-crisp” crowd. This is the way green beans are meant to be cooked — and eaten. Vegetarian? Don’t eat pork? Tough luck.

2 lb. green beans (fresh, please)
1/2 lb. ham, or jowl bacon, chopped
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
water, salt, and pepper

First, prepare the beans. You’ll at least need to snap off any tough ends, and if you bought string beans, you’ll have to string them. As you prepare the beans, snap them in half and toss them in a cooking pot. Add the ham and onion, about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, mix, then cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for an hour. Uncover (you shouldn’t need any more water, but add some if you do), and simmer slowly until most of the pot likker evaporates.

Heavenly.

Gruyère Creamed Spinach au Gratin

This ain’t the German-American creamed spinach I grew up with. This is decadent. Seriously so. Sure to cause traumatic guilt in those prone to such things. I promise.

6 T. butter
1/4 c. flour
1/4 t. each: salt and pepper
1/2 handle turn freshly grated nutmeg, or 1 dash pre-grated nutmet (be careful — you can easily overdo this!)
1 c. heavy cream
4 oz. gruyère or emmenthaler, shredded
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 packages frozen spinach, thawed
1/4 c. Parmagiano, grated
1/4 c. each: bread crumbs and cold butter, cut into small bits

Preheat oven to 375.

Melt half the butter (4 T.) and mix in the flour until smooth. Add the cream and stir over medium heat until thickened. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and remove from heat.

In the remaining butter over medium heat, saute the onion until transparent. Reduce heat to low, and add the garlic and saute until it is also transparent (if you do these at the same time, the garlic will likely burn). Add the spinach and mix well.

Mix the spinach with the sauce. Add the gruyère, and put into a buttered baking dish. Mix together the Pamagiano and crumbs and sprinkle over the top, then dot with the butter bits. Bake until golden brown on top and bubbly.