Have I mentioned that we are now the proud owners of 50+ pounds of potatoes?
I know I’ve alluded to the fact that we now have a steady stream of potatoes coming in the door in our weekly veggie boxes from Great Country Farms, but clearly we are gluttons for spuds – this weekend, we ventured out to the farm to pick our own potatoes! This is an annual event for LeeLee and me; beginning the day with fresh pancakes and then proceeding out to the potato fields (and, later, to the vineyard across the road for a taste!) is a Labor Day weekend tradition.
But never before have I actually broken the scale when checking out! LeeLee kept saying that my bag was too heavy, that I needed to cease and desist, but I paid him no mind. When we went to check out, his bag rang in at a jaunty 20ish pounds and mine was … well, my bag caused the little scale to beep because my haul was over 30 pounds. Yikes!
After putting the potatoes out to dry and cure for a couple of days, we’ve packed them into big cardboard boxes and lined each layer with newspapers. With proper protection, they’ll last us till the new year!
If we quit eating them for every meal, that is. Currently we’re still in the honeymoon phase with our potato haul – they can do no wrong as of yet. Which brings me to tonight’s dinner: a Labor Day cookout, naturally.
A couple of weeks ago, I finally got the hang of grilling potatoes, and now there’s no stopping me! Years ago, I tried the same feat, but I didn’t factor in the girth and density of the spuds, and they came out hard and inedible. (We had to bake them in the oven for another half-hour to render them useful!) That little experience put me off of grilling them again for quite some time, until a couple of weeks ago, when I cooked out with my mom and dad, and I got the nerve to give it another try.
I’m SO glad that I did! That time, I washed them (as usual) and cut them into a small dice, then put them in a foil packet with a bit of olive oil. They turned out wonderfully after about 35 minutes on the grill! Tonight, I went a step further and used butter instead of olive oil, then garnished them with a little salt, garlic powder, and fresh parsley from our herb garden. Then I put them on the grill and let them go for about 40 minutes (to be safe!), flipping them every 10.
As they cooked, I also prepared some fresh green beans and placed them – along with some butter, some diced veggie bacon, and some chipotle powder – in a foil packet and let them cook for about 35 minutes, turning every 10. Let me tell you, friends – the bacon was a welcome addition to this side dish and one that I shall repeat with gusto as time goes by!
But I haven’t even mentioned the main course yet – the jalapeno popper burgers I’ve made from time to time! I found this recipe over at Tablespoon a long time ago and have used it with great success since. At first, I took the writer’s advice and prepared these in my cast-iron skillet on the stovetop, but these days I’ve thrown all caution to the wind and grilled them outside several times with no ill effects. I use a tube of Lightlife Gimme Lean veggie beef as my base and then tonight used Daiya cream cheese with a diced jalapeno from our garden (and a dash of cumin, just because) as the filling. After about 12 minutes on the grill, these big, thick burgers were ready to go!
We devoured the meal with much excitement – there wasn’t a bad dish in the bunch tonight! Paired with some leftover beers from this weekend’s football game, it was a Labor Day feast to be reckoned with indeed.
:)