Rosemary Baked Potatoes

Super simple, skin on, bite sized baked potatoes. These things are little flavor explosions when you bite into them. I will definitely make them again

Ingredients

• 8 small, thin-skinned potatoes - washed and quartered
• 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon rosemary - chopped
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 425-degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick coating.
3. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes, olive oil, rosemary, and salt. 
4. Spread the potatoes out on the baking sheet.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the potatoes are deeply golden, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Thoughts:
The potatoes came out really delicious. Plus, the fact that they bake at 425, makes them a great companion for the tri-tip roast. I will definitely be making these again.

Next Time:

• Future Edit - I dropped the salt from 2 teaspoons to 1 teaspoon and the potatoes turn out much better now.

Sautéed Apples

This is another recipe from cooking class. It is really simple and makes a good compliment to pork dishes, since apples and pork always go hand in hand.

Ingredients

• 4-5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. Peel and slice the apples into uniform thin slices.
2. Put the apples into large enough bowl and pour in the sugar
3. Toss the apples with the sugar
4. Heat butter on medium heat over a saute pan.
5. Cook the apples in the butter over high heat until the sugar caramelizes and the apples are tender - roughly 7-10minutes, depending on how many apples you have.

Thoughts:
These apples are quick and simple. This last time I made them, I added in some cinnamon to the apples when the apples were about 80% done. Apparently either cinnamon either burns quickly or exacerbates the effect of heat on apples because the apples went to completely done in a matter of seconds and some pieces burned. The non-burned ones tasted great, so I'm not sure if my course of action for next time should be either to do the cinnamon with the sugar in the beginning or wait until the apples are done cooking. We shall see.

Green Beans

So this is one of the fancy recipes that I learned in cooking class. It isn't too complex; the trick is to keep the garlic and shallots from burning when the beans are cooking, since that makes everything taste bitter.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3 shallots - sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic - minced
• 1 Tablespoon thyme, chopped
• 1 1/2 pound green beans - trimmed
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the butter into a large skillet and heat until melted and foamy.
2. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until lightly golden brown (Do not over cook, they will burn in the next part if you do)
3. Add the thyme and green beans and toss to cover with butter.
4. Add the stock and cover
5. Cook over medium-high heat for 4-6minutes until the beans are tender.
6. Season with salt and pepper

Thoughts:
This is a pretty good recipe, like I said above, the main thing to keep in mind is to not let the garlic burn. You need to make sure the skillet is large enough otherwise it will take a while to get the beans tender since they will be piled on each other and then the garlic/shallots will burn. My photo above is an example of too small a pan.