So simple, so sinful.
I love potatoes. I really don’t think “love” is a strong enough word for how I feel about these starchy roots of heaven.
One of my coworkers and friends JLN told me how he made these mashed potatoes that were to die for, and then he 1-up’d himself and baked them.
That was enough for me to want to try this. I knew the basic recipe had to be easy. But what I really needed from him was the temperature to bake the dish. There are also a ton of recipes around the web about this dish, but I decided to take what I had and make it with those ingredients. Funny enough, the recipe he used, actually used the ingredients I had to use up! (I just said “use” a lot in that phrase..)
So yeah, if you have stuff in your fridge you need to use up, make this dish! It takes up to an hour from start to finish, but it’s well worth it.
Here’s what we used:
•5 russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces. Leave the peels on! I love the potato skin
•5 oz. 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cheese (basically 1/3 less fat cream cheese. It’s what I had leftover from the cinnamon rolls)
•1/2 cup chopped chives (about 15 “strands” of chives I had leftover from baked potatoes we made a few days ago)
•1/4 cup light sour cream (this is optional. We didn’t end up using a lot of this)
•S&P to taste
•1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
•2 tablespoons margarine or butter
Boil the potatoes until their fork tender. Then drain them and transfer them back to your boiling pot (no need to dirty a new bowl)
Add in your cream cheese, sour cream and mash ‘em up! I don’t know why my masher decided to go MIA the one time I needed it, but fear not! Since the potatoes were so tender, we used a fork and it worked just as well. If you want yours super creamy, use a hand mixer if you have one. Would work beautifully for an extra creamy texture.
Then add in your chives and cheese. Chives add a lovely, mild onion flavor. You can totally take this out if you don’t want that. …But why would you NOT have sour cream and chives on a potato…? That’s just crazy talk.
Add some salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the entire pot of mashed potatoes into a lightly greased 9 x 13 glass baking dish (just spray with some cooking spray). Spread the mixture out evenly.
Take the 1-2 tablespoons of butter and break it up to spread evenly across the top of the potatoes.
Sprinkle some leftover cheese (or additional cheese in my case. ahem.) on top
Bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are golden brown.
Mmkay. I clearly don’t need to explain what’s going on in that picture. Did I mention how much I love potatoes?
Just little bites of heaven. Sigh. Love, love, love.
Unfortunately, using up those ingredients to make this dish only created more leftovers for me to get rid of… (–_–; Ah well. All in the name of love.
Preheat your oven to 325º so it’s waiting for you when you’re ready. Never wait for it. You’re better than that.
Start by coarsely chopping the walnuts. I used more than 1 cup because I like walnuts. Use how much you want. You can take it out all together if you want…but I don’t know why you’d do that unless you’re allergic. Set them aside when done chopping. You’ll need them at the end.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour. You can sift it if you want, but that’s too fancy for my liking.
Add the sugar to the flour. I used more than 1 cup by accident (whoops), but it just made the bread sweet. Nothing wrong with that if you ask me! Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt and then stir to combine the dry ingredients.
Zest your orange. I used four midnight oranges because they are sweet and delicious. I think if you just used Valencia or Navel, you’d be fine, but they looked ugly and gross in the grocery store, so they were overlooked (sorry, guys). I think midnight oranges are the way to go. I ended up zesting 4 of them. It really intensified the flavor. By the way, if you don’t own a 
The trick to this recipe is using the juice of the oranges instead of store-bought orange juice. Amazing flavor and makes good use of your zested oranges. I don’t own a juicer, except for REB. He’s a doll and an excellent helper.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside. You can use the stove, but I’m lazy and used the microwave. Works just as well.
In a smaller, separate bowl, beat 1 egg. Add the zest, orange juice, melted butter and the hot water. I’m not lying when I say hot. You want it to be hot and add it quickly and then stir so you don’t scramble your egg.
Add the wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and stir until blended. Don’t overwork it or your dough will become tough. Warning: it will be VERY sticky.
Add the walnuts and fold in gently.
Add the cranberries. I used fresh (found in the produce section of your grocery store). You could use frozen, but I like fresh ingredients. I ended up using a heaping cup because I had added more than enough sugar. I wanted the tartness of the cranberries to offset the sweetness. Best choice I made.
Same as the walnuts, fold the cranberries in gently so you don’t make the dough too tough.
Pour the dough-batter-mixture into a greased loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3) and put in the oven in the middle rack. Bake for 1 hour. I ended up baking it for 45 minutes and then reducing the heat and letting it continue to bake for 15 minutes. This was because after 45 minutes, it was really brown and looked done, but the inside was still gooey – ick! Your bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Ta-da! If you can resist, wait 10 minutes to let it cool…
…but I didn’t, and cut it up right away.
