December 17
Peppercorn Steak Before Shopping
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- Peppercorn Steak
- Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- 3 large potatoes
- salt & pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- .5 cup milk (divided)
Instructions
We started last night cooking the potatoes. We rinse each potato and dry with paper towels. We peel a potato over a large piece of paper toweling, cut in eighths on our cutting board, and put in a large pot of cold water. We continue with the other two potatoes. We carry the pot of water and potatoes over to the sink and pour out most of the water. We add fresh cold water to cover the potatoes by two inches and place on the stove over medium-high heat. We bring the water to a boil, covered. After 15 minutes, the water is boiling. We remove the cover, add some salt, and continue to cook for another 20 minutes - until fork tender.
We drain the cooked potatoes into a colander and place back in the hot pot. Using our ricer, we rice the potatoes right into a serving bowl. We let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
About 10 minutes before we want to eat, we take the riced potatoes out of the fridge. We heat in our microwave in 1 to 2 minute intervals. It takes us a total of 5 minutes to get the potatoes hot. We remove the plastic wrap and add the butter. We start whipping with our hand mixer, adding the milk slowly. When the desired creaminess is reached, we season with more salt and freshly ground pepper and serve right away.
- Sautéed Broccoli
Chris arrived home from work to the sound of loud banging. With images of the kids running amok and Robin in tears, he entered the kitchen to find the kids taking turns crushing peppercorns in a plastic bag with the flat side of a meat tenderizer.
After helping mom with the peppercorns, the kids also helped with the mixer when it was time to make the mashed potatoes. They even ate most of the dinner (and our daughter with only a little prodding!).
After a quick gourmet meal, we drive to the mall to continue our Christmas shopping, which was largely successful. We still need a few more things, but we're closer to done than starting.
Thankfully, we had a fabulous meal to give us fortitude to deal with other holiday shoppers.