Italian Potatoes

Every once in a while I manage to accidentally stumble across a really good recipe in the kitchen.  It's not that I'm TRYING to get creative and make my own delicious dish but rather that I'm STARVING and looking for some home-cooking really fast.  This was the case with the Italian Potatoes.

You will need:
1) a bag of small "baby potatoes"
2) 1 packet of dry Italian Salad Dressing mix
3) Olive oil
4) salt and pepper to taste

Slice the baby potatoes in half and when you're finished add some olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the sliced baby potatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle the potatoes with about 1/3 of the Italian seasoning and then cook till done.  They usually cook up pretty quick but they are done when you can easily pierce them all the way through with either a fork or butter knife.

Bacon-Cheddar Potato Rounds

I recently discovered Pinterest and found that there are some FANTASTIC recipes others have pinned! I am certainly not a chef but I pin the ones that interest me and then attempt to create my own version later.  Thus was the case with the Bacon-Cheddar Potato Rounds.  They turned out delicious and the sauce that goes with them is equally delicious.

I followed the Pinterest recipe as close as possible but decided to add more pictures because I thought it might be good for those of us who REALLY NEED pictures when we cook! lol

1) I started by slicing the potatoes into thin 1/8" pieces like the recipe called for

2)  Once you've sliced all the potatoes you want put them in cold water on medium/high heat with a lid and bring to a boil.  Once the potatoes have started to boil turn the heat off and remove them from the stove.  Gently scoop them out of the water and dry on paper towels.

Don't worry... it doesn't have to be perfect.  I gently dried them off and allowed them to drain any excess water and gave them time to cool off so I could handle them easier when adding the finishing touches.

3) After they have cooled and drained the potatoes line them up on a cookie sheet, pan, pizza stone or whatever you have!  And don't worry if they are overlapping like mine in the picture below.  In case you are wondering what I have placed beneath the potatoes it's parchment paper... and the only reason I did this was to avoid cleaning the cookie pan. (Yes, I admit, I can be a bit lazy)

4)  Once you have them lined up on a pan spray the with Pam Spray or I suppose you could even drizzle with olive oil if you prefer.  Liberally season them with salt and pepper to taste and then add some shredded cheddar cheese and bacon bits.  In my case, I did not have shredded cheddar cheese I had shredded Gouda cheese so I used that instead and they turned out just fine!

5)  Then place them in a preheated oven at 425 degrees.  I baked mine for about 20 minutes but I suppose you could baked them a longer or shorter period of time depending on how crispy or "done" you like for your potatoes to be.  Below is the finished product with the sour cream/ranch dip that makes them totally delicious.

For more help on this recipe you can look it up at www.allrecipes.com. It's a great appetizer and even works well as a side dish.