Feed me!

During my poor college years potatoes became my best friend. I learned how to cook them in every way possible! Potatoes were cheap and filling so it became a basic food group for me.Hashed, fried, baked, mashed,curried you name it I’ve cooked it. The only way I have never had a potato is Hasselback style. And now it’s my new favorite way to eat a potato! The skin is crispy and the potato is perfectly baked and seasoned with Old Bay Seasoning!

Old Bay Seasoning

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

As many potatoes as you can eat!

Preheat oven to 425 F

1. Wash the potatoes really well! Nothing ruins a good potato as grit in your mouth! You can take the skin off but for me the skin is the best part.

2. Use a really sharp knife to slice the potatoe down width wise thinly.(3-4 mm)  Make sure not to go through all the way!

3. Put the sliced potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season with Old Bay Seasoning , salt and pepper

4. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

It is the perfect side for a hearty meal and you can impress your guests with this beautiful dish!

I love going food shopping and buying things that I havent tried! Last week I grabbed a box of Lemon Pepper Pasta at my local grocery store. It seemed pretty promising and it was! I was scrolling through FoodGawker and I saw this amazing recipe for pasta! They had used this recipe from Cooking Light to make their version of the pasta! Of course I ended up making a few tweaks in the recipe based on the items I had at hand but, here is my version using my lemon pepper pasta! (serves 2)

The pasta was light and the flavors of the lemon and garlic meshed well together. I will definately keep this recipe and maybe use fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, or oregano in it the next time I make it.

8 oz of Ronzoni lemon pepper pasta uncooked

1/2 cups of croutons ( I used italian herb seasoned croutons)

3 tablespoons of olive oil

5 cloves of garlic finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil 8 oz of pasta. I like my pasta between al dente and tender, so about 7-8 minutes is good.

2.  Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil to a hot pan and saute the garlic. I like mine a bit caramelized so I let them go a little bit brown. I love the smell of garlic in oil yum!

3. Take the bread crumbs and smash them up in a ziplock bag. Don’t go too crazy now because the bag can pop and you’ll have tiny crumbs everywhere! Trust me, I speak from experience!

4. Add the bread crumbs to the pan witht he garlic and oil already in it and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Make sure you stir often!

5. Take the cooked pasta and add 1 3/4 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss and add the bread crumb and garlic mixture to the pasta and toss some more! Salt and pepper to taste!

It was garlicy and lemon-y and pepper-y, which meant it was pretty good! You can add fresh parsely or oregano to make it more flavorful. It’s a light pasta that you can easily make.

Pani puri. The words just make my mouth water. Pani puri is a street food in India which is basically a small puffed bread filled with spiced potatoes and kala chana (black chickpeas) and spiced water. Pani puri is weird because it both cooling and it has heat. The reason why this is semi-homemade is that the only thing made from scratch is the filling.Its also a quick and healthy snack!

1 cup kala chana

baking soda

ground red pepper

ground cumin

salt

Badshah Pani Puri Masala - you can find this at a local ethnic food store

tamarind chutney- you can also find this at a local food store

2 cups of ice cold water

puri- I bought mine from a Indian store

1. Usually you are supposed to soak the kala chana overnight, but what I do is add 1 cup of dried kala chana and 2 cups of hot water to a pressure cooker. Add 1 teaspoon fo salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda and cook for up to 5-6 whistles.( ~ 20 minutes)

2. This is my college way for cooking a potato. Cook the potatoes by washing them and then wrapping them in a wet paper towel and putting it in a plastic Ziplock bag.(One potato per bag) Add about 2 teaspoons fo water to the bag, seal, and microwave individually for about 4 minutes.

3. Mash the potatoes and add the cooked kala chana in a bowl.

4. Add 1 teaspoon of ground cumin and 1 1/2 teaspoon of Badshah pani puri masala to the potatoes and kala chana, salt and red pepper to taste and mix.

5. Sometimes store bought puris can get stale, so I pop them in the toaster.Take the puris out of the toaster and fill each puri with the potato and kala chana mix.

6. Make the pani by taking 2 cups of ice cold water and add 2 tablespoons of the Badshah Pani Puri Masala to the water. Also add 1 tablespoon of tamarind chutney to the water and mix. Add salt to taste.

7. Take the filled puris and pour the pani into each puri. Pop ‘em in your mouth and enjoy!

I always hear great stuff about Palace at the Ben from a lot of people, so I figured a girl’s night out would the perfect time to try it for myself. I ordered Aloo Tamatar Soup ( Potato and Tomato soup) as a starter which was delicious! It was a bit spicy, so if you can’t handle heat this might not be for you. There were chunks of potato at the bottom which helped mellow out the spice. It was perfectly seasoned in that the tartness of the tomatoes came through but didn’t overwhelm the soup.

The entrees are large enough to split between two peopleso we ordered malai kofta, a cream based Punjabi curry with vegetable dumplings, and paneer tikka masala, tomato based curry with paneer cheese. The malai kofta was a nice balance of sweet and spicy. The vegetable dumplings (kofta) were made of mostly potatoes and peas. The paneer tikka masala was fiery and seasoned perfectly as well. This we by far the most authentic Indian food I’ve had in Philadelphia. Its a bit pricey, but definately worth it! So if your craving some genuine Indian food, visit Palace at the Ben in Center City!