Tag: vegetables

potato salad

Helen’s Czech Potato Salad

Summer has arrived, finally, and at The Farm, that means Helen’s mother’s Czech Potato Salad is on the menu. This recipe is a delightful combination of tender potatoes, crisp vegetables, and a tangy dressing that is ideal to enjoy with loved ones at any of your summer events. 

As with all our recipes, this one is incredibly versatile, allowing you to customize it to your liking. That being said, potato salad can be surprisingly technical when it comes to getting the flavor and texture just right. We suggest if you have never made potato salad before, do a few practice runs if you plan to serve it at a big event!  

Note from Anna

After really watching my mom make this recipe for the first time, I would say this is on of her most intuitive recipes. She just throws it together, and measures nothing. It’s worse than soup. I’ve done my best to record what she does, but if as you are making this and you feel you need more or less of something, follow your intuition! And let us know how it goes!

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STEPS: EXPLAINED, WITH TIDBITS AND ADVICE

Fill a medium pot with water and add about a teaspoon of salt. Get that boiling for the potatoes. Also fill a 3-quart sauce pan with water and get that boiling for the eggs. While you wait for your water to boil, wash and peel about 3 pounds of Russet potatoes.

Chop the potatoes into about 1/2 inch pieces. It’s important to make them bigger so they don’t turn into mashed potatoes. The chunks will also mush down a little when you mix your salad.  

Dice about 1 medium white onion, 3 ribs of celery, and 1 cup of diced dill pickles. If you like more or less of any of these things, adjust as you see fit.

Once the water is boiling, add your potatoes and boil for about 10 minutes. Add 6 eggs to your other pot of boiling water, and boil for 10 minutes until they are hard boiled. Pro tip that Anna didn’t know: use a tongs to gently drop the eggs into the water. Otherwise, they can crack and the white stuff comes out (see below). We still used these eggs, but it wasn’t ideal!

At 10 minutes, check your potatoes. You want them to be firm but not crunchy. It’s a fine line, and sometimes the only way to tell is to taste one.

Also after 10 minutes, drain your eggs and refill the pot with cold water. The most important thing with potato salad is to get your eggs and potatoes cooled down fast. Set them aside.

Once your potatoes are ready, it’s time to cool them down. You want to cool them down fast so they stop cooking and firm up for when you have to mix your salad. Through out all these steps, make sure to be gentle with the potatoes or they will start to turn into mush. Pour the potatoes into a colander or strainer from the pot and run cold water over them.

Put the potatoes back in the empty pot and cover with cold water. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Then, repeat the last step by dumping the potatoes back into the colander, rinse in cold water, and then put them back in your empty pot. Cover with cold water a second time, and set aside for 10-15 minutes.

While the potatoes and eggs are cooling, it’s time to make your dressing. In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup Miracle Whip or whipped salad dressing, 2 tablespoons yellow mustard, 1/2 cup white sugar, and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.

Give it a taste! It should be tangy and sweet. The flavor should be powerful because the potatoes will absorb more flavor than you think and dilute your mixture. Once you have your dressing mixed, your potatoes and eggs should be cooled down enough. Peel and dice your eggs into even pieces.

Now you are ready to mix your salad! Drain the potatoes and put them in a large cake pan. This will help the potatoes cool down even faster, and the salad will be easier to mix without mushing your potatoes.

Make sure to do a sprinkle of about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper over the potatoes.

Next, gently mix in the onions, celery, and pickles until evenly combined.

Gently mix in the dressing until well combined.

Gently mix in eggs until well combined.

Now it’s time to taste it! The flavor should be tangy, a little sweet, and salty. The texture should be creamy and crunchy with the vegetables. If the flavor is weak or you taste mainly plain potato, mix another batch of dressing. You don’t have to make the same amount and adjust it for the flavors you are going for. You can also sprinkle the salad with salt and pepper if that’s what it needs. We did have to add more flavor to ours!

Once you get it tasting the way you want, pop your salad into the fringe to finish cooling down and to let the flavors bled. This salad is usually better the second day, so it’s never a bad idea to make it ahead of time. Serve in your favorite bowl with a sprinkle of paprika on top! Enjoy!

potato salad
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Helen’s Czech Potato Salad

A tangy, delicious potato salad that is great for any summer event
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours
Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

  • 3 lb Russet potatoes, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 medium white onion, diced
  • 3 celery ribs, diced
  • 1 cup dill pickles, diced
  • 1-2 cups Miracle whip or whipped salad dressing
  • 2-4 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 1/2-3/4 cup white sugar
  • 2-4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2-3 tp salt
  • 1/2-1 tp pepper
  • paprika

Instructions

  • Fill a medium pot with water and add about 1 tp salt. Boil over high heat for the potatoes.
  • Fill a 3-quart sauce pan with water. Boiling over high heat for the eggs.
  • Wash and peel the potatoes. Chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
  • Dice the onion, celery, and pickles into small pieces.
  • Once the water is boiling, add your potatoes to the medium pot and add your eggs to the sauce pan. Boil both for 10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, drain your eggs and refill the pot with cold water. The most important thing with potato salad is to get your eggs and potatoes cooled down fast. Set them aside.
  • At 10 minutes, check your potatoes. You want them to be firm but not crunchy. When they are firm, cool them down by pouring the potatoes into a colander or strainer from the pot and running cold water over them. Put the potatoes back in the empty pot and cover with cold water. Set aside for 5 minutes. Repeat these steps a second time after 5 minutes and then set aside for 10-15 minutes. Be gentle with them throughout these steps.
  • In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup Miracle Whip or whipped salad dressing, 2 tablespoons yellow mustard, 1/2 cup white sugar, and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. It should be tangy and sweet.
  • Once your eggs are cool, dice your eggs into even pieces.
  • Drain the potatoes and put them in a large cake pan. This will help the potatoes cool down even faster, and the salad will be easier to mix without mushing your potatoes.
  • Sprinkle potatoes with about 1 tp salt and 1/2 tp pepper.
  • Gently mix in the onions, celery, and pickles until evenly combined.
  • Gently mix in the dressing until well combined.
  • Gently mix in eggs until well combined.
  • Now it’s time to taste it! The flavor should be tangy, a little sweet, and salty. The texture should be creamy and crunchy with the vegetables. If the flavor is weak or you taste mainly plain potato, mix another batch of dressing. You don’t have to make the same amount and adjust it for the flavors you are going for. You can also sprinkle the salad with more salt and pepper if that’s what it needs. 
  • Once you get it tasting the way you want, pop your salad into the fringe to finish cooling down and to let the flavors bled. This salad is usually better the second day, so it’s never a bad idea to make it ahead of time. 
  • Serve in your favorite bowl with a sprinkle of paprika on top! 

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Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan and Lemon

We’re taking a bit of a risk by saying this, but it looks like Spring has finally arrived! And with it, comes an abundance of delicious, in-season asparagus! Here at Palmquist Farm, asparagus is always the first crop to make an appearance in Helen’s garden. It’s a surefire sign that the snow season is finally over, and we couldn’t be happier about that!

To help you make the most of this delicious vegetable, we’re excited to share with you one of our favorite asparagus recipes. It’s the perfect way to celebrate Spring and all the fresh produce it brings.

Note from Anna

This is one of my recipes, and it’s perfect for honing your cooking intuition. As you know, Helen rarely measures seasonings, and it took me some time and experimentation to get good at that style of cooking. If you’re interested in learning how to cook without always relying on measurements, this recipe is the perfect one to practice with. Asparagus can come in different thicknesses, making it tricky to know just how much seasoning, lemon, or cheese to use, so even if I gave you exact amounts, it might not turn out. That’s where your intuition comes in! And it’s just a side dish, so it won’t ruin the whole meal if you mess up. So go ahead and give it a try, trust your instincts, taste, and adjust next time!

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STEPS: EXPLAINED, WITH TIDBITS AND ADVICE

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Wash the asparagus and chop off the ends. Check to make sure the ends are tender and not woody. Cut any woody parts off.

3. Spread the asparagus on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Shake the pan side to side to lightly coat all the asparagus. Be careful not to go too heavy with the oil because extra oil on the pan away from the asparagus could burn. If you want to make this dish lighter, use a little less oil. It’s up to you!

5. Bake asparagus on the middle rack of your oven for 5 minutes if the asparagus is thin and ten minutes if it’s thicker.

6. While the asparagus is baking, grate some fresh parmesan cheese on the finest grater you have. You want it to be fluffy and light. The amount is up to you, but it should be enough to evenly coat the asparagus (a little less than 1/4 cup or so). Then, wash your lemon, and cut it in half.

7. After 5-10 minutes of baking, take your asparagus out of the oven and flip it over. Test it with a fork. If it’s pretty tender with a little crunch, sprinkle the asparagus with the parmesan cheese, making sure the cheese isn’t getting all over the pan as it will burn. If it’s still hard, put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes before adding the cheese. Depending on how firm or cooked you like your asparagus, feel free to adjust the roasting time. I like mine to still have a little crunch!

8. Bake 5 more minutes. Then, take it out of the oven and squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the asparagus. I squeeze the juice directly from the lemon half because it prevents me from adding too much juice, which can ruin the dish. So go easy. You can always add more lemon at the table. The same goes for salt!

9. Give it a taste and see how you did!

potato salad
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Helen’s Czech Potato Salad

A tangy, delicious potato salad that is great for any summer event
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours
Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

  • 3 lb Russet potatoes, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 medium white onion, diced
  • 3 celery ribs, diced
  • 1 cup dill pickles, diced
  • 1-2 cups Miracle whip or whipped salad dressing
  • 2-4 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 1/2-3/4 cup white sugar
  • 2-4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2-3 tp salt
  • 1/2-1 tp pepper
  • paprika

Instructions

  • Fill a medium pot with water and add about 1 tp salt. Boil over high heat for the potatoes.
  • Fill a 3-quart sauce pan with water. Boiling over high heat for the eggs.
  • Wash and peel the potatoes. Chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
  • Dice the onion, celery, and pickles into small pieces.
  • Once the water is boiling, add your potatoes to the medium pot and add your eggs to the sauce pan. Boil both for 10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, drain your eggs and refill the pot with cold water. The most important thing with potato salad is to get your eggs and potatoes cooled down fast. Set them aside.
  • At 10 minutes, check your potatoes. You want them to be firm but not crunchy. When they are firm, cool them down by pouring the potatoes into a colander or strainer from the pot and running cold water over them. Put the potatoes back in the empty pot and cover with cold water. Set aside for 5 minutes. Repeat these steps a second time after 5 minutes and then set aside for 10-15 minutes. Be gentle with them throughout these steps.
  • In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup Miracle Whip or whipped salad dressing, 2 tablespoons yellow mustard, 1/2 cup white sugar, and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. It should be tangy and sweet.
  • Once your eggs are cool, dice your eggs into even pieces.
  • Drain the potatoes and put them in a large cake pan. This will help the potatoes cool down even faster, and the salad will be easier to mix without mushing your potatoes.
  • Sprinkle potatoes with about 1 tp salt and 1/2 tp pepper.
  • Gently mix in the onions, celery, and pickles until evenly combined.
  • Gently mix in the dressing until well combined.
  • Gently mix in eggs until well combined.
  • Now it’s time to taste it! The flavor should be tangy, a little sweet, and salty. The texture should be creamy and crunchy with the vegetables. If the flavor is weak or you taste mainly plain potato, mix another batch of dressing. You don’t have to make the same amount and adjust it for the flavors you are going for. You can also sprinkle the salad with more salt and pepper if that’s what it needs. 
  • Once you get it tasting the way you want, pop your salad into the fringe to finish cooling down and to let the flavors bled. This salad is usually better the second day, so it’s never a bad idea to make it ahead of time. 
  • Serve in your favorite bowl with a sprinkle of paprika on top! 

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Egg and Bacon Scramble Bake

This egg bake is a great recipe to have in your back pocket because it is as versatile as the omelet and is great for using up fresh herbs, vegetables or cheese that’s hanging around in your fridge.

I like to sauté the bacon with green peppers, onions, and mushrooms, if I have them. One time I made this dish using Velveeta, blue cheese, and mozzarella!  

From Helen

On The Farm, we usually keep it simple by only adding bacon, cheddar cheese, and chives. My variation is diced ham, onions, green/red peppers and tomatoes. It’s very good with fresh tomatoes. 

This recipe came from a guest. Grandma Toinie used to make it with cream of mushroom soup instead of cream cheese. A long time ago, it was highlighted in a country music magazine that did an article about country farm breakfasts. They liked this recipe but didn’t want cream of mushroom soup in it so their chef did some experiments and ended up substituting cream cheese and chives for the soup. We’ve done it that way ever since, and it’s better for it.

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STEPS: EXPLAINED, WITH TIDBITS AND ADVICE

In these steps, we’re going to be making my favorite version of this recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut up 4 strips of bacon in a large cast iron frying pan over medium heat. This little trick saves you a cutting board and goes a lot quicker than with a knife.

2. Cook the bacon until it’s almost done and has released most of its grease, about 10 minutes. It should look like this.

3. Pour all the grease out into a heat safe mug except for about 1-2 tablespoons, shown below.

NOTE: It’s a good idea to have a paper towel ready to wipe the side of the pan. If the grease runs down the underside of your pan, it can start on fire when you put your pan back on the heat.

Keep the extra grease handy. You might need to add it later if your pan gets dry when you are sautéing your vegetables.

4. Add 1/2 cup diced onions and 1/2 cup diced red pepper to your pan.

Cook over medium heat until the onions become transparent and the peppers soften, about 10 minutes. If your vegetables are sticking, add a little of the bacon grease back into the pan. When your vegetables are ready, they should look like this:

5. While your vegetables are cooking, dice 1/4 cup tomatoes. For this recipe, choose a really dense, meaty tomato. Lay the diced tomato out on a paper towel to soak up the extra water. You can pat them a little if your tomatoes are extra runny.

6. It’s time to make the cream cheese sauce.

Soften 3 tablespoons of whipped cream cheese in microwave. If you are using regular cream cheese, do half this amount. Once the cream cheese is soft, add it to a bowl with 1 tablespoon chives, 2 tablespoons milk, and 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt.

7. With a whisk, beat together the mixture. It should be runny enough to be a sauce.

Taste it! Add more salt and chives if it needs more. If it’s too runny, add more cream cheese. If it’s not runny enough, add more milk.

8. Once the sauce is ready, it’s time to scramble the eggs. Break six eggs into a bowl.

Mix them together with about a tablespoon of either milk or water. Add enough liquid so that eggs take on a lemony color.

NOTE: Anna uses milk. Helen uses water. Whose team are you on?? 😉

9. Pan spray a large skillet or melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in the pan.

Soft-scramble the eggs over medium-low heat.

It’s important that you don’t cook them all the way. They should look a little wet but be mostly done.

 As soon as you get them to the prefect amount of almost done, get the eggs out of the hot pan and onto a plate immediately, especially if you are using cast iron. Even if you turn the heat off, they will keep cooking from the heat of the pan.

10. Gather all your ingredients together along with a greased 2-quart square baking dish.

Place half of the eggs in a the dish. Top with half of the cream cheese mixture, half the bacon and vegetable mixture, half the tomatoes, and half of 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese.

Repeat the layers once more and top with extra chives, about 1 tablespoon.

11. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or till heated through and cheese is melted. 

Helen’s Advice: You don’t want to heat this egg dish in the oven any longer than specified or your eggs are going to turn gray or green. It won’t be spoiled but the dish won’t look nice, and the eggs will taste dry. 

12. Serve with fresh fruit!

What veggie, herb, cheese or meat combinations will you come up with? Share!

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Egg and Bacon Scramble

Total Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Scramble Mix-ins

  • 4 strips bacon, pan-fried, drained, and crumbled
  • 1 cup sautéed vegetables of your choice optional
  • ¼ cup tomatoes or fresh herbs optional
  • ⅓ cup shredded cheddar cheese or cheese of your choice
  • 1 tbsp chives, dice, for topping

Cream Cheese Sauce

  • 2 tbsp chives, minced
  • 3 tbsp whipped cream cheese use half for regular cream cheese
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • ¼ tsp seasoned salt

Egg Mixture

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tbsp milk or water
  • ½ tbsp butter or pan spray

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 250 degrees. 
  • Prepare the bacon and other vegetables. If you are using something with a lot of liquid, like tomatoes, try to remove as much liquid as possible.
  • Soften cream cheese in microwave. 
  • With a whisk, beat together the cream cheese, milk, chives and dash of seasoned salt. Make sure to reserve some chives to sprinkle on top when dish is complete.
  • Pan spray a large skillet or melt butter in pan. Soft-scramble the eggs so they are still a little wet but mostly done. 
  • Place half of the eggs in a greased 2-quart square baking dish. Top with half of the cream cheese mixture, half the bacon, half your other toppings, and half the cheddar cheese. Repeat once more. 
  • Top with extra chives.
  • Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or till heated through and cheese is melted. 

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