Potatoes Dauphinoise * link to holiday menu with recipes

Potatoes Dauphinoise

http://www.recipetineats.com/julia-childs-potato-dauphinois-gratin-potato-bake/

Of all the ways to cook potato, this is my absolute favourite. Potato + cream + cheese with a hint of garlic and thyme created by the French = pure heaven. This recipe is based on Julia Child's recipe, the queen of French Cooking. The original recipe calls for gruyere cheese which is quite expensive here in Australia so I usually substitute with tasty or cheddar, or any other great melting cheese.

Serves: 4 - 6 (15 min prep, 45 min baking, reheats very well)

INGREDIENTS
2 lb /1 kg starchy potatoes (Note 1)
½ clove unpeeled garlic
4 tablespoons butter, chopped into small cubes (Note 3)
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
1½ cups grated gruyere cheese (or tasty or cheddar)
1½ cups cream
2 tsp thyme leaves (optional - but highly recommended)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Rub a baking dish or round skillet (square 21 x 21 cm / 8 x 8" or round 23 cm / 9" diameter) with the cut garlic, then smear with 1 tbsp of butter.

Peel the potatoes and slice them ⅛"/3 mm thick. Or use a slicer - makes the job much faster!

Spread ⅓ of the potatoes in the dish, then scatter over ⅓ of the cream, salt, pepper, cheese, thyme and butter (Note 3).

Repeat for the 2nd and third layer, finishing with the cheese.

Cover with lid or foil, and bake for 1 hour to 1 hr 15 min or until the potatoes is soft (use a knife to test), then remove the foil and bake for a further 10 until the top is bubbly and golden. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.

NOTES
1. You need to use starchy potatoes as they breakdown when cooked, becoming nice and fluffy on the inside and golden and crunchy on the top. The best to use are Russet (common in the US), Dutch creams, King Edwards or red delight. However, great all rounders like golden delight, coliban, red rascal and Sebago (popular in Australia) still works great.


2. To make ahead: After trying various ways during the course of 2016, I have found that the best way to make ahead is to assemble it all EXCEPT for the final layer of cheese. Cover with foil and bake until potato is soft. Let cool then drizzle with a bit of extra cream, top with cheese, refrigerate until required. Reheat covered in foil in a 180C/350F oven for 20 - 35 min or until hot, then remove foil and bake until cheese is golden. To speed things up you can microwave it then pop it in the oven (this is dense so takes quite a while to reheat in the oven, depends on depth of baking dish you use).

3. You could just melt the butter and drizzle. I've written the recipe the way it is traditionally made.

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Serving size: 110g Calories: 167 cal Fat: 10g Saturated fat: 6.0g Unsaturated fat: 4.0g Trans fat: 0g Carbohydrates: 14.2g Sugar: 1.6g Sodium: 281mg Fiber: 2.1g Protein: 5.7g Cholesterol: 31mg

Cucumber Salad

Video- http://12tomatoes.com/refrigerator-cucumber-salad/?utm_source=glp-&utm_medium=social-fb&utm_content=video&utm_term=&utm_campaign=refrigerator-cucumber-salad


Cucumber Salad


INGREDIENTS
5 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

PREPARATION
In a medium bowl or a half gallon mason jar, toss together cucumbers, onions, peppers, and salt and set aside.

Combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, and pepper flakes in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, remove from heat and add 2 handfuls of ice.

Once ice has melted, pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers. Cover and store in refrigerator. Will keep for 2 months.

http://12tomatoes.com/refrigerator-cucumber-salad/?utm_source=glp-&utm_medium=social-fb&utm_content=video&utm_term=&utm_campaign=refrigerator-cucumber-salad

Get your Chip now

Free Microchip Implants, the New Employee Perk?
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/07/24/microchip-implants-employees/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News0_DSC_170727_000000_Final%20remainder&utm_content=&spMailingID=29950140&spUserID=MTE2MDc4NjI0MjEyS0&spJobID=1083401264&spReportId=MTA4MzQwMTI2NAS2#.WXp1i4jyvIU

A Wisconsin company will be the first in the United States to implant microchips beneath the skin of its employees.

Three Squared Market (32M), a break-room kiosk company, has offered to give its workers subdermal RFID tags, tiny rice-grain-sized pellets that can hold information like credit card numbers and passwords. With their “handy” chips, they’ll be able to unlock doors, log in to computers, and, of course, buy snacks from the company vending machines—all with a wave of their hand.

A Chip in the Hand…

The chips, which the company emphasizes are completely voluntary, get injected just beneath the skin between the thumb and forefinger. The procedure is quick and simple, requiring little more than a needle. Once securely in place, all employees need to do is hold a hand near a chip reader for it to work, much like a key fob or credit card chip scanner. They say they expect roughly 50 people to take part.

“We foresee the use of RFID technology to drive everything from making purchases in our office break room market, opening doors, use of copy machines, logging into our office computers, unlocking phones, sharing business cards, storing medical/health information, and used as payment at other RFID terminals. Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc,” said 32M CEO Todd Westby in a statement.

The company will cover the roughly $300 in costs associated with the procedure, which is being done in conjunction with Biohax, a Swedish biohacking company. Biohax has performed similar operations for the employees of Epicenter, a start-up hub in Sweden, where employees have even begun throwing parties for newly initiated implantees, according to the Telegraph. On Aug. 1, 32M plans to hold its own party for chipped employees.

…Is Worth What Exactly?

The chips will not track employees’ movements or gather other personal information, as they rely on near field communication (NFC) technology, which requires a nearby transponder to generate the power necessary to exchange information. Still, this hasn’t stemmed worries about hackers’ ability to steal information from our chip-enabled credit cards, however. One company even sells wallets, purses and other accessories specifically designed to block the transmission of any information. Such fears may be overblown, however, at least for the moment. So few people have RFID tags, or even contact-less credit cards, that it’s not worth most hackers’ time to attempt to steal them. And even if they tried, they would have to get uncomfortably close to do so.

And though they make life easier inside 32M’s walls, the chips will have little use in the rest of the world. The technology to pay for things with a swipe of the chip-enabled hand isn’t in place in most establishments, as one Buzzfeed writer found out when he tried to go cashless and credit card-less for a month. He did finally succeed in buying a meal with his chip, but only after some custom coding and a whole lot of patience.