A Little Tuesday Indulgence....

It was a long day today--a good day overall, just busy. And then at the last minute, got an assignment that I needed to get done before walking out the door. I had all kinds of plans to rake the lawn, go grocery shopping, make a nice dinner.... Unfortunately, I got home a little later than normal, then got sucked in to listening to the rest of the 1st Anniversary broadcast of Martha Stewart Radio's "Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer." I've become completely obsessed with those two crazy chicks, that I don't know what I'm going to do when I eventually lose my Sirius Radio access.

Anyway, there went my plans for raking, as it got too dark, so I skipped to the next task, grocery shopping. With midterms last week, I hadn't had a chance to go shopping, so the pantry was pretty bare all last week. I could barely scrape anything together, except for the risotto I wrote about a couple of posts ago. I needed to pick up a few staples--OJ, eggs, cheese, canned San Marzano tomatoes (okay, one indulgence)--but my main objective was to scrounge something for tonight's dinner.

Because I would again be spending the next two nights in class (and, therefore, would end up with a dinner of sesame crackers or something else otherwise unsatisfying), I decided I would indulge a little and make some mashed potatoes, which I had been craving for some time (for the record, my recent dinner at Lily's Seafood in Royal Oak had a side of yummy Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom-Stout Gravy, but it was just a wee order and just barely satisfied my craving).

Anyway, tonight's mashed potatoes couldn't be just any mashed potatoes. They were

SCALLION MASHED POTATOES WITH BUTTERMILK AND GORGONZOLA

1-1/2 lbs. red skinned potatoes, scrubbed, skin on
6 scallions, sliced
2 tsp. olive oil
3/4 c. buttermilk
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 c. gorgonzola cheese (I used my current obsession, gorgonzola dolce)
Salt & pepper, to taste

In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes with water and cook, covered, over medium heat until a knifepoint can be inserted easily into potatoes (approximately 30 minutes). Drain.

Meanwhile in a separate frying pan, sautee sliced scallions in olive oil until tender.

In a large measuring cup, warm buttermilk and butter approximately 45 seconds, until butter is melted. Add gorgonzola and allow to soften in the warm milk and butter mixture. With a rubber spatula, stir mixture until gorgonzola is well incorporated.

Mash potatoes in a medium bowl. Add scallions, then milk-butter-cheese mixture, little by little, stirring with a rubber spatula until desired consistency (it is possible that some of the milk-butter-cheese mixture will remain). Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Makes 4 side servings or 2 very indulgent single servings.