Hot Potato

Potatoes, the Incas gift to humanity worth more than all the gold Christopher Columbus never found, have been humanity's saving grace (think: Irish famine) and have become humanity's go-to comfort food. They're coming out of the ground now in copious quantities, in heirloom colors-- purple, red, yellow, and white, Yukon Gold being a hybrid-- and in various shapes and sizes from the delightful "babies" you can roast and munch to the large bakers, usually known as Russets or Idahos. Years ago one Maine farmer devoted himself to research and grew about 16 different kinds. There's a starch and waxiness difference among them, meaning some potatoes are best boiled, others mashed, some roasted or baked, some fried. Here are a few easy, tasty ways to welcome soul warming hot potatoes back to the table. Dress them up, wolf them down.     

Baby Potatoes

These minis are usually sold in bags but you can pick market bins and pull them out too. Round or oval, they average an inch in size.  I like to use varied colors for the eye catching effect. 
   These are the easiest way to get potatoes on the table and maybe the most fun way to eat them.  All you have to do is spread them on a baking sheet, then sprinkle on olive oil and salt (just enough to get the heat into the potatoes not to drown them). For variety you can toss in a few peeled garlic cloves and/or a pinch of dried rosemary for flavor. Roast/bake them in a preheated 425º oven 12-15 minutes until the skin is very crisp and the potato very soft.  (Test with a toothpick or small paring knife.)  Taste and adjust salt. 
   Now you and kids can just munch on these as they are, put them on the dinner plate with steak instead of frites, garnish a frittata or omelet, or you can fancy them up for a party by putting out a display of dips: zhoug, pesto, onion, tsatsiki, red pepper, aioli. 
 
Green bean and mashed potato cake

This is an Italian recipe. It looks elegant but it's very easy, goes with everything and is perfect for children. I have posted it before but this one's a keeper to use over and again. 

Serves 4 –6
1¼ lbs potatoes, ideally 3 the same size
1 lb green beans

1 tsp ground thyme
100g parmesan cheese, grated
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and black pepper
¼ tsp ground nutmeg  

1 tbsp olive oil
Fine breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350º. Scrub, but don’t peel, the potatoes. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil,  reduce heat to simmer and cook until tender. Drain and cool. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Add the beans and thyme and cook about 8-10 minutes or until the beans are starting to feel soft but remain firm. Drain well and chop into small, rough pieces. You can use a scissors as well as a knife.

Once the potatoes are cool, peel and mash them. Mix the mash with the cooked beans, cheese, eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Oil the cake tin, using more olive oil if you need to, then dust it with fine breadcrumbs. Scrape the mixture in, level out the top, sprinkle with more breadcrumbs and zigzag the top with a drizzle of olive oil. Bake 50-60 minutes, until the cake is slightly puffed up and golden on top.

 Let it cool 20 minutes before running a blade around the edge and then turning it out on to a plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Melt in your mouth potatoes 

This recipe alone has caused at least two other people to buy the book it was in, a voyage through the kitchens of the Caucuses and Stans. The butter braised potatoes are immensely flavorful, comforting and simple to make. The original recipe was actually called "melting potatoes." 
 

serves 4

3 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 med onions, sliced into thin rings

1 1/4 lbs small(1-1 1/4" wide) waxy potatoes*, cut into 1/2" thick disks

3 garlic cloves, sliced into very thin strips

salt to your taste

1 tsp freshly ground/cracked black pepper

1/4 c chopped dill fronds

 *Yukon golds are waxy potatoes.

Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over low heat. Add onions and cook slowly until they are soft and golden, maybe 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and garlic. Carefully blend them into the onions so they glisten from the buttery oil. Season with salt and cover tightly (a lid or tin foil). Reduce heat to lowest simmer and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks.  Add the black pepper and dill and serve immediately. 

   Potato tart

 not my photo

This pretty presentation, sometimes known as potatoes Anna, is in the book How to Fix a Leek ...because I couldn't find a better way to show off what potatoes can do. It works best with boiling potatoes that have at least medium starch, like Kennebec, Pontiac red, Green Mountain.
 serves 4

 4 med/lg round red skin potatoes, peeled
 5 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp paprika 
1/4 tsp dried rosemary leaves 
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful fresh chives, finely chopped

Slice potatoes into very thin disks. In a 7 1/2" (small) frying pan, melt 1 1/2 tbsp butter and paprika over medium heat. Start layering potatoes around the bottom, overlapping each one slightly, and keep going to make concentric circles that overlap slightly too. Before you start another layer, season the one you've just finished with salt, pepper, rosemary and pinches of butter (aka butter bits). On the final layer spread small bits of butter. 
   Cover the potatoes entirely with a heavy weight. A pot full of water works just fine.  Cook over med/low (don't burn anything) heat, 10 minutes. And while they cook heat up the broiler.  Take the weight off the potatoes and put the uncovered pan in the broiler  5-7 minutes until the top's light brown. Immediately invert onto a plate to serve. Sprinkle the chopped chives on top.  (It looks special if you put a wreath of herbs like dill and flat leaf parsley around it.)         

Double baked potatoes with cauliflower 
Here's how to gussy up the basic baked potato. Remember a baking potato is the large ovoid one, usually the Russet or Idaho. 
   serves 4      

4 large baking potatoes

1 teaspoon olive oil

 Kosher salt

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets

3 cups milk

2 bay leaves

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

12 cup grated cheddar      

     

Preheat oven to 450º.

Scrub potatoes under running water; dry them, and rub the skin of each with the oil and a little salt. Pierce the skin of each in three or four places with the tines of a fork.

Place the potatoes in the oven, and roast for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the potatoes, until they offer no resistance when a knife is inserted in their centers.

While the potatoes are baking, put the cauliflower into a saucepan set over medium-high heat, and add the milk and bay leaves. Heat until almost boiling, then reduce flame to low, and simmer until tender, approximately 20 minutes.

When the potatoes are done, remove them from the oven, slice them open down the middle and use a spoon to scrape out their flesh into a bowl. Add the butter, the cauliflower, a healthy splash of the milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mash to combine. Spoon the mixture back into the empty jackets, place on a baking sheet and shower with cheese. Return to the oven for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden.
  
Double baked potatoes with chicken
  This makes potatoes a meal in themselves. Just add salad.  
serves 6

 
6 baking potatoes
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 lg chicken breasts, boiled, skinned, boned and minced (you can use 6 thighs if you prefer darker meat)
6 oz fresh button mushrooms, washed and dry, chopped
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley leaves, minced
1 c half'n'half or low fat yogurt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp celery seed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
1/2 tsp dried rosemary leaves

2 tbsp pimiento, diced
1 c fresh or frozen green peas
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into six pieces
1 c low fat plain yogurt

Bake the potatoes until they are soft enough to eat. Cool. Butter an 8 or 9" square baking dish. Slice a thin piece off one narrow end of each potato so they stand upright and place them in the buttered baking pan. Now cut 1 1/2" off the top of each potato and carefully scoop out the insides, leaving a shell 1/2" thick.
Heat oven to 450º.

Put the potato insides into a large mixing bowl. Add the chicken, mushrooms, parsley, nutmeg, celery seed, rosemary, pimiento, salt and pepper. Stir to blend adding the half'n'half as you go to make a smooth, creamy paste. Fill and pack each standing potato with this mixture. Put a small pat of butter on top of each one. Bake at 450º 15-20 minutes.
While they bake, steam the peas in salted water until just tender. Drain.

To serve: spoon some yogurt over each potato, then some peas and perhaps a little more chopped parsley.
                            
Darjeeling Aloo Dum  

This recipe from my Himalayan collection makes a beloved snack, breakfast, side dish. Everybody has their own recipe so mine is a compendium.

Serves 4-6

2 lb boiling potatoes (waxy ones like Yukon gold don’t work well)

5 lg garlic cloves, smashed and minced

2” fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin seed

1/4 tsp yellow mustard seed

¼ tsp ground turmeric

1 sm green chili, diced

optional (if you like hot potatoes!)1/2 tsp chili powder

½ cup chopped tomatoes

salt to your taste

fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Scrub the potatoes and put them in a large pot. Cover with water, add a pinch of salt, bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to medium, partly cover the pot and gently boil until the potatoes are tender but not mushy. This may take 20-25 minutes depending on size of potatoes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Drain well. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.

Try to mash the garlic and ginger together into a paste.  (You can now buy a tube of this paste at Trader Joe’s.)

In a large sauté pan or skillet, heat the oil over medium flame. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and fry 30-60 seconds until they begin to “jump.” Stir in the garlic/ginger paste. Sauté 30 seconds until it’s aromatic. Stir in the tomatoes, then the turmeric, chili and salt. Once this mix is boiling, add the potatoes and 2 tbsp water. Carefully stir to coat the potatoes with the sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and cook 3-5 minutes until everything is thoroughly heated.  Garnish with chopped cilantro to serve.

 NOTE: I have more recipes including mashed potato/salami cakes, carrot potato cake and potato curry. I'm saving them for midwinter to brighten the blahs.