Tag Archive for: potato

Champ Rosti

/in , , , , /by

rosti

*Warning: this recipe may contain surprise cheese…

It was Pancake Day this week and with my usual organisational skills when I went to make pancakes for dinner on Tuesday, I had run out of eggs. And I don’t want to know how to make pancake batter without eggs thank you very much.

I thought what other flat foodstuff I could make for dinner and my mind went to rosti. Basically a pancake made almost entirely of potato, it’s quite the favourite of mine for that and its relative ease to make. Its Irish cousin boxty defeats me every time. Which might explain why I’m single on Valentine’s Day as apparently its your boxty making skills men are after. Who knew?

No such challenges with rosti (unlike me bothering to find the umlaut on my keyboard it would seem.) I decided to make one large rosti and to fodmap it, replace the onion with the greens of spring onion which gives it a champ flavour.

I also stealthily slipped some sliced mozzarella on top of the first layer of potato before adding a second layer and baking it all in the oven so I ended up with a gooey cheesy filling for a fantastic easy one pot brunch or dinner.

When I say serves 2, you of course know I ate the lot myself but in two sittings which totally counts.

Champ Rosti (serves 2)

  • 700g potatoes, grated
  • 3 spring onions (greens only if fodmap friendly)
  • 25g butter
  • 1 ball mozzarella, sliced
  • salt and pepper

The knack to a good rosti is potato starch to stick the strands of spud together and the best way I’ve found is to peel your potatoes (I used these Elfe ones I’ve been getting in Lidl which are fantastic) and boil them whole for exactly eight minutes.

Drain and allow to cool enough to be able to handle the potato and then grate on the coarsest side of the grater. You will have the correct amount of potato starch needed with the minimum of fuss. It should be sticky rather than gluey.

Put the grated potato in a bowl. Thinly slice the spring onions and add to the potatoes. Season it all well and mix the spring onions through well. I have in the past also added thinly shredded cabbage here too.

Melt half the butter in the base of an ovenproof pan or skillet until it starts to foam. I actually used some brown butter I had left from another batch of these cookies which is why my rosti is so toasty brown.

Press half the potato mix into the pan without packing it down too tightly. Put the sliced mozzarella on top of it all and then press the other half of the potato on top of that. Press it all down quite firmly with a fish slice or spatula. Dot the remaining butter on top it all and put the pan in a preheated 200℃ oven for 20 minutes.

I went to clean the bathroom while mine was cooking but you may prefer to kill time other ways. Either way you’ll have a gorgeous golden rosti with crisp edges and a delicious cheesy centre and the only other effort being whether to top it with an egg or not. Any spare lemon and sugar from thwarted pancake making is not recommended though…

 

 

Ecuadorian Potato Patties

/in , , , , /by

llapingachos

I am so invested in my Irish obsessiveness about potatoes that I always forget they are in fact South American in origin and am surprised when I see them in recipes from those regions. An Ecudorian cafe has opened near me and when I Googled what llapingachos were, secretly hoping it involved llama, it turned out to be potato cakes filled with cheese. I’m sure you understand nothing about those words disappointed me despite the lack of weird shaped animal.

Potatoes have become even more important to me since going low fodmap because basically they are my fall back option now when eating out. There are always chips on a menu and for some reason other potato dishes rarely contain onion or garlic. I will never go hungry when there’s a spud around but I like to add to my repetoire of potato recipes where I can.

The original version I found of these sounded lovely but distinctly heavy on the onions. They also come in a hominy corn version I reworked for the Brixton Blog and since I was making a batch of the accompanying peanut sauce, I thought I’d tweak them to be onion free.

I know some fodmappers won’t be able to do the mozzarella inside them due to the higher lactose levels in softer cheeses. You could try using parmesan which is very low lactose or making a lactose free bechamel sauce which you chill and use to fill them instead like potatoey croquetas. Or you could go carnivorous and use leftover meat from a roast or a bit of bacon in the centre instead? I’d say the world is your oyster, but that would be awful here…

Instead of onion, I’ve added lots of green scallion (only the white bit is fodmap unfriendly), fresh parsley and a bit of fresh coriander for flavour. Make sure to use nice starchy baking potatoes and you’ll get a great shape on the patties. I froze some and they cooked well straight from the freezer for a quick brunch that combined champ, potato bread and Ecuador in one.

Ecudorian potato patties with peanut sauce (serves 4)

For the patties:

  • 4 baking potatoes
  • 2 scallions, chopped (green part only if fodmapping)
  • medium bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • medium bunch fresh coriander, chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 125g mozzarella, grated
  • 2 -4 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the peanut sauce:

  • 4 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
  • 250ml milk (non dairy or lactose free is fine)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground achiote (see below)
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce (use tamari if wheat free)
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • salt and pepper
  • fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 red chilli, chopped or teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

These patties are super easy to make. I had the best results baking my potatoes to keep them drier and starchier and by baking, I mean shoving the baking spuds I bought in the microwave whole two at a time for 12 minutes. If you have the oven for something else, then use that method.

Allow the potatoes to cool down enough to handle them and split them in half and scoop the middles out into a bowl. Add the scallions and fresh herbs and season and mix in well.

Wet your hands slightly and scoop out a handful of the potaro mix into a ball, flattening it slightly onto a plate or lined baking tray. Using your thumbs, push outwards from the centre to make a hollow. Fill with grated mozzarella and then cover the cheese up again with potato so it’s completely hidden. You may need a little pinch of extra potato from the bowl.

Repeat until you have between 10 and 12 patties. Any cheese that doesn’t fit works incredibly well straight into your mouth as you put the patties into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. They’ll be fine in there for up to 24 hours so make ahead if you like.

When you are ready to eat them, heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium high heat and fry the patties for about 3 minutes each side. They should get a nice crisp crust without burning and the cheese is melted. I did about 4 at a time and kept the first batches warm in a low oven.

As the patties fry, make the peanut sauce by mixing the peanut butter with the milk over a low heat. I used the Sainsbury’s Basics peanut butter I had which is slightly sweetened and it was fine so don’t worry about fancy stuff if you don’t have it.

Add the spices once the peanut butter and milk combines. Achiote is a seed used in South American cooking (and known as annatto in the Caribbean). It adds a warm yellow colour and a slightly spicy flavour not unlike nutmeg. It’s not fodmap tested and if you don’t want to use it or can’t get it, substitute it with 1/2 teaspoon more of paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Add the juice of the lime and the soy sauce and then take the peanut sauce off the heat and stir through the fresh coriander and chilli if using.

Serve the patties as hot as possible with the peanut sauce on the side and some fried eggs on top. A little tomato salsa or avocado if you can eat them wouldn’t go amiss either. A dish like this reminds me why brunch is a brilliant thing.

 

 

 

Cream of Potato Soup

/in , , , , , /by

potato soupFor some reason despite more or less worshipping at the shrine of the spud, I have never made a potato soup without adding either leeks or kale for caldo verde. In fact I’d never heard of cream of potato soup until I moved to England and saw packets of the Erin stuff in Irish sections of the supermarket and discovered it was thought of here as quintessentially Irish.

So when I checked out Ocado’s Irish shop for an event with them and Bord Bia for St Patrick’s Day, I was amused to see that they don’t stock this but lots of things I really do think of as Irish. I decided to make my own cream of potato soup though to be sure and top it with soda bread croutons, fresh dill and smoked salmon to make sure no one confused it with the packet stuff.

Cream of Potato Soup with Soda Bread Croutons (serves 4 to start)

For the soup:

  • 1 large onion
  • 25g butter
  • 500g potatoes
  • 650ml vegetable or chicken stock
  • 100ml buttermilk
  • salt and pepper

For the soda bread:

  • 225g plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 250ml buttermilk

To serve:

This is a very simple dish with a surprising amount of flavour from very few ingredients. I know I’ve described it as cream of potato but I forgot to buy any so I used the leftover buttermilk instead and the slight tang works brilliantly, so if you use cream, don’t skimp on a squirt of lemon juice too.

Finely slice the onion into half moons and allow it to soften into a sticky caramel tangle in butter over a low heat for about 30 minutes. Or use a batch of my slow cooker caramelised onions from the fridge where they last up to a month.

Peel the potatoes and cut into inch chunks. Add to the pan of onions and pour the stock over it all, seasoning well. Simmer on a low heat until the potatoes are collapsing around the edges for about 25 minutes. Use a handblender to blitz it all into a smooth soup.

It will thick and almost gluey at this stage but don’t panic. Add the buttermilk and blitz again and the texture will lift into a sleek soup with an almost foam like texture to the surface.

While the soup has been cooking, you’ll have been making the soda bread. I do buy mine for a emergency stash in the freezer, but having finally found a source of decent buttermilk, it seemed a shame not to make my own farls here.

Heat a dry heavy bottomed frying pan on the stove. Put the flour in a large bowl and add the sugar, salt and bicarb. Gradually add the buttermilk, bringing the dough together to a lump that shouldn’t be sticky. You may not need all the buttermilk. The acid in it activates the bicarbonate of soda and allows the bread to rise, so if you only milk, don’t forget to sour it with a splash of lemon or vinegar.

Flour the worktop and place the dough on it, pressing it into a circle with your hands until it is about an inch thick. Cut into four pieces or farls and cook two at a time in the dry frying pan giving them about 7 minutes on each side. Flip them over if they start to burn. Repeat with the remaining farls.

To make the croutons, split the farls in half and cut into small cubes. Add some oil or bacon fat to the frying pan and add the cubes to it and fry until the croutons are crisp and golden. Drain on some kitchen roll.

Serve the soup in shallow bowls scattered with the hot croutons, thinly sliced smoked salmon and chopped fresh dill. It probably doesn’t reheat well due to the buttermilk, but as there were only clean bowls from my guests, I’m not sure!

Brixton Boxty

/in , , , , , /by

boxty 2I have to admit that boxty wasn’t something I ate as a child. Popular in Monaghan and Leitrim, it’s a type of potato pancake made from grated potato, but it was so alien to me as kid, I basically thought it was made up until I was older. I first saw it as a real thing in my beloved potato bible The Humble Spud and I’ve been meaning to make it for years, but I disappeared down the tangent of rosti instead and forgot to back up until recently.

Half of you are probably lost by now. Isn’t a potato pancake just a potato pancake I hear you cry? Well, no, rosti are made with semi cooked grated potato with a high starch content, mixed with onion and fried on each side in butter and is eaten as a savoury side dish. Boxty uses raw grated potato before being fried and can be sweet or savoury. Potato farls are made with mashed potato before being cooked on a griddle and then often fried until golden. And I’ve never yet made a latke, but I’ll bring you breaking news about them when I do…

Some recipes for boxty use mashed potato in with the grated spuds but I thought I’d some pureed fresh corn instead since I have tonnes left over from a recent Brixton Bugle recipe. Combining corn and potato gives a autumnal feel and a taste of Brixton which I thought I’d enhance by adding some chopped Scotch Bonnets, fresh coriander and lime. I then served it with some grilled tomatoes for a really good brunch. Read more

Stamppot

/in , , /by

Stamppot I’m going to say something deeply unfashionable in foodie circles: I like Dutch cuisine. I like hearty soups and stews and mountains of cabbage anyway. I’m very Northern European in my tastes and I like small deep fried things, thus I enjoyed the hell out of the food when I visited Holland.

Dutch food gets a bad rap and I’m sure a lot of that comes from the fact tastes have changed and this kind of solid, simply flavoured food doesn’t translate well when cooked in bulk or done cheaply like in ready meals. But frankly, I think it’s pretty outrageous of the Irish or British to criticise other countries’ food as being bland or boring. It misses the point, creates a kind of food snobbery and ignores the seismic effect World War II had on Northern European food and the attempts to regroup from that. Read more