Smashed Baked Potatoes

I've seen this recipe a few time and decided to give it a go.
Yum! Just yum! I'll be making these again.
I might substitute the oil with butter.
I cooked the potatoes well in advance and cooked them at the same time as a de-boned roast chicken.













Smashed Potatoes
INGREDIENTS
4-6 Potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed (or more if you want them really garlicky)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


PREPARATION

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
• In a large pot of boiling water, cook potatoes until tender, about 15-20 minutes; drain well.
• Place potatoes onto the prepared baking sheet. Using a potato masher or fork, carefully smash the potatoes until flattened but still in one piece. Top with olive oil, garlic and thyme.
• Place into oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.
• Serve immediately.

Fish Pie with Slow Cooker Mashed Potato

I've had this mashed potato recipe pinned on 'Pintrest' for a while and was interested to give it a try.
It worked really well. I'm not sure it is a better option to boiling the potatoes but worth having as an option. The recipe said to leave the skins on. I decided not to as the mashed potato was topping a fish pie.
I used a Manuka smoke infused salt from Prenzel in the potato to bring a smokey flavour into the dish. I really like fish pie using smoked fish but today had fresh fish to use.
I let the potato cool a bit and the consistency changed a lot. I'd keep it hot int he future to keep the creamy consistency.

The fish pie recipe is from 'Food Gawker'...an Irish Fish Pie. Maybe because it had leeks in it? I added capscuim to increase the vege quota in the dish.

The final product was good. It took a while but I did it bit by bit over several hours while doing other things.

Mashed Potatoes in a Crock Pot 

• 1kg potatoes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks
• 1/2 tablespoon salt, plus
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup milk, warmed

1. Place the potatoes, water, and butter into a slow cooker.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours.
4. Do not remove the excess water from slow cooker. This adds to the creamy texture.
5. Mash potatoes with a masher or electric beater, adding the desired amount of warm milk to achieve a creamy consistency.
6. Keep warm on low until serving.
7. Potatoes keep consistency for a couple of hours after mashing. Just keep the lid on the slow cooker and serve directly from there.

Fish Pie

Ingredients: 

750 gr white sea fish fillets 
2 large leeks ,chopped
2 strips orange rind 
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
6 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
6 parsley stalks
2 1/2 cups milk + extra 2 tbsp milk 
30 gr butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp flour

Use potato recipe above or...

1 kg potatoes
pepper, salt to taste
1 tsp ground sweet paprika 

Place fish fillets in a pan, add 1/ 2 of one leek, orange rind, nutmeg, parsley,bay leaves, peppercorns. 

Pour in milk and simmer over a low heat for about 15 minutes.  

Carefully remove fish fillets, strain liquid and reserve for a sauce. 

Melt butter in a pan, add garlic and rest of leeks. Cook over a low heat for about 7 minutes . 

Remove half of cooked leek mixture and reserve. 

Sprinkle flour over remaining mixture in the pan and blend unit smooth. 

Add reserved poach milk in a pan and stir until mixture comes to boil and thickens. Cut fish into chunky pieces and fold gently through the sauce. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Use potato recipe above or...

Add reserved leek mixture and 2 tbsp milk  to mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Pour fish sauce into shallow casserole  dish. Top with potato leek mixture. Sprinkle with paprika. 

Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes or until potato topping is golden brown.
Enjoy!

Frittata

Isabella (4 years) for some reason is really keen to watch cooking programmes on TV with me. Masterchef has been a regular afternoon event for us to enjoy together, each selecting the chef we want to win that day. Last night she was allowed to stay up to watch Annabel Langbein with me. She has a current obsession with breaking eggs for cooking so when she heard the Frittata that was being cooked had 8 eggs she decided we should make it the next day.

Our version of the one we saw last night is as follows...








Frittata
1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic and a cup of chopped mushrooms fried in olive oil until soft.

8 eggs whisked
Add 1/2 a cup of parsley and thyme.
Add onion mixture
Add 6 large sliced potatoes (cooked until almost soft)
Season with smoked garlic salt
Sprinkle with edam cheese

Cook initially on stove until almost set, then move to oven to fan grill the cheese until brown.

We ate this at room temperature but I suspect it will be great cold.
We will make this agin with whatever vegetables we have and any left over veges....and maybe bacon.

Aloo Mutter - Potato and Pea Curry

I have been craving a big Indian feast and managed to find the time this weekend. I used to do big Indian meals a lot more often, but its been a while. I came across this dish while I was hunting for a new vegetable dish and gave it a go. It is pretty mild.

The only change I would make would be to cook for longer. The 15 minutes didn't allow enough time to cook the potato through.

I used a bit more fresh ginger than the recipe called for and used tinned tomatoes rather than peeling and de-seeding them.
I served it with roti, rice, poppadoms and a chicken curry. A very filling and satisfying meal.

Aloo mutter - potato & pea curry

SERVES: 4

If you want more protein, it’s also good with cubes of paneer cheese. I like to serve it with roti or chapatti bread.

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3cm piece ginger, peeled, grated
600g floury potatoes (I used Red Rascal), peeled, cut into 2cm cubes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (or more if you prefer it hotter)
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, finely chopped
2 cups vegetable stock (or water)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup frozen peas

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat then add the onions. Cook until soft then add the garlic ginger and potatoes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric and chilli flakes then cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook gently for a few minutes before adding the stock or water and salt. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 15–20 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender. Stir in the peas and cook for a few more minutes until cooked through. Serve with Indian bread.

Upside Down Potato and Onion Tart

A day at home with a sick child has given me the opportunity to try a couple of new recipes. With her happily snuggled up in front of an old Disney version of sleeping beauty I had time to have a bit of a play in the kitchen. The less exciting  slow cooker chicken and vegetable soup I prepared last night can wait for another night!

I found this recipe on Pintrest, it come from a site called Hizzonders Deli.
After successfully making Feijoa Tarte Tartin recently, the concept really appeals - and the picture looked great.
Of course I was not able to resist a few changes to the recipe, some based on taste preferences and some to utilise the ingredients I had in the house.

I prepared the dish earlier in the day by cooking the onions, then putting the potato mixture on top.
My plan was to cook it with the Turkey Mince Terrine I was also making for dinner.
I increased the recipe and used a larger pan, this might be why it didn't turn out of the pan aas well as the picture on the website? It tasted great anyway.


Upside Down Potato and Onion Tart

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

12 sprigs thyme, strip the leaves from the stems (ooops, I left stems on)

1 large onion, sliced somewhat thickly ( a tad more than 1/4 inch thick) (I used 3, a mixture of red and brown onions for colour contrast)


(I added 5 small cloves of garlic thickly sliced and arranged between onion slices)

1 lb. waxy red potatoes, washed and very thinly sliced
 
2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup grated gruyère (I used a mixture of edam , tasty cheddar and camembert grated)

1/2 cup crumbled feta

1 cup grated mozzarella

sea salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°. Melt the butter in a 9-10 inch ovenproof frying pan (cast iron is great) over medium heat. Add the thyme and onion and cook for 5 minutes. Place the potato, oil, cheeses, salt and pepper in a bowl and toss to combine.

Top the onion with the potato mixture and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Turn upside down to serve.

Potato Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

This recipe is one we have made several times in our family. While it takes a bit of time, it really is easy and very yummy. My gnocchi is always really rustic looking - no perfect little discs in sight!

I never use pre-made pasta sauce because it really is pretty easy to make your own and home made is always so much better. My recipe for a tomato pasta sauce has no precise measurements but you can guarantee it will always have tomato, onion and loads of garlic.


Potato Gnocchi
500g of cooked floury potatoes (ideally baked with skins on to keep them really dry, but peeled and boiled is fine too)
1 egg yolk
1 cup of flour
3 tablespoons of parmesan (I use a bit more)

Mash and measure 2 cups of potato into a large bowl. Mix in yolk, parmesan, 1/4 tsp of salt and some black pepper. Slowly add flour until you have a slightly sticky dough.

Knead for 5 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until the dough is smooth.

Divide the dough into 6 portions and roll each portion on a lightly floured surface to form a thin sausage shape about 2cm thick.

Cut rolls into 2.5 cm thick shapes. Press into an oval in palm of hand against a floured fork.
As you make them place on a lightly floured baking tray and cover with a tea towel until ready to use.

Cook gnocchi in batches in a large pan of salted boiling water for about 2 minutes. Gnocchi will float to the surface when cooked. Drain well before serving.

Tomato Sauce

2-5 cloves of garlic crushed or finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

1 stick of celery finely diced

1 anchovy fillet

olive oil

2 tins of crushed tomatoes

2 tbs tomato paste

1 tsp of sugar

chopped fresh herbs - basil, thyme, oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Slowly sweat the garlic, onion, celery and anchovy in oil until soft. Add tomatoes, paste and sugar and salt and pepper. You may want to blend it at this stage or leave it chunky.  Add fresh chopped herbs just before serving.

Crispy Sliced Potato Bake

Last night I came across this recipe on a website called Prevention Rd which has some great recipes that are 'healthy options'. There was this potato recipe that looked good. I just LOVE potato dishes...a wee bit too much.

One of my favourite side dishes is Duaphinoise potatoes. I even came across a more healthy version made with stock instead of cream. Patrick (18 years) makes a potato dish and I vaguely remember my mother making that I know as 'hassle-back' potatoes which is a real favourite in our home.


I thought I'd give it a try because it looked so easy. It was!
My mandolin has been a really good time saver in the kitchen.
I initially took out a few to allow space between for the oil/butter mixture to seep in, but as they cooked the shrunk away so I would pack a bit closer next time.

Everyone really loved it! I think I might have cooked it too long and I basted it during cooking and it ended up quite greasy. I'd probably cut back a bit on the basting.

Two dishes - two types of potato

Crispy Potato Roast 

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 lbs russet potatoes
4 shallots, thickly sliced lengthwise (I used garlic slices)
1 tsp coarse sea salt
8 sprigs thyme

Directions:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C In a small bowl, combine butter and oil. Brush bottom of a round 9-inch baking dish with some butter mixture. With a mandoline or food processor, slice potatoes very thinly crosswise.

Arrange potato slices vertically in dish. Wedge shallots throughout. Sprinkle with salt and brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add thyme and bake until potatoes are cooked through with a crisp top, about 35 minutes more. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Information (per serving): 175 calories; 6.1 g. fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 288 mg. sodium; 31.1 g. carbohydrate; 3.6 g. fiber; 4.8 g. protein

Result: Tender and crispy potato slices seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme, and a small amount of olive oil and butter. Though this bakes for quite some time, it was very simple to make and requires very few ingredients. While a mandoline is helpful, this can certainly be done with a great knife and some patience 

Middle Eastern Orange Cake - recipe

I had a friend coming for lunch who was gluten intolerant. After a previous disastrous lunch where I tried to make gluten free bread, I decided to take a different approach today.

Today's lunch was a rotisserie chicken (not based in soy sauce because even that has gluten in it!), salads and a baked layered potato dish (I used sliced fennel in the layers which was nice but not a strong flavour). 

We tried something new with the chicken and soaked it in brine (salty water), lemon on herbs for a day, then dried it out in the fridge overnight. I then just based with olive oil and garlic salt when it was cooking. It turned out beautifully. It looks burned in the picture but it was more smokey charred. It's a really good and easy way to cook it.

This was followed by a Middle Eastern Orange cake that was made using ground almond meal rather than flour. The really interesting part of the cake was that the recipe starts with 2 whole oranges simmered for 2 hours in water. This is not something I had come across before. They came out really soft, but not mushy...almost like cutting through butter.

The cake gets added to the 'make again' list. It was a cross between a cake and a pudding and despite having almond meal instead of flour, still had a reasonably light consistency. It looked quite dry before I cut into it but was wonderfully moist.

I served it with greek yoghurt made in the yoghurt maker and peeled orange segments.

Middle Eastern Orange Cake

Ingredients

Serves: 10

• 5 large oranges
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 2¼ cups ground almonds
• 1¼ cups caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup plain low-fat yoghurt

Preparation method

Prep: 30 minutes | Cook: 3 hours

1.

Wash 2 of the oranges and place in a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 2 hours. Allow the oranges to cool, then cut open, remove the pips and roughly chop the flesh.

2.

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Grease and flour a 22-cm springform tin. Process the cooked oranges, eggs, ground almonds, sugar and baking powder in a food processor.

3.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 1 hour or until the centre is firm (note that this is a very moist cake). Cool in the tin before gently turning out.

4.

Peel the remaining oranges with a small paring knife. Separate the orange segments from the membranes. Serve the cake with the fresh orange segments and some yoghurt on the side.

Chicken Potato Top Pie - Recipe

I've been making this pie (or versions of it) for years. I didn't even consider posting it until a friend that visited this afternoon said 'I'd make that', so here it is.

The original recipe had a pastry topping. I started putting potato on top as a 'lower fat' option, but suspect that the mashed potato I make for it now is probably as bad as pastry!

The pictured pie has leeks and mushrooms in it but I also make it with celery and broccoli. I've made it with corn, carrots..pretty much whatever is in the fridge. My aim is usually to include as much vegetable as possible, so I can get away with not doing too much to go with it.

I never make this quite the same and trying to get quantities for someone else to make was a bit of a challenge. I like quite chunky bits of chicken and lots of sauce in it.

I pretty much always do a huge recipe and freeze half for a night when I want a reasonable meal but am really busy.

(If you plan to freeze it don't use mushrooms as they are odd when frozen and reheated)

(If you are planning on freezing half, double most of the measurements below)

This is also the meal I make to take to people who have just had babies, are sick or are having a hard time because it is so easy to either reheat or freeze.

Chicken and Potato Top Pie

Potatoes - peeled and chopped into large chunks

butter

garlic salt

grated tasty cheese

milk

Chicken (thighs are best because they don't dry out) - about 750g

oil - 1 tbs

60gm butter

2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)

2 stalks of celery (and/or 2 leeks, maybe mushrooms...)

1 onion chopped

1/4 cup flour (you may need to stir in a bit more if it is too runny)

1-2 cups chicken stock (homemade is best!)

1 cup milk

1 tsp finely chopped rosemary (this is really important)

1 tsp finely chopped parsley

Potato Top

Peel potatoes and start cooking in salted water then going on with the pie filling steps below.

When cooked, drain water and mash with butter, garlic salt, cheese and a little milk to get it to a creamy consistency.

Pie Filling

Brown chicken in oil, then take out of pan and set aside.

Melt butter in frying pan and cook vegetables till soft.

Stir in flour and cook for a few minutes.

Remove from the heat and slowly stir in stock and milk. Bring back to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Stir in chicken and herbs. Season if necessary - this will depend on how salty your stock was).

Spoon pie filling into a deep dish. This recipe bubbles up and over the top of the dish if the potato topping is too near the top...no matter how many times I make this dish I get caught out with an oven that needs cleaning afterwards.

Topping

Spoon the potato over the top being careful not to push it down into the pie mixture.

Grate cheese over the top.

Bake at about 200 C for abut 30 minutes - until bubbling and the topping started to go golden.

If you are freezing it, you don't need to bake until you are ready to use it.

If baking from frozen allow about 40-50 minutes.

Lemon Chicken with Potatoes & Rosemary

I'm always on the look out for a really tasty meal that can have a significant amount of the preparation completed the night before. I'm often home quite late and with a little person in the house we eat early so her night time routine can be completed in time to get her to bed by 7pm.

I often cook the potato first (the day before in this case), then cook the chicken 30 minutes before it is required.

This recipe is really easy and really nice. It can easily be increased or decreased to suit the number you are cooking for.

The lemon is fantastic on the chicken and then makes the potatoes under it crispy and sticky and lemony.

When I made it tonight (or prepared last night to be exact) I used parsnip as well with the potatoes and considered using yams too.

Like many of the recipes I am posting, this is another one that I make over and over, having the recipe at hand in a digital format will be great. This one really doesn't need a recipe though, I often just make something along these lines and it is always successful.

This is an Annabel Langbein recipe from her book The Best Of Annabel Langbein, Great food for busy lives.

Baked Lemon Chicken with Potatoes and Rosemary

Small potatoes, scrubbed and halved (enough to feed number of people you are cooking for)

1 large red onion, cut in wedges

1 red pepper, seeded and cut into small chunks (I often use more)

2 tbsp oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed (I use more and just chop them roughly)

1 tsp chopped rosemary leaves

salt and pepper

chicken quarters/drum sticks...with bone in (enough to feed number of people you are cooking for)

juice of 2 lemons, (I use the zest too)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

Choose a baking dish that will fit the chicken in a single layer.

Place potatoes, onions and peppers in dish with oil, garlic and rosemary. Mix to combine evenly. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 30 minutes.

Place chicken skin side up on top of vegetables, season with more salt.

Sprinkle zest over chicken and squeeze juice of lemon over chicken.

Bake a further 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

A lower fat option for Duaphinoise Potatoes

I have a real soft spot for the thin layers of potato cooked with butter and cream in Duaphinoise potatoes. As much as I try not to, this dish comes out for large family meals because it is so easy and can be cooked in advance.

While watching some cooking programme (no idea which one) recently the chef made a similar dish with thinly sliced potato, onion and chicken stock. It was cooked covered for about 40 minutes.

Having recently invested in a mandolin(e?) vegetable slicer from The House of Knives on Mt Eden Road (Auckland), it seemed like a good idea to try this one while I already had the oven on.

We had it tonight...not quite as good as the cream version...but a lot better for us.