Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Potato Salad With Ingredient X


Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe:
Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

Comfort food for sure but thank goodness it can be lightened up, if only by a little.
A full blown mayonnaise dressing can be an overkill with this already carbohydrate loaded salad. So to lighten it up and convince myself that it is not going to fatten me too much, I reduce the mayonnaise and replace it with some greek yogurt. 

It does make for a better tasting salad as it is less cloyingly rich. Now don't even think of using that bottle of low-fat mayonnaise nonsense. It doesn't even taste like mayonnaise! If you are going to blow your diet on a potato salad, please, at least use real mayonnaise. Your taste buds will thank you.

Dare I tell you why this potato salad is not just good but very good? Your opinion of me might dip thereafter but the difference in taste is so pronounced without ingredient x, that sharing with you how to make an equally good potato salad, by far out weighs an ego setback. Ready? Throw in a cube of chicken bouillon. That's right. For details as to when and how, you would have to read further on. Now, I am going to curl up into a ball and hide. 
POTATO SALAD WITH INGREDIENT X                               
Prep:
30 minutes
Cook:
30 minutes
Inactive:
-
Level:
Easy enough
Makes:
6 cups
Oven Temperature:
-
Can recipe be doubled?
Yes
Make ahead?
Taste best freshly made but it can be made in the morning to be consumed within that day.


Just the ingredients
1 lb (450g) waxy or all-purpose potato
2 - 3 eggs
1 chicken bouillon cube (small)
OR 
the equivalent of 3/4 - 1 teaspoon chicken granules
1 Tablespoon boiling water
~1/4 cup frozen green peas
~1/2 cup diced cooked peeled shrimps/prawns
4 - 5 rashers of bacon
1/4 cup finely diced onions
1 clove grated garlic
1/2 cup diced water chestnuts
OR
1 red apple
2 Tablespoons raisins/cranberries
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons greek yogurt 
OR 
3 Tablespoons light sour cream
1 - 2 teaspoons sugar or adjust to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
pinch of salt
Ingredients

1 lb (450g) waxy or all-purpose potato
A waxy potato keeps its shape after cooking. Example, Nadine. An all-purpose potato such as Yukon Gold would taste even better and it's my favourite (Desiree would be fine too). However, do not buy a starchy potato, that is, one that you would use for making mash potatoes such as Russet, Idaho or King Edward unless you prefer a potato salad that is more mash.

As a rough guide, potatoes with a smooth and thin skin are often waxy potatoes. Rougher, darker brown coloured potatoes are starchy potatoes. All-purpose potatoes look in between the two.

2 eggs

1 chicken bouillon cube (small)
OR 
the equivalent of 3/4 - 1 teaspoon chicken granules

1 Tablespoon boiling water

~1/4 cup frozen green peas

~1/2 cup diced cooked peeled shrimps/prawns
I prefer to buy them fresh, cook them quickly in their shells in boiling salted water, peel and then dice.

4 rashers of bacon

1/4 cup finely diced onions

1 clove grated garlic

1/2 cup diced water chestnuts
I prefer buying them fresh as the sweetness and crunch of these are not the same as those from a can. Either omit or use the ones from the can if you like those. Drain well and dice.
OR
1 red apple
Peel, core and dice small.

1 - 2 Tablespoons raisins/cranberries
Little pops of sweetness helps offset the creamy richness of the potatoes and mayonnaise.

1/4 cup mayonnaise
Full fat, no low-fat nonsense here. It doesn't taste the same!

3 Tablespoons greek yogurt OR light sour cream
Using all mayonnaise will make the salad too cloyingly rich. I lighten it up with greek yogurt (greek because it has a thicker consistency and won't make the finished dressing too runny) or a light sour cream- I am permitting light, in fact, insist it has to be light to offset the full fat mayonnaise. Adjust the mayonnaise:yogurt/light sour cream ratio to suit your taste.

What to do with the remaining light sour cream? My Pasta Tossed In A Radish Sprouts Light Sour Cream Sauce is perfect and easy to execute.

1 - 2 teaspoons sugar or adjust to taste
Yogurt/light sour cream will help lighten up an all mayonnaise dressing but you would need some sugar to adjust for the tartness.

1/4 teaspoon pepper

pinch of salt

Method

Place washed but unpeeled potatoes in pot, fill with water to cover above 1" (2.5cm). Add the eggs in there as well. Always wash your eggs with soap and water just before using. Use a sheet of scrunched up kitchen paper towel to rub off all dirt. You do realise that all manner of chicken goo gets stuck on the shells right?

Cover pot, bring to boil over high heat. Remove cover and lower to a medium-high heat. Time 10 minutes from this point, remove eggs to cold water and when cooled, peel and dice them. Set aside.

Whilst potatoes are cooking, bring to boil 3/4 cup of water in a small pot. Remove 1 Tablespoon of the boiling water to dissolve the chicken bouillon. Set aside.

Salt the remaining pot of boiling water and cook the frozen green peas. Takes 1 - 2 minutes. Use a strainer to lift up the peas. Set aside.

If you are using fresh shrimps/prawns, now is the time to cook them. 

In the same pot of boiling water, add the prawns/shrimps. When they turn completely pink, remove with the strainer. Cool, peel and dice. Set aside.

Mix well, the mayonnaise, greek yogurt/light sour cream, sugar and pepper. Adjust to taste. Do not salt as the bacon and chicken bouillon is salty. Set aside.

Check on the potatoes. They are cooked when you can slide a skewer easily through. Drain. Potatoes are easier to peel whilst still warm. After peeling, dice them.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking or cooling, cut bacon into 1" (2.5cm) slices and in a large pan, fry the bacon until crisp (no need to add oil). Turn off the heat, remove from stove top but leave bacon with the drippings in the pan. 

Place the diced potatoes, diced onions and grated garlic directly into the pan where the fried bacon is sitting and mix quickly. Dressing the potatoes whilst they are still hot will ensure that the potatoes can soak up maximum flavour. And, if you had left the potatoes to cool for too long, the residual heat in the pan will reheat the potatoes a little which is a good thing.

Now, add the chicken bouillon liquid and mix. 

Fold in the salad dressing. 

Next goes in the green peas, raisins, prawns/shrimps and diced water chestnuts/apple. Fold in gently.

Lastly, fold in the diced eggs. Don't over mix or the egg yolks will start to collapse and turn the salad into mash.

Adjust seasoning to taste, using the pinch of salt only if necessary.

Chill immediately if not eating warm. 

Tips
  • Potato salad can go rancid pretty quickly, especially if you live in an area with high humidity. If I am not eating the salad straight away, I refrigerate my still warm salad immediately into the refrigerator. Do not cover it whilst it is still warm, condensation sets in and you don't want the water vapours to pool down into the salad. Cover only after it has completely cooled.
  • This potato salad taste best if eaten within 6 hours or at most, within the day.
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                                
It's apricot season and let me tell you how to get them nice and sweet for this delicious fresh mozzarella salad.





Wednesday, 4 May 2016

Egg And Gluten Free Potato Pancakes With Pesto Sour Cream


Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe:
Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

I am not into rosti, latkes or hash browns but some of my family members are. So when the mood strikes me, I get myself some good quality starchy potatoes and make my crisp-on-the-outside soft-on-the-inside grated potato pancakes.
As long as I keep it to a serving of 4, I am willingly to make them. A higher number and I recoil. It is too tediously boring standing over a hot stove frying them. However, it's the only potato pancake I will eat. Too often, those served outside are drenched in grease, worse still, the inside is raw or horror of horrors they were clearly from a frozen bag.

The type of potato you use is important and should you or should you not parboil the potatoes? I have done the testing. All you need to do is scroll down to 'Tips' and decide which option to take.

These gluten free pancakes use a little chickpea (garbanzo) and corn flour to hold the potatoes together. Using chickpea flour will give you the crispiest potato pancakes as compared to using all corn flour or all-purpose(plain) flour. What to do with the rest of the chickpea flour though? Here's an idea. 

Don't they look crispy? Crispy Gluten, Dairy And Egg Free Corn Fritters.
EGG & GLUTEN FREE POTATO PANCAKES WITH PESTO SOUR CREAM
Prep:
30 minutes
Cook:
30 minutes
Inactive:
-
Level:
Moderate
Serves:
4 as a light meal
Oven Temperature:
-
Can recipe be doubled?
Yes, but the frying is time consuming!
Make ahead?
No


Just the ingredients
For the pancakes
1.65lbs (750g) starchy potatoes such as the Russet
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
1/3 cup chickpea flour
1 Tablespoon corn flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons your choice of parsley/coriander/celery leaves
4 Tablespoons green onions
The toppings
6.76oz (200ml) light sour cream OR creme fraiche
3 Tablespoons pesto to taste
1 packet smoked salmon as much or as little as you prefer
1 packet arugula/rocket leaves as much or as little as you prefer 
3 Tablespoons your choice of dried raspberries/cranberries/dates



Ingredients

For the pancakes
1.65lbs (750g) starchy potatoes such as the Russet
Please scroll down to 'Tips' to find out why I prefer using starchy over waxy potatoes.

2 Tablespoons sesame seeds


1/3 cup chickpea flour

You could use all corn flour but they won't fry up as crispy. If you are not on a gluten free diet, you could use all-purpose/plain flour but they would be even less crispy.

1 Tablespoon corn flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 Tablespoons your choice of parsley/coriander/celery leaves

4 Tablespoons green onions

The toppings
6.76oz (200ml) light sour cream or creme fraiche

3 Tablespoons pesto or adjust to your taste

1 packet smoked salmon as much or as little as you prefer

1 packet arugula/rocket leaves as much or as little as you prefer 

3 Tablespoons your choice of dried raspberries/cranberries/dates
You need some small nugget of sweetness to offset the richness.

Method

Peel potatoes and grate them on the large hole side of a box grater. It means there will be a flatter and larger surface area for the potatoes to cook quickly and a better chance for the potatoes to crisp up. Drain over a colander.
In the meantime, heat up the frying pan that you will be using to fry the potatoes on high heat. When the pan is hot, toast the sesame seeds, stirring all the time until they are a light golden brown and some seeds would have started hopping in the pan. This would take less than 2 minutes. Sesame seeds burn easily so do not leave the stove. Remove and transfer to a plate. Left on the pan, it will burn.

Slice up the spring onions and parsley. 

Wash the arugula and drain. 

Mix the pesto into the light sour cream. Add more/less pesto to your taste. Refrigerate.

In a mixing bowl, mix the toasted sesame seeds, chickpea flour, corn flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.

With hands, lightly squeeze out the excess starchy liquid from the grated potatoes but you do not want to wring them bone dry. You need some liquid for the dry ingredients to cling to and help bind the grated potato together.

Add the grated potato, spring onions and parsley to the dry ingredients and mix gently.
Heat up the same frying pan with ~1 and 1/2 Tablespoons or so of oil on high heat. These pancakes need enough oil to fry and crisp up so don't be too light handed with the oil and add more through the cooking process if you deem necessary.

Loosely dollop a layer of potato mix in the heated oil. Do not pack it down and keep it to about 3/4" (2cm) thick. Drizzle another 1/2 Tablespoon of oil around the circumference of the pancake.

After 1 minute on high heat, reduce the heat to medium-high, cover with a lid that has an air vent and continue to cook for another 2 minutes or so until the bottom has set and is golden brown. Flip over the potato pancake. Rely not only on your watch and eyes but your nose as well, if it smells like it has browned, it's time to flip.
Drizzle 1/2 Tablespoon of oil around the circumference. Cover and cook for another 1 - 2 minutes to let the potatoes cooked through.  Depending on how quickly the potatoes brown on this side, you might have to reduce the heat a little.
Remove the cover, check that the bottom has crisp up nicely and if not serving immediately, transfer to a cooling rack set over a baking tray.  Do not set it down directly on paper towels or a plate as the bottom will just go soggy on you with time. 

If the oil bothers you, blot with paper towels before serving but it would certainly be less greasy than what you would have had served to you in an eating house.

Repeat the same process for the rest of the pancakes. Remember to start frying on high heat as it encourages the potatoes to quickly set and hold its shape.

These taste best hot so eat them as soon as you can before they lose their crispness.

Tips
  • Why do I prefer to use starchy potatoes?
Starchy potatoes allows you to have pancakes that are soft and fluffy on the inside with a nice crisp crust on the outside. 

This is possible if you do not fry a pancake that is too thick and if you do not pack the grated potatoes down on the frying pan. Otherwise, the insides will not be cooked through and you might end up with a soggy pancake as well.

Starchy potatoes are what you would use for mash potatoes. It makes fluffy mashed potatoes. It is also what you would use for making french fries as the outside crisp up whilst the insides stays soft. Jacket potatoes (individually baked whole potatoes in their skins) taste best using these starchy potatoes and so would a tray of roasted cut potatoes. 

To identify starchy potatoes, look at its peel- rough, slightly thick and often a darker brown colour. Example: Russet, Idaho, King Edward.  

Waxy potatoes might feel a little waxy on the teeth and has a firm bite. They are lower in starch and keep their shape better through cooking. I believe that is the reason some prefer to use waxy over starchy potatoes in recipes for rosti and latkes. 

I don't as there won't be any fluffy soft parts of a potato pancake to enjoy which is characteristic of starchy potatoes. Remember, the benefit of using a starchy potato is soft insides and crisp outsides. I also much prefer the delicate taste of starchy potatoes which I can eat simply boiled with just a little salt. If you cook potato pancakes the way I do (outlined in recipe above), those starchy potatoes will not lose shape or turn mashy.

Waxy potatoes would be used in stews, curries, soups, perhaps a gratin or in any dish where you want the potato to hold its shape.

To identify waxy potatoes, look at its peel- usually smooth, thin (you could possibly scratch it off with your nail) and often a more translucent shade. Example: Nadine, Fingerlings, Charlotte

The all-rounder potatoes fall in a category that is between starchy and waxy and are good for just about any method of cooking. These would be the Yukon Gold, Desiree, or if you are not sure just read the labels on the bag of potatoes. The better brands will tell you what those potatoes in the bag are good for. I love Yukon Gold and I would use them in this recipe if I could get a hold of it.
  • To parboil or not to parboil the potatoes?
Please do not bother as I cooked potato pancakes both ways with both starchy and waxy potatoes. 

Parboiling starchy potatoes and then grating them is a hit and miss thing. They are floury potatoes to begin with and it is difficult to gauge how long to parboil them without risking over parboiling then and making grating them quite a nightmare. The way I cook them, they certainly don't benefit from parboiling. 

Parboiling waxy potato turned my pancakes gummy compared to freshly grated waxy potato pancakes. 

Conclusion: As long as you grate the potatoes on the large hole side of a box grater, place them loosely, keeping it about a 3/4" (2cm) thick layer on a hot frying pan and don't pack them down, the pancakes will cook through and be crisp and delicious but do use a starchy potato.
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                           
A potato salad to serve the masses. Perfect to take to a potluck, BBQ, at a hotdog party... It's actually very hearty as it is packed with ingredients and could be eaten as a meal with some salad.

Thursday, 28 April 2016

Prunes Nicely Plumped Up With Alcohol


Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe:
Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

Fattened with liquor, this is the best way to eat prunes.
Sophie Grigson is the inspiration for these prunes. I watched her years ago on TV, plumping up prunes in cognac for her pork medallions in cream sauce. That is a good recipe and I use it often enough. 

I had fattened up an entire bag of prunes as I didn't want a half bag of prunes in my larder. I knew alcohol soaked prunes will disappear faster than shrivelled dried ones. I was right. 

Half a bag of alcoholic prunes went into the Sophie's dish of pork medallions and the other half was polished off with scoops of vanilla ice cream. 

It was obvious that dessert was more about the prunes than the ice cream. No one asked for second scoops of ice cream. Instead, hands were helping themselves to more prunes and the soaking juices. I know I saw someone lick the cognac soaking liquid clean off the serving bowl. 

Surprisingly, not all liquor will work. I did a test and here's how the alcohol I tested fared. 

Ranking starts from the most favourable:
  • Dry red wine - lovely roundedness
  • Tia Maria (coffee liqueur) - mix of coffee and prune is a very good pairing especially with vanilla ice cream
Not bad but nothing exciting so don't run to the shops to buy:
  • Ginger wine
  • Apry (apricot liqueur)
Stay away from these:
  • Limoncello (lemon liqueur)
  • Ameretto (almond liqueur)
  • Sweet Sherry
  • Rum
  • Vodka
  • Whiskey
My absolute favourite soaking alcohol? 

Brandy is always good but the tastiest alcohol soaked prunes are to be had if you have access to:
  • Japanese yuzu (fruit) liqueur 
The yuzu is a unique lemon that grows in East Asia and the fruit is difficult to purchase outside of the region. It has its own distinct heady scent and taste. The fruit has little juice which doesn't matter as the flavour is all in its zest. Simply put, it does magic to dried prunes. The brand I use? Choya. The one I buy is 'Sarari Yuzu' and it comes in not a not so glamorous carton packaging.
It is yuzu and some lime added for a "clean finish". Choya positions it as a fruit liqueur. Click on the link for a more detailed description. 

This is a very tasty drink on its own and with an alcohol content of 7%, it is tempting to sip away the entire carton and forget to use it on the prunes. But do use it. It freshens up the saccharine sweetness of prunes, giving it a refreshing lift that no other liquor can quite accomplish. 
PRUNES NICELY PLUMPED UP WITH ALCOHOL              
Prep:
5 minutes
Cook:
-
Inactive:
At least 6 hours in the refrigerator.
Level:
Very easy
Serves:
3 - 5
Oven Temperature:
-
Can recipe be doubled?
Yes
Make ahead?
Keeps for months in the refrigerator.


Just the ingredients
9oz (255g) bag of pitted prunes
Enough alcohol of your choice to cover the prunes
Ingredients

9oz (255g) bag of pitted prunes

Enough alcohol of your choice to cover ~2" (5cm) above the prunes
Refer to my introduction for suggested liquor to use and avoid.

Method

Cover prunes in liquor of choice. Put lid on vessel and refrigerate for 6 hours in refrigerator to completely plump up. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream and sprinkle some nuts if you wish. Also great on its own or with some cream, mascarpone, ...

Always use a clean spoon to remove prunes and the remaining ones will keep for months in the refrigerator.

Tips

They make great gifts! 

These dried prunes have just had Yuzu liqueur poured over them. They are off to meet a girlfriend of mine. I think she will be quite pleased.
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                                
Crisp-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside, gluten & egg free, grated potato pancakes.