Category: Potatoes

Tartiflette

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This Easter weekend was all about resting for me (apart from a party on Saturday night of course). I have spent a lot of time in my PJs, with my iPad on my lap watching series. So food wise it was also all about comfort for me. Comfort food I mean.

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And with the cold weather outside it felt so right indulging in this rich gratin of potatoes, lardons, onions and a fair amount of Reblochon cheese.

A traditional tartiflette should be made from these ingredients only, as the dish was greated in the 1980s to promote this particular cheese from the French Alps.

The result is, as expected when it contains cheese and lardons, delicious! It has a crispy top layer and underneath soft oozing cheesy potatoes. Wonderful!

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Tartiflette, serves 2

Adapted from Rachel Khoo’s recipe.

250-300 g Maris Piper potatoes

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 small garlic clove, chopped

1 bay leaf

100 g smoked lardons

50 ml white wine

125 g Reblochon, cut into cubes

salt, pepper

Butter a small gratin dish. Peel and grate the potatoes. Chop onion and garlic. Fry onion, garlic, lardons and the bay leaf on medium heat in a little butter or oil in a non-stick frying pan until the lardons are browned. Add the wine and let it reduce to less than half. Remove the bay leaf and add the potatoes. Mix well. Add the cheese cubes, salt and pepper and mix again. Transfer the mixture to the gratin dish. Place in a 180C oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden on top and the potatoes are cooked through. 

Loaded potato skins with spring onions and cheese

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I don’t know about you, but I really dislike January. I am constantly tired, cold and it seems like the longest month ever.

At times like these one needs comfort, and I like mine in the form of food, scented candles, duvets or blankets and either a good television series or a good film.

Comfort food no 1 for me always involves melted cheese. Nothing can beat its gooeyness and oozing warmth. Paired here with spring onions for both texture and bite, sour cream for creaminess as well as a binding agent and fluffy baked potato and crispy skins. Yummy!

The inspiration is Nigella and of course America. And I will not give you a recipe – you don’t need one – just a quick sketch.

Loaded potato skins with spring onions and cheese

1 baking potato per person

grated strong cheese, cheddar or a matured Red Leicester works well

chopped spring onions

sour cream or creme fraiche

salt & pepper

Wash the potato(es). Bake it/them whole but pierced in a 200C oven until soft. This depends on both oven and the size of the potato but somewhere between 40 and 60 minutes. Cut the potato(es) in half lengthways. Spoon out the fluffy potato and place in a bowl. Mix with spring onions and grated cheese. Add sour cream and mix to combine. Season. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top with some more grated cheese. Place on a baking tray and bake for another 5-10 minutes for the cheese to melt. 

Serve with crispy bacon and a salad, or just plain. 

 

Servera gärna med knaperstekt bacon och sallad. 

NYE 2012 – the maincourse

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I was very pleased with the maincourse on New Year’s Eve, and I still am. I prepped as much as I could the day before, so I could have fun with the guests and not spend my whole evening in the kitchen on the night. It worked really well, so I am including this in the recipe below.

It is not really difficult, just a lot of different things to juggle. But follow my lead and it will turn out well. Promise.

Pan-fried fillet of veal with Pommes Duchesse, yellow beet, mushroom hash, red wine jus and thyme foam, serves 9

Everything apart from the meat you can prepare the day before and reheat before serving. If you prefer to cook it all at once, you have to make sure to time everything well.

DAY 1: 

Pommes Duchesse

1,8 kg King Edward potatoes 

50-100 g softened salted butter

salt, pepper

Peel the potatoes and cut into similar sized pieces (so they cook evenly). Place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Add salt. Bring to the boil and boil on medium heat with the lid half on until soft. Drain and let the steam evaporate. Mush with a masher or an electric whisk. Add the butter in batches until a good consistency. It should be firm but smooth. Season. Leave to cool and put in the fridge until the next day. 

Yellow beets

1 kg yellow beets

Wash the beets and place in a saucepan. Cover with water, add salt and bring to the boil. Boil whole until soft. 

Drain and let cool a little. Once you can hold them with your hands without burning peel off the skin with your hands or scrape it off with a small knife. Trim them into rounds. Leave to cool and put in the fridge until the next day.

Mushroom hash

200 g chestnut mushrooms

150 g shiitake mushroooms

plenty of salted butter

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, pressed

salt, black pepper

1 handful chopped parsley

Brush/wash the shrooms and slice. Fry in batches in plenty of butter on a high heat. Lower the heat, add more butter and the pressed garlic. Return all the mushrooms to the pan and season well. Stir in the chopped parslet. Leave to cool and put in the fridge until the next day. 

Red wine jus

This is not a recipe, because I didn’t make notes, but a rough sketch you can work with. Just taste if often and adjust the flavours.

2 onions, whole with skin on

3 garlic cloves, whole with skin on

mild oil

1 part red wine 

1 part beef stock 

2 parsley stalks

1 bay leaf

salt, pepper

balsamic vinegar

brown sugar

1 tbsp Maizena if needed

Cut the onion into wedges, unpeeled. Place on a roasting tray with the garlic cloves. Add oil and roast for about 20 minutes in 180C. 

Place onion and garlic in a large saucepan. Add wine and stock, parsley and bay leaf,. Reduce until half. Then add to your taste: balsamic, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour it through a sieve. To thicken add Maizena and bring to the boil. Stir until thick enough. Leave to cool and put in the fridge until the next day. 

Thyme foam

300 ml cream (single or double)

1 large handful fresh thyme sprigs

salt, pepper

Bring the cream and thyme to the boil. Reduce until half. Season to taste. Leave to cool and put in the fridge until the next day (leave the thyme in). 

DAY 2:

Pommes Duchesse

Mash since the day before

4 egg yolks, at room temperature

Heat the mash covered in 160C oven. Then add one yolk at the time and fold/beat into the mash. Season. Either pipe (with a sturdy piping bag) or shape into eggs with two spoons. Place the shapes on parchment paper, 2 shapes per person at least. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes, 170C. 

Yellow beets

the cooked beets

butter

Slice the beets into 1cm thick slices. Fry them in butter until golden and warm throughout. Season. 

Mushrooms hash

Heat up the mushrooms

Red wine jus

Heat up in a saucepan. Adjust the seasoning if needed and check thickness. Add water or maizena to adjust.

Thyme foam

the thyme-infused cream

100 ml skimmed milk

salt, pepper

Remove the thyme by pouring through a sieve. Pour the cream into a saucepan and add milk. Bring to the boil to heat up. Adjust the seasoning. Beat the mixture foamy with an electric whisk or stick blender. 

The veal

1,8 kg trimmed fillet of veal, at room temperature, cut into two

butter for frying

salt, pepper

Heat up a frying pan until very hot. Add the butter and brown the meat on all sides, including the ends. Season well. Place in a roasting tin and pierce the thickest part of the meat with a meat thermometer. Roast in 160C oven until the inside temperature of the meat is 68C (for medium). Remove from oven and cover the meat with cling film. Add the meat juices to the jus. Leave to rest for at least 10 minutes. Then cut into 2 cm thick slices. 

Serving

Place two beet slices in the middle of the plate. Top with a spoonful of the mushroom hash. Place two Pommes Duchesse shapes on one side. Place one or two slices of meat on top of the beets and mushrooms. Spoon the jus around the plate. Pour the foam on top of the meat.  

Red deer roast with rosemary, port and juniper berries, roasted almond potatoes and girolle sauce

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Sorry about the world’s longest heading, but this meal was a special one.

Not special in the sense that it was a special occasion, it was just a Saturday night at my parents’ house in the countryside last time I was visiting.

But it is special in the way that this is the type of food my family and I love. The taste of course, and the preparation. But also the produce. Especially the produce.

The venison is from Red Deer and it roamed around free in the local area until shot by someone at an estate near by. It had a good life, died instantly and nothing is wasted on the animal.

The other ingredients are local too, the potatoes were dug up in my parent’s garden, the rosemary picked in the same garden and the girolles my aunt picked in the woods nearby. Sure, the port was not local, but most ingredients were and that is the way I prefer to eat.

And boy, does it taste good, when it is so close between produce and table.

Red deer roast with rosemary, port and juniper berries, roasted almond potatoes and girolle sauce, serves 4

1 Red deer roast, about 1.2 kilos once cleaned off tendons

3 sprigs rosemary

50 ml  port

1 tbsp juniper berries

butter and oil for frying

800 g almond potatoes, washed but not peeled

rapeseed oil

The sauce:

1 handful dried girolles

1 shallots, finely chopped

butter for frying

meat juices

300 ml cream

sauce colouring  

salt and pepper

perhaps another splash of port

Pre-heat the oven to 150C. Cut the potatoes in half lengthways and place in a greased roasting tray flat side up. Drizzle with rapeseed oil and season. Put the girolles in a bowl and cover with hot water. 

Brown the meat on all sides in butter and oil on high heat. Season. Add a spoonful of rapeseed oil in another roasting tin. Crush the juniper berries in a pestle and mortar and add to the roasting tin. Place the meat on top and pierce the meat with the rosemary sprigs. Pour in the port and place a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat. Place in the oven until the inside temperature is 68C, it takes about 30-40 minutes. Remove the roasting tin and transfer the meat to a plate, cover with tin foil and leave it to rest.

Turn the oven up to 180-200C so the potatoes will colour. 

Squeeze the water out of the mushrooms. Add a knob of butter to a (preferably non-stick) saucepan on medium heat. Fry the onions until translucent and then add the mushrooms and fry until golden brown. Add the juices from the roasting tin through a fine sieve and add the cream. Bring to the boil while stirring. Add more port if needed. Season and colour.

Carve the meat into thin slices, serve with the potatoes, sauce and vegetables of your choice. (We had romanesco, but cauliflower, broccoli or carrots work too.)

Roast beef and venison with potato parcels and Madeira sauce

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The main course at my birthday party consisted of two types of roast meat; beef and venison, puff pastry and potato parcels and a creamy Madeira sauce.

The meat was simply prepared by trimming it, letting it reach room temperature, season and sear it all around in a hot pan and then transfer to the oven until pinkish red in the middle. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes and then slice finely.

Served with a simple yet delicious Madeira sauce (reduce Madeira wine and beef stock with fried onions, then add cream and Maizena starch to thicken, season to taste) this was a wonderful meal. But what really made it come together were the puff pastry and new potato parcels with parmesan and parsley. So yummy!

Puff pastry and potato parcels with parmesan and parsley, serves 3-4 portioner

6-8 large new potatoes, diced and par-boiled

1 roll all-butter puff pastry

100 ml grated parmesan + extra to top

2-3 tbsp creme fraiche

1 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Roll out the puff pastry and divide it into six squares. Use a cupcake tin and place cover six of the holes with the puff pastry squares. Mix parmesan, creme fraiche and parsley in a bowl, season. Press as much of the potato you can into the buff pastry shells and top with a dollop of the parmesan mixture. Add some grated parmesan on top. Season and bake in 200C for about 20 minutes. Can be reheated.

Pork belly with rosti and creamy ‘shrooms with white wine

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Pork belly is not at all as popular in Sweden as it is here, but it is getting more and more common, which is great. It seems like pork in general is coming back after being seen as ‘fatty’ for quite a long time.

This dish has almost the same components as last time I made pork belly, and I wouldn’t say that this is an improvement – just a variation – and just as good as the last recipe.

The crispy rosti (with both potatoes and Jerusalem artichoke) is crunchy and goes well with the tender meat underneath the crackling, and the creamy mushrooms certainly add nice flavours and brings the dish together.

I ended up with some left over creamy ‘shrooms and they came to use for lunch next day as a filling in an omelette. Yummy that too!

Pork belly, serves 2 portioner

2 slices pork belly with shallow cuts in the fat

salt

a few sprigs of thyme

Preheat the oven to 125C. Place the pork in a buttered dish. Massage the salt into the rind and season the meat all over. Place the thyme on top. Leave in the oven for two hours or until the meat is tender.

Turn the heat up to 250C and fry the meat for another 10 minutes until the crackling is crisp.

Rosti with Jerusalem artichokes, serves 2

4-5 medium potatoes

1-2 Jerusalem artichokes

a knob of butter for frying

salt, black pepper

Wash the potatoes and peel the artichokes. Melt the butter in a frying pan on medium-high temperature. Grate the root veg and place in four heaps in the pan. Flatten with a spatula and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side, until crspy on the outside and cooked through. Season.

Creamy mushrooms with white wine, serves 2-3

ca 100 g button mushrooms, sliced

1 clove of garlic

some fresh thyme

butter for frying

50 ml dry white wine

150 ml creme fraiche

100 ml cream

1-2 tsp dijon mustard

a few drops sherry vinegar

1 pinch of sugar

salt, white pepper

Brown the mushrooms and garlic in butter, but make sure not to burn the garlic. Add the wine and lower the heat. When the wine has reduced to half, then add the creme fraiche and cream. Let it thicken while stirring. Add dijon, thyme, vinegar and suger. Season.

Weekday wonders: hash with chorizo

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Bubble and squeak and the Swedish version hash are both great dishes for using up leftovers, so the other day I made a version of it that turned out really nice. But chorizo is a bit like bacon – it makes everything nice!

This is hardly a recipe, you can use which vegetables and volumes you like, but this is how mine turned out. I served it with a poached egg and a simple cold sauce made from creme fraiche, mayonnaise and a Swedish herb seasoning.

Hash with chorizo, serves 2

3 potatoes, unpeeled, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 broccoli, cut into small florets

1/4 chorizo ring

a pinch of sugar

salt, pepper

2 tbsp chopped onions (any kind you like)

butter and oil for frying

Served with: poached egg (description below)

Heat up oil and butter in a large frying pan. Add the potato and fry covered for 10-15 minutes or until almost soft. Stir occasionally. Add the carrots and fry for a few minutes. Remove it all to a bowl. Add more butter to the pan and fry the broccoli on high heat for a minute. Add to the potatoes. Fry the onions and chorizo for about 5 minutes, then return everything to the pan and let it warm through.

Poach the egg(s) while the hash is warming. Bring a large saucepan of water to simmer uncovered. Crack one egg at the time into a cup and lower it into the simmering water one by one. You don’t need vinegar in the water or to make a swirl in the water, but the fresher the eggs the better. Don’t poach more then three eggs at the time. The eggs are done aftre 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Transfer to kitchen towel to drain so the eggs don’t go cold.

Celeriac tartiflette

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I wasn’t sure if this dish should make the cut for the blog or not. Not because it wasn’t good, but because a normal tariflette might actually be better.

This is the first tartiflette I have made, although it is not entirely authentic, and I so wish I had started with the regular all potato tartiflette, but after a fridge inspection I really wanted to use up some celeriac I had left. Ergo this version.

It was really nice, but I might suspect that a regular tartiflette is just as nice or even better. Pretty soon I will make one to compare and report back.

Tartiflette is basically a potatoes au gratin with lardons and rebochon cheese, courtesy of the French, but of course.

However I used cured smoked bacon cut in small pieces instead of lardon and cheddar instead of rebochon.

Celeriac tartiflette, served 1-2

1/4 celeriac, peeled

2 medium potatoes, peeled

3 slices cured smoked bacon, cut in pieces

50 ml creme fraiche

100 ml cream

salt, white pepper

a handful grated cheddar

Cut potatoes and celeriac into thin slices. Bring to the boil in salted water and cook for a few minutes. Drain. Fry the bacon crispy in a frying pan. Grease an ovenproof dish and add half of the potatoes/celeriac. Sprinkle some cheese and bacon on top and put the rest of the potatoes/celerac on top. Finish off with the rest of the bacon and cheese. Mix cream and creme fraiche, add salt and pepper and pour into the dish. Cook for at least 30 minutes in 200C or until the gratin is soft.

Fast food my way

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When I have a limited amount of time to cook supper, especially if it is just supper for one, then this is what i usually make.

It takes about 10 minutes from start to finish and I find it delicious. I always have potatoes, red onion and creme fraiche in my kitchen, and roe most of the time too. Because caviar is so salty it keeps in the jar for quite a while in the fridge, so it is easy to have some at hand.

All you need to do is to peel those potatoes, grate them and melt some butter in a frying pan. And how good does that smell?! – melted butter. Yum. Then place little heaps of the grated potatoes in the frying pan, flatten them with a spatula and season a little. Wait until they’ve browned on one side before turning, so place a dollop each of caviar and creme fraiche on your plate and chop half a red onion. Now it is time to turn the rosti and you let them brown and crisp on the other side too. Sprinkle on some more salt and pepper and as they’re done, transfer to your plate and enjoy.

Weekday wonders: dijon and parmesan mashed potatoes

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It is JJanuary. Grey January. Grey cold boring January even. Lots of people are on detox or trying to save pennies after an extravagant month of boozing.

I definitely need to save the pennies, but I also need to get into the habit of cooking weekday food again. It seems to me that December was just a long stretch of canapés, bubbly and party dresses and now we’re back to normal. What an anti climax!

And weekday food is not a particular favourite of mine, I live for parties, nibbles, indulgent puddings and creamy sauces, but I promised myself to try and embrace the regular weekday supper too, and the only way I can do that is to make the food a little more interesting.

Bangers and mash for example, is nice but in my opinion just a tad boring. But if you buy really nice sausages like Toulouse ones and add some parmesan and dijon mustard to the mash, then I can see then point.

So that’s what I did, and it was lovely.

Dijon and parmesan mashed potatoes, serves 2

4 medium potatoes, peeled

50 ml milk

4 tbsp butter

salt, white pepper

1,5-2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp grated parmesan

Cut the potatoes into similar sized pieces. Place in a large saucepan and cover just about, with water. Add salt. Bring to the boil and cook with the lid half on until the potatoes are very soft. Drain and mash the potatoes up with a masher or an electric whisk (yep, it works). Add butter and milk and mash until well combined. Then add the mustard and cheese and combine. Season with salt and pepper.