Somebody taught me (grandmother??? mother??? just an old saying??) that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach... meaning - for those of you who didn't get it - baking/cooking/food.
However W doesn't fuss over food. If it's meal time and he is fed - he is happy. I have learned he is a simple man - meat potatoes and veggies. Oh he'll eat the concoctions I come up with - but he's happier with a plain meal.
EXCEPT for one food............ potatoes.
W loves... LOVES .. potatoes. In any form or shape - baked, fried, mashed, instant, as long as it tastes like potatoes he's happy.
I do not care about potatoes. I would rather have rice. BUT I am a good subbie (cheeky grin) ok ok I like to please W so mostly I make potatoes. I have mashed them, fried them, deep fried them, baked them,made potatoe salad, turned leftovers into bacon cheese potatoe balls...... I have done just about everything humanly possible with the lowly humble potatoe.
And I am always on the look out for new recipes for potatoes. OR W will send me recipes for potatoes.
The other day there was a pretty looking potatoe recipe on Facebook. I decided to try it.
Basically you take an uncooked potatoe - slice it almost all the way through - drizzle oil over it - brush it with butter, add salt and pepper and then bake in the oven for 40 minutes. It is supposed to taste EXACTLY like french fries.
So last night I sliced - almost all the way through - and oiled and buttered and salt and peppered two potatoes for dinner.
However W sang it's praises. W suggested I try it again. W said it almost tasted like french fries. W enjoyed it. Which didn't surprise me in the least - it was a potatoe his great love.
To me - a potatoe by any other name is still a potatoe.
Potatoes aren't My first love.... you are....
ReplyDeleteW
Thank you for the recipe and thank God you added a photo, I hadn't realised you had to slice the potatoe all over.
ReplyDeleteI like potatoe salad with smoked herring both of them cut in very small cubes. When the potatoes are cooked, you put them in a salad bowl and you pour boiling water on them and you leave them to soak about 20 mn. Then of course you get rid of the water: this is to prevent the potatoes from drinking oil and more oil. I always add capers and vinegar (unless you want to be drinking water all day long)
I am definitely trying this recipe out! Your Sir's comment also brought such a smile to my face - so loving :) ava x
ReplyDeleteI haven't had these since I was at school! I loved them then as well. I'm with your W on this - I love my spuds as well! They're not too good for me though so I try to keep them to a minimum. have you tried putting them as a topping to dishes, like mashed ontop of a minced meat/gravy type dish, or sliced ontop of a cubed meat/gravy/veg stew type dish (hot pot, we call that), both baked in the oven? the latter is esp nice, as the top potatoes go crispy, the bottom ones soggy with juices from the stew. yum!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso: potatoes dauphinois http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/french/gratin-dauphinois.html or potatoes boulangere http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5056/boulangre-potatoes (both British recipes I'm afraid - you might have trouble with the double cream. It needs to be 45-50% fat, and not ultra heat treated, but gently pasturised. I understand that its quite difficult to get hold of in the states, but I don't know about where you are. (I just spent some time giving a recipe to someone stateside with double cream on it - seems to be a morning for that!).
http://www.deliaonline.com/ingredients/ingredients-a-z/ingredients-p-r/Potatoes-make-a-comeback.html might be useful too - some links to other recipes there, and also different types of mash you can make by adding things.
My OH is Dutch and they do some great alternative mashes, often called stamppot, which doesn't translate really well (http://www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/DutchWinterfare.html or http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2012/01/20/stamppot/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamppot ). Some examples include potato mashed with carrots and onion (hutsput - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutspot ), or potatoes mashed with onion and kale (Boroenkool i think, that's fab with some proper thick german sausage, gravy and mustard - real cold winter food! ). and this, Endive Mash with meatballs is FAB. http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/endive-mash-and-dutch-meatballs.
Um. you did want some potato recipes didn't you? :D
Enjoy!!!
xxx
Yup, I've made those. they're called hasselback potatoes. I sprinkle basil and parmesan on them.
ReplyDeleteGet a T-fal Actifry and you can make yummy French fries in 35 minutes using only one tablespoon of oil.
Hugs,
Hermione