The Daily Spud » Brunch

Spud Sunday: Searching For Breakfast

Daily Spud — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:11:42 +0000

My friend and fellow potato enthusiast, Dave Langford, is in the habit of sending potato-related snippets my way. The latest to hit my inbox was this little snapshot which, needless to remark, brought a smile to my face:

It also prompted the creation of a suitably spudly breakfast dish (because I am, in matters potato, nothing if not predictable).

My Indian potato pancake, otherwise known as breakfast

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Indian Potato Pancake

In texture and composition, this pancake is somewhere between a rösti and a spanish omelette, while the spices used give it a definite Indian flavour. The quantity below makes for a generous single serving, but to feed more people you could easily double or triple the quantities and use a larger pan.

You’ll need:

1 medium-sized potato, about 200g
rapeseed, peanut or other vegetable oil for frying
0.25 tsp black mustard seeds
0.25 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of nigella seeds / kalonji – (optional)
25g finely chopped onion
1 small clove garlic
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
0.25 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 tblsp chopped fresh coriander

You’ll also need:

A small frying pan, around 20cm across, preferably non-stick, and a plate that’s slightly larger than the pan (for turning the pancake over).

The Steps:

Scrub the potato very well and (leaving the skin on) grate it. Place the grated potato into a clean tea towel, twist and squeeze to remove as much water as possible.
Place your pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add enough oil to coat the pan. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and nigella seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop (after about a minute), add the onion and fry for about five minutes or so, until starting to soften.
Add the chopped garlic and ginger, stir and fry for about a minute more, then add the grated potato and sprinkle with the salt. Stir and fry the potato for around 10-12 minutes, adding some more oil if the mixture seems dry.
Now flatten the potato mixture and spread it out so that it covers the base of the pan. Mix the chopped coriander with the beaten egg and pour evenly over the potatoes. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes, until the egg and potato pancake seems set.
Now turn the pancake, by taking a plate or flat saucepan lid, placing it on the frying pan, and inverting the pan so that the pancake ends up on the plate. Then slide it carefully back into the pan and cook on the second side for a further 3-4 minutes.
Enjoy the pancake on its own or perhaps with some fried tomatoes, mushrooms and other breakfast fare.

The Variations:

Of course you can vary the flavourings according to your taste: add some chilli flakes to the egg, say, or omit the spices and ginger and add thyme and parsley or whatever else takes your fancy.

The Results:

Serves one generously.

Asparagus Über Alles

Daily Spud — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:00:15 +0000

It would have to be said that the Germans can really get quite exercised when it comes to the delicacy that is white asparagus. Seriously. This was just one headline that I found in my asparagus-related travels around t’internet:

Motorist beats a woman selling over-priced white asparagus in Berlin.

Ouch. A cautionary tale for anyone considering a career in the roadside asparagus-selling business, that’s for sure.

Just coming into its short season right around now, white asparagus is grown under cover of soil in order to achieve the bleached effect. It is a sweeter and more delicately flavoured cousin to the green spears I’m used to, and was the theme for this month’s Five Star Makeover.

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

White asparagus, albeit looking rather golden after its makeover

Thing is, even though asparagus is in season in continental Europe, the only white asparagus I could find here in Dublin was grown in Peru (which is where most of our asparagus comes from). In fact, I’m not entirely sure that white asparagus is grown here at all and, even when it is in season, Irish-grown green asparagus can be a tricky thing to come by.

Still, I took what white asparagus I could find, suspecting that it probably paled in comparison (though perhaps not literally) to the vegetables that caused the aforementioned German motorist to lose the run of himself. As for the makeover, it was hard to resist the temptation to just steam the asparagus and serve with lots of Irish butter. That, to my mind, would be as fine a way to eat it as any. I did, however, manage to hold off on the butter just long enough to make this little number.

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Gratin of White Asparagus, Coconut & Lemongrass

Five star or no, I can’t help but feel that such a princely vegetable deserves a simple treatment that allows its flavour to shine. This gratin is certainly a simple one to prepare, while at the same time being at least a little different to the usual preparations, which match asparagus with the likes of butter, hollandaise sauce or mustardy vinaigrette.

It consists of white asparagus that is simply boiled and then coated with a coconut milk sauce, which has been simmered with asparagus trimmings, lemongrass and garlic, then strained and lightened with beaten egg white. That’s then topped off with a mixture of fried breadcrumbs and sesame seeds, and very soon after that, it’s eaten.

For the filling:

500g white asparagus
salt
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
2 sticks lemongrass, trimmed to about 10cm, lightly crushed and sliced into 5 or 6 pieces each
2 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 tsp lime juice
1 egg white

For the topping:

2 tblsp vegetable oil (such as rapeseed oil)
100g fresh breadcrumbs
4 tblsp sesame seeds
coarse sea salt (I used Maldon)

You’ll also need:

An ovenproof dish, one that’s around 18cm x 24cm and 3cm deep should do the trick, or use 2 smaller dishes, around 12cm x 18cm, for individual servings.

The Steps:

Rinse the asparagus and trim the ends by holding each spear about half way down and bending the base to find a natural breaking point. Set the trimmed ends aside and peel the spears carefully using a vegetable peeler. Keep the peels aside also.
Bring about 2 litres of water to a boil and add about 2 tsp salt and the peeled and trimmed asparagus. Bring back to the boil and simmer until tender, around 5-8 minutes or more, depending on the spears, then drain.
While the asparagus spears are boiling, to another small, heavy saucepan add the coconut milk, lemongrass, garlic, asparagus peels and trimmed ends and a good pinch of salt . Bring to a boil, then simmer gently, covered, for about 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve into a bowl, discarding the lemongrass, garlic and asparagus trimmings. Add the lime juice and a little more salt if it needs it.
Now preheat your oven to 180C.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the vegetable oil. Then add the breadcrumbs and sesame seeds. Stir and fry for about 5 minutes or until the breadcrumbs start to turn golden, then remove from the heat. Sprinkle in a few flakes of coarse sea salt.
Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and fold gently into the (now slightly cooled) coconut milk.
To assemble the gratin, lay the asparagus spears into a baking dish, pour over the coconut milk mixture and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Bake for about 5 minutes and serve warm on its own as a light meal or perhaps with some crab meat for something more substantial.

The Variations:

I’m inclined to think that salsify, if you can get or grow it, would make an eminent substitute for white asparagus here.

The Results:

Serves 2

Good Afternoon, Mr. Skehan

Daily Spud — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:14:58 +0000

Yes, it was a good afternoon.

A bit posh, you might think, afternoon tea in the Westbury, and, to be fair, it was a step up from having a dirty ol’ mug o’ tae in one hand and plate of chocolate digestives in the other. The occasion was a special food blogger launch of Donal Skehan’s new book, Kitchen Hero.

Donal Skehan introduces his afternoon tea
to a receptive food blogger audience

Despite the posh surroundings, it was a warm, friendly and, at times, noisy occasion that stretched well past the nominal afternoon time slot. The enjoyable sweet and savoury spread was one which the Westbury have added to their afternoon tea collection, based on recipes from Donal’s book.

Muffins, crostini and more

And the book, which presents more of Donal’s simple you-can-do-it-too style of home cooking, was, of course, a big part of the proceedings. It’s very much aimed at encouraging the reluctant and/or inexperienced cook into the kitchen, and Donal’s charm and enthusiasm (coming soon to the small screen in a new RTE television series) are the key ingredients. While the book may not break much in the way of new ground for the more experienced cook, it might just provide a few tasty reminders that, when it comes to cooking, simple is good.

One pink berry and almond swirly bun left, but not for long...

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White Beans In Tomato Sauce

One of the recipes that caught my eye in Donal’s new book was for “proper beans on toast”. Actually, it was not so much the recipe per se, as the reminder of how easy it is to make a simple white bean and tomato sauce to go with some crusty toasted bread

So I borrowed the idea and made my own. While Donal’s sauce uses red wine and Worcestershire sauce, this one, with fennel and smoked paprika, has a more Mediterranean feel. It would be equally at home on a bed of pasta as on hot buttered toast.

You can really use any small to medium-sized white beans for this – haricot (or navy) beans, cannellini or white kidney beans. You could even use larger butter beans if you like. It’s easiest, of course, to used tinned beans, though I do prefer the results when they’re cooked from dried.

As for the vodka, I would have to admit that I’m quite fond of adding it to tomato sauce. It helps to release alcohol-soluble flavours in the tomatoes and seems to bring out a natural sweetness. You can skip it if you prefer and you might also like to add a little sugar to the sauce, depending on the acidity of the tomatoes.

You’ll need:

100g dried haricot, cannellini or white kidney beans, soaked overnight (or use the quick-soak method, see right) or use 1 x 400g tin cannellini beans
olive oil for frying
1 medium onion, approx. 150g, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
0.25 tsp fennel seeds
0.5 tsp cumin seeds
0.5 tsp smoked paprika
1 tblsp tomato purée
1 x 400g tin tomatoes, chopped
0.5 tsp salt or to taste
2 tblsp vodka (optional)
freshly ground black pepper
chopped fresh basil to garnish (optional)
grated parmesan to garnish (optional)

The Steps:

If using dried beans and you haven’t had time enough to soak them overnight, you can quick-soak them as follows: cover with several inches of cold water, bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to soak for at least an hour in the heated water.
Drain the soaked beans, put into a heavy saucepan with about 1 litre of fresh water. Bring up to the boil, then simmer, partially covered, for about 1.5 hours or until the beans are tender. Alternatively, if you have a pressure cooker, they’ll only need about 10-12 minutes of cooking once they’ve been brought up to pressure.
If using tinned beans, just drain and rinse them.
Place a large pan over a medium heat. When hot, add enough oil to coat the pan.
Add the onions to the pan. Stir and fry for around 4-5 minutes, until they start to soften. Add the garlic and stir and fry for about a minute more.
Lightly crush the fennel and cumin seeds and add to the pan along with smoked paprika. Stir briefly then add the tomato purée and stir to mix.
Add the tinned tomatoes, salt and vodka (if using). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.
Add the beans, bring back to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes more. Add black pepper and additional salt to taste. Serve on toast if you like or as a sauce for pasta, with chopped basil leaves and some grated parmesan if you fancy.

The Variations:

You could certainly add some chorizo or other cooked sausage to this if you were that way inclined.

The Results:

Makes 2 generous helpings

Bringing Home The Shiitake

Daily Spud — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:42:47 +0000

You: So, what’s for breakfast, then?
Me: Bacon & eggs.

You: Ooh, bacon & eggs, me favourite. Rashers ahoy!
Me: Erm… it’s not quite your usual bacon & eggs.

You: (suspiciously) Uh, how so?
Me: (sheepishly) Well, for a start, there’s no bacon…

You: No bacon? Well feck that for a game of cowboys(*), I’m off for a breakfast roll…

* for the uninitiated, this phrase translates roughly as ‘bugger it’

To be fair, you would be well within your rights to storm off, but perhaps you should have a looksee at what you’re missing first:

Baconesque Eggs
a.k.a.
When The Shiitake Hit The Pan

Though it may not have bacon, this dish has crisped, smoky shiitake mushrooms and much else to recommend it, so you might care to reconsider and stick around for breakfast, while I explain all.

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

It came about simply enough when I was asked by Natasha from Five Star Foodie to participate in her latest five star makeover series, devising gourmet, creative twists on familiar food themes. First up was the aforementioned bacon and eggs, and, given that I’m not big on bacon, I was a bit stumped as to what kind of makeover to do.

Cue much scratching of head, followed by a thorough scouring of the interweb and the discovery of something called shiitake “bacon”. The blog post I found described crisped shiitake mushrooms, with their strong, meaty flavour, as an alternative to our most familiar of breakfast meats. Worth a shot, I thought. I tried it and was hooked. Throw in some smoked paprika, and I figured I had something which could play a kind of smoky bacon role.

As for the eggs, the use of shiitake seem to lead the flavours in an Asian direction. The result was a gingery frittata, topped with crispy shiitake, accompanied by a pile of Asian greens and a generous squirt of sriracha. True to form, I could not resist including a spud or two, so the whole thing perched grandly on a potato farl, and, with that, the makeover was over and breakfast, finally, was had. All that remained was for me to loosen my belt by a notch or two, and get ready for lots more egg and baconry when Natasha and Lazaro host round-ups of all the makeover dishes on their blogs this Friday 25th.

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Gingered Frittata with Shiitake “Bacon”

Despite the fancy presentation (well, fancy for me, at any rate), this isn’t a complicated dish. I did, for presentation purposes, cook portions of the egg in individual egg rings, but you can equally (and more easily) cook the frittata as a whole and slice into wedges afterward. It’s served with some quickly stir-fried asian greens and, because I am who I am, some potato farls, but you could equally serve on English muffins or crusty bread.

For the eggs:

4 eggs
1 tsp fish sauce (optional)
Peanut oil or other vegetable oil for frying
8 spring onions, white and green parts finely sliced
pinch salt
2 small cloves garlic
2 tsp finely chopped root ginger
approx. 25g shiitake “bacon” (see below), roughly chopped

For the greens:

Peanut oil or other vegetable oil for frying
300g pak choi, stalks & leaves sliced into approx 0.5cm strips (or substitute young spinach)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

To serve:

Potato farls (recipe here, but substitute 1 tsp smoked paprika for the cumin + cayenne) or use english muffins or some crusty bread
Sriracha or other chilli-garlic sauce

You’ll also need:

A small frying pan, around 20cm diameter, for the eggs and a larger frying pan (or a wok) for the greens.

The Steps:

If serving with potato farls, keep them warm in a low oven while you cook the eggs and greens.
Beat the eggs together with the fish sauce and a splash of water.
Place the small frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add a splash of oil. Add the spring onions and a pinch of salt. Stir and fry for about 5 minutes until softened and the white part of the onions have turned translucent.
Add the garlic and ginger and stir and fry for another minute or so.
Add the contents of the pan to the beaten egg and stir to mix, then return the entire mixture to the pan. Cook for several minutes, until the egg has mostly set and just a small amount of liquid egg remains on top. Sprinkle over the shiitake mushrooms and place the pan under a hot grill (broiler) for a minute or so to allow the top to set.
Remove the frittata to a plate, cover with tin foil and keep warm in a low oven.
Place your large frying pan over a medium-high heat. When hot add a swirl of oil. Add the sliced pak choi and the soy sauce. Stir and fry for about a minute or so, until the greens have wilted. Remove from the heat and drizzle over the toasted sesame oil.
To serve, top potato farls (or split, toasted English muffins or some crusty bread) with the greens, then the eggs and anoint with sriracha or another chili sauce of your choice.

The Variations:

Clearly, you can use real smoky bacon here if you like, I won’t mind.

The Results:

An eggy, faux-bacony breakfast or brunch for 2

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Shiitake “Bacon”

This is adapted from a recipe found over at La Phemme Phoodie. The original calls for fresh shiitake mushrooms but I started with the dried version, because that’s what I had. I added some soy sauce to the soaking liquid and then, for roasting, tossed them in some oil and smoked paprika. It creates something a little reminiscent of crispy, smoky bacon, and which, in any case, works as a tasty addition to salads, sandwiches or eggs, as above.

You can easily double, triple or quadruple the amounts below as you see fit – you’ll need about half of the amount specified below for the frittata. Also, if starting with fresh mushrooms, you’ll probably need around 150g of those in place of 50g dried, and just add a little salt when tossing with the oil and smoked paprika.

You’ll need:

50g dried shiitake mushrooms
3 tblsp soy sauce (I used Kikkoman)
2 tsp peanut oil or olive oil
0.5 tsp hot smoked paprika

You’ll also need:

A baking tray – one that’s around 20cm x 30cm should do the trick. Line the tray with baking parchment if you want to save on washing up.

The Steps:

Rinse the dried shiitake mushrooms to remove any dust. Add them to a bowl with about 375ml cold water and the soy sauce. Leave to soak for several hours or overnight in the fridge, until fully softened. Alternatively, use lukewarm water and soak for at least an hour.
When the mushrooms have finished soaking and you’re ready to roast, preheat the oven to 160C.
Remove the mushrooms from the bowl and squeeze gently to remove excess liquid. Keep the soaking liquid to use as vegetable stock.
Remove and discard the mushroom stalks and slice the caps into strips appox 1cm wide. Toss the strips in the oil and smoked paprika and spread on the baking tray.
Roast the mushrooms until they are crisped to your liking. Ovens vary, so this may take 35-45 minutes or more. Start checking once they’ve been in for a half and hour to see if they are done enough for you (I like them to retain a little bit of moisture, so that you get some crispiness and some chewiness).

The Variations:

Omit the smoked paprika if you like.

The Results:

Yields around 50g crisped shiitake mushrooms.

Spud Sunday: The Ugly Dumpling

Daily Spud — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:55:16 +0000

Well, well, well, round 4 of Project Food Blog, eh? I am pleased and indescribably gratified that so many of you saw fit to get me to this point with your votes. If you’d care to do so again, voting for entries in this round will be open between October 11th and 14th and this link will take you to where it’s at, voting-wise. As to the matter of this round, the challenge is to present an instructional photo tutorial of, well, anything you like. So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to boiled boxty, that most traditional of Irish potato dumplings.

For a start, I’ll bet you didn’t know that there was even such a thing as a world potato dumpling record.

Or that a new such record was set just this past week in Ireland. Fact.

Pádraic Óg Gallagher and his world record 82.5kg boxty dumpling

I watched as the hefty 82.5kg record-breaking dumpling was unveiled.

“Y’know, this kind of thing could inspire a boiled boxty craze,” I thought to my spud-self.

“And when that craze hits, I want to be right up there.”

Truly my ambitions know no bounds when it comes to spuds.

There was just one teeny problem, though…

…I had never actually made boiled boxty.

Damn.

Those boiled boxty crazies would find me in their google search results but discover that, while I had made such things as pan boxty and loaf boxty, I had never made the boiled kind. Hmph.

There was only one thing for it – I needed to get my boiled boxty skates on and fast.

So, before long, I was mashing and grating, kneading and shaping, boiling and frying, and generally channeling my inner dumpling. The happy result is that I can now present, for your delectation and the delectation of crazed boxty lovers everywhere, boiled boxty à la Spud.

This is what you're aiming for:
Boiled boxty, sliced, fried and eaten (among other things) with a nicely fried egg.
You like?

Do please keep the image above in mind as you read this, because I warn you, boiled boxty goes through an ugly phase. The thing is, boiled dough is never pretty, but it is thoroughly redeemed by a visit to the frying pan in the company of butter (which makes everything better). And of course it tastes good (as if you needed to ask).

The Cast:
You'll need spuds, flour, salt and butter, no more, no less.
The spuds do need to be floury - the higher starch content will help to hold the dumplings together.

The Crew:
A ricer, a grater, a frying pan.
I'm also going to assume that you have a pot, a bowl and a knife or two, 'k?

Surprise, surprise, you'll need to wash and peel your spuds first

Half of your potatoes need to be boiled and mashed:
slice them thickly and evenly; bring your water to the boil, add some salt and plop in the spuds;
when just tender, drain and dry the spuds off by stirring gently over a low heat; rice them while still warm;

The remaining potatoes are grated raw.
Once that's done, you put the grated potatoes in a clean tea towel and squeeze for dear life - you really need to remove as much liquid as you can from the spuds.
Oh, and potatoes and their liquid do discolour, don't worry about it.

It's dough time!
To your raw and mashed potatoes, add salt and enough flour to form a dough. Knead for a good 3-4 minutes - this is important for the future coherence of your dumplings.

Shape your dough into dumplings, roughly the size of a tennis ball.
Compact each dumpling by throwing it forcefully from one hand to the other a few times.
Add to boiling water, simmer for about an hour and 10 minutes, then allow to cool and chill overnight

The next day, slice your dumplings, fry in butter and eat.
The fried egg is optional but highly recommended.

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Boiled Boxty

I’ve used Pádraic Óg Gallagher’s formula for boiled boxty here. And he should know all about it, being a world record holder ‘n’ all.

You’ll need:

approx. 500g potatoes, preferably a floury variety (try Roosters or Kerr’s Pink or, in the U.S., try Russets)
approx. 150g plain flour
0.25 tsp salt plus more for boiling the potatoes
butter for frying

You’ll also need:

A ricer is best for mashing the spuds, plus you’ll need a grater for grating the raw potatoes.

The Steps:

Wash and peel half your potatoes and cut into roughly even-sized slices, around 1-2cm thick. Rinse them under cold water.
Bring about 1.25l of water to the boil in a saucepan, add about 1.5 tsp salt and the potato slices.
Bring back to the boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer gently, covered, for around 12-15 minutes or until just fork-tender.
When the potatoes are done, drain well and return them to the saucepan. Place the pan over a low heat and stir the potatoes gently for a minute or so while they dry out. Alternatively, let them sit, covered by a tea-towel, for about 5 minutes or so.
Put the cooked and still warm potatoes through a potato ricer, if you have one, or mash with a potato masher or, if all else fails, a fork.
Wash and peel the remaining potatoes and grate coarsely.
Place the grated potatoes in a clean tea-towel and squeeze as much liquid out as you can.
Add the mashed potatoes, grated raw potatoes, flour and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix to a firm dough, adding more flour if needed (the dough should not be too sticky) and knead for 3-4 minutes.
Form the dough into 3 dumplings (they’ll be roughly tennis-ball-sized). Throw each one forcefully from hand to hand a few times to help compact the dumplings further.
Bring a pot of water to the boil, add the dumplings and let them simmer for about an hour and 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, cool and preferably chill overnight in the fridge.
You are now free to slice the dumplings as thickly or as thinly as you’d like, then fry to your heart’s content in butter. Enjoy!

The Variations:

If you don’t want to make dumplings, you can bake the dough instead. In that case, add about 25g of melted butter to the dough and bake in a loaf tin @ 180C for around an hour to make a kind of boxty loaf. This, too, can be sliced and fried.

The Results:

Makes 3 dumplings, which will serve 4-6 as part of a fry-up.

Spud Sunday: Strawberry Elephants Forever

Daily Spud — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 22:52:38 +0000

It was a sign.

A large, elephant-shaped sign.

Painted with some mighty inescapable strawberries.

Let me guess, you've never seen a strawberry elephant before either...

The elephant was a resident of The Hempel Hotel in London, the venue for this weekend’s Food Blogger Connect 2010 (and, yes, I will be reporting on the bits of FBC that involved neither elephants nor strawberries in due course).

I think maybe the folks at Bord Bia had placed Mr. Elephant there as a not-so-subtle reminder to me that it was the start of Irish National Strawberry week. Like I needed a reminder.

I had already been displaying an elephant-like inability to forget that my last outing with strawberries wasn’t quite the success I’d hoped for. I mean to say, strawberries plus potato pancakes – I thought the idea had merit, though the pancakes I made at the time, unfortunately, didn’t. Now my elephant-shaped conscience was insisting I have another go. Who was I to argue?

Potato Pancakes With Roasted Strawberries

The result, I can at least report, was a much better incarnation of the strawberries plus potato pancakes genre.

A combination of better-than-jam slow roasted strawberries from Gastroanthropologist (whom it was a delight to meet in person at FBC) and Miss Jane Bury’s potato pancakes, a recipe dating back to the early 1700s and set forth in Colman Andrews’ fabulous tome, The Country Cooking of Ireland.

As Caroline from Bibliocook says in her review of this book, it should be thrust into the hands of all prospective tourists to this country. The potato pancakes, from a recipe collection now held in the National Library, are well worthy of being scoffed on their own (though anything spud-like and fried in butter always is). They can have savoury or sweet additions (hence the strawberries, which I ate with them), though I do think that they’re most at home on the savoury side of the menu, strawberry elephants notwithstanding.

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Gastroanthropologist’s Slow Roasted Strawberries

I was intrigued from the moment I read Gastroanthropologist’s recipe for slow roasted strawberries. Slow cooked and each delivering a concentrated strawberry hit, this I had to try.

I followed the instructions as she describes here with only minor adjustments. I didn’t have a vanilla bean but used a good quality vanilla extract instead. She also makes a sauce using the roasted strawberry juices along with Sauternes, though I used madeira instead, which made for a kind of tangy, fruity, toffee-ish sauce.

You’ll need:

500g strawberries (small berries preferably)
1.5-2 tblsp butter
0.5 tsp natural vanilla extract (or pulp from half of a vanilla bean)
1-2 tblsp demerara sugar
around 50ml madeira (I used a sweet malmsey) – or substitute another sweet fortified or unfortified wine

You’ll also need:

A non-metal ovenproof dish – mine was around 20cm x 30cm

The Steps:

Preheat the oven to 110C
Add the butter to your non-metal oven proof dish. Place into the oven for a few minutes to melt.
Trim the strawberries but leave them whole and toss in the sugar.
Remove the dish with the melted butter, mix with the vanilla extract or pulp, place strawberries cut side down in the butter, return to the oven and roast for around 3 hours or until they slump inwards (and, as Gastranthropologist describes, they look like Hershey’s kisses).
Once cool enough to handle, remove the strawberries. If you have juices remaining in the pan, pour off into a small saucepan. If you find, like me, that the strawberry juices have dried somewhat and formed a sticky layer, loosen with a little boiling water, then remove the contents to a small saucepan.
Add the madeira to the liquid in the saucepan, place over a medium heat and simmer until it is reduced by about half. Add a little sugar to taste if you like and/or stir in a little cream. Serve with the roasted strawberries, ice cream or cream and maybe even some pancakes.

The Variations:

I reckon that strawberries slow roasted with some balsamic vinegar instead of the vanilla might be worth a try.

The Results:

There might be enough for 2 in this, but that’s only if you feel like sharing.

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Miss Jane Bury’s Potato Pancakes

This is as per the recipe described by Colman Andrews in Country Cooking of Ireland, except that I made the individual pancakes smaller than originally specified, as I found my batter to be quite soft and the pancakes prone to disintegrate. Smaller, thicker pancakes held together better.

These are very simple, but rich. Tasty eaten just on their own or best with other savoury foods, though they’ll accept sweet accompaniment too (and, if you’re going the sweet route, I would be inclined to reduce the amount of salt in the batter, perhaps by about half).

You’ll need:

850g potatoes, preferably a floury variety (I used maris piper)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt (reduce to abt 0.5 tsp if serving with something sweet)
240ml heavy cream
175ml milk or water or as needed (I used milk)
4-6 tblsp clarified butter

You’ll also need:

A potato ricer – handy, though not essential, for mashing the potatoes – plus a frying pan, preferably non-stick, for frying the pancakes.

For The Mash:

Peel your potatoes and cut into roughly even-sized slices, around 1-2cm thick. Rinse them under cold water.
Bring about 1.5l of water to the boil in a saucepan, add about 2 tsp salt and the potato slices. Bring back to the boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer gently, covered, for around 15-20 minutes or until just fork-tender. Drain well, then either let them sit, covered by a tea-towel, for about 5 minutes or place the pan over a low heat and stir the potatoes gently for a minute or so while they dry out.
In a large bowl, put the cooked and still warm potatoes through a potato ricer, if you have one, or mash with a potato masher or a fork. Allow to cool a little.

For The Pancakes:

Add the eggs, salt and cream to the mashed potatoes and stir well to form a thick batter. If too thick to flow from a spoon, dilute with milk or water.
Place a frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add about 2 tblsp of the clarified butter.
Add around 2 tblsp of batter to form each small, thick pancake (around 8-10cm diameter). Cook in batches, cooking each batch for 6-8 minutes, turning once, and repeat until the batter is used up, adding more clarified butter to the pan as needed. Keep pancakes warm in a low oven, covered with foil or just let people eat them as you make them.
These are great on their own, though they’d go well with other brunchables, like eggs and bacon, or you can have them sweet, with sugar and butter, or, yes, maybe even strawberries.

The Variations:

Of course you can add whatever herbs or spices you like to the pancake batter, though they’re pretty good just as they are.

The Results:

Around 20-24 small pancakes, serves 6-8

Cheap As Chickpeas

Daily Spud — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:56:38 +0000

“I’ll not starve.”

That was the thought that crossed my mind as I pondered some weighty financial issues.

“I could always live on chickpeas” (and, before you ask, there is an implied “and potatoes” in that sentence).

I know for a fact that the modest sum of €3.30 will buy me a hefty 2kg of dried chickpeas at The Asia Market. Allow me to illustrate just how many chickpeas that is:

Chickpeas, lots thereof

I adore chickpeas and would really survive both happily and well if they were my dietary mainstay. I’d eat them in Indian-style curries, stewed Spanish-style with leafy greens, in their many Middle Eastern guises (of which hummus is king), in assorted salads or cooked on a pan burger style. That jar-full, for example, would make about 200 of these little baked chickpea burgers, which would, no doubt, keep me going for quite some time…

Baked Chickpea Burgers

Dried chickpeas are, of course, anything but convenient. They do require soaking overnight and cooking for hours on end (unless, like me, you have a pressure cooker). But they are cheap. And cheap in a good, nutritious way, not like industrialised and overly-processed foods which can be made cheaply but which lose so much of their value as real food in the process. With a little bit of advance planning and perhaps a weekend at your disposal, dried chickpeas will repay your investment well.

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Baked Chickpea Burgers

These burgers are packed with things that I love to eat with chickpeas, including garlic, ginger, carrot, coriander and parsley. As a change from frying, I baked these on an oiled tray which, I have to say, worked out pretty well. Like their deep-fried falafel cousins, these little burgers are lovely stuffed into pita breads and eaten with salads, yoghurt and tahini.

You can, of course, used tinned chickpeas here if you don’t have time, or can’t be bothered with the endless cooking required for the dried variety. If you are cooking dried chickpeas, though, do save the chickpea cooking liquid and freeze it – it makes a nice base for soups.

You’ll need:

150g dried chickpeas (or used tinned – you’ll need about 375g chickpeas once drained)
1 tblsp olive oil plus more for greasing the baking sheet
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 baby leeks or 5-6 spring onions, green and white parts finely sliced
0.5 tsp ground cumin
1 tblsp grated root ginger
1 medium carrot (about 125g), coarsely grated
2 tblsp chopped fresh coriander
4-5 tblsp chopped parsley (either flat leaf or curly)
1 tblsp lemon juice
6 tblsp rolled oats / porridge oats (or use wholewheat breadcrumbs)
1 tsp salt or to taste

You’ll also need:

A large baking sheet – mine was about 20cm by 30cm – or a couple of smaller ones.

The Steps:

If using dried chickpeas and you haven’t had time enough to soak them overnight, you can quick-soak them as follows: cover with several inches of cold water, bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to soak for at least an hour in the heated water.
Drain the soaked chickpeas, put into a heavy saucepan with about 1 litre of fresh water. Bring up to the boil, then simmer, partially covered, for about 1.5 – 2 hours or until the chickpeas are tender. Alternatively, if you have a pressure cooker, they’ll only need about 20 minutes of cooking once they’ve been brought up to pressure.
If using tinned chickpeas, just drain and rinse them.
Preheat your oven to 200C and brush your baking sheet(s) with olive oil.
Place a large frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil and swirl it around the pan. Add the garlic and leeks (or spring onions) and stir and fry for about 4 minutes or until the leek whites have become translucent.
Add the cumin, grated ginger and grated carrot to the pan and stir and fry for another couple of minutes, then remove from the heat.
In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas coarsely, either using a potato masher or a fork.
Add the carrot and leek mixture to the mashed chickpeas, along with the chopped coriander and parsley, lemon juice, oats and salt. Mix well to combine – you should end up with a fairly stiff mixture.
To make each burger, scoop out a generous heaped tablespoon of the mixture, flatten and form into a patty around 5cm or so in diameter and around 0.5 cm thick and place on the baking sheet. Continue until you’ve used up all of the mixture.
Bake for about 10 minutes, then flip the patties over and bake for another 7-10 minutes until golden.
Serve with pita bread, yoghurt and/or tahini and salads.

The Variations:

You could easily add some fresh mint here I think – either use it to replace the fresh coriander or use both.

The Results:

This amount make 12-15 burgers and feeds 3-4, along with pita breads and salads.

You, My Friend, Are Not A Parsnip

Daily Spud — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:17:03 +0000

Like a parsnip, only better - much, much better

Truth be told, I wasn’t expecting much when I finally uprooted these babies from the garden the other day. I fully expected that my first attempt to grow salsify would not have amounted to much, but instead I pulled some reasonably-sized (if somewhat forked) specimens from the ground.

I still wasn’t expecting that much when I cooked them for the first time, despite the reports that these parsnip-like roots tasted, well, much better than parsnips.

I was even skeptical about the recommendation that the best way to enjoy them was to do nothing more than have them boiled. I mean, surely some molecular gastronomist somewhere has come up with something more elaborate that than?

However.

Let me tell you that I was wowed.

Wonderfully flavoursome roots, which tasted very much like asparagus or even artichoke heart to me. Salsify and its dark-skinned cousin, scorzonera, have been around for centuries but, as my copy of Dr. D. G. Hessayon’s Vegetable and Garden Expert notes, in this part of the world, “they still remain oddities”.

I wonder why that should be.

They’re long and thin and don’t attain as much girth as, say, a parsnip. But they’re easy to grow (as evidenced, if nothing else, by the complete lack of attention they received from me), fairly hardy (as evidenced by their survival of the winter we just had) and taste bloody good.

There again, it’s not always about raw talent. Somewhere along the line, you’ll find that parsnips probably had some friends in high agricultural places. Perhaps salsify just needs a better PR machine (and hey, I’m available for a small fee).

So (in my new role as Chief Salsify Officer), I do recommend that you try salsify out if you get the chance. It’s right at the tail-end of its availability here, but you might come across it at farmer’s markets (and for those in Dublin, I have seen the black-skinned version, scorzonera, in Fallon and Byrne). And if you’re of a gardening bent, do consider getting some salsify seeds – I sourced mine from The Organic Centre – it’ll soon be time to plant and they’ll reward you well.

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Boiled Salsify

This really is both the simplest and possibly best thing that you can do with salsify.

I followed the cooking advice contained in my Vegetable and Garden Expert, which explained that the secret to achieving top flavour lay in peeling the salsify after, and not before, boiling it in salted, lemony water.

Can I just say that salsify plucked straight from the garden and cooked like this was a revelation. I had to restrain myself from eating the asparagus-like chunks straight from the pot.

You’ll need:

600g salsify
approx 1.25l water
1.5 tsp salt
1 tblsp lemon juice
butter and chopped flat leaf parsley to serve

The Steps:

Scrub your salsify very well under a running tap, then, leaving the skin on, trim the ends and cut into pieces approx. 5cm long. Note that when you cut salsify, it will exude a slightly sticky, milky substance, alternatively brown and white in colour. Nothing to be concerned about, just sayin’ it’ll be stickier and messier than dealing with, oh, parsnips, for example.
Bring around 1.25l of water to a boil, add the salt, lemon juice and salsify and boil until the salsify is fork-tender – approx. 25 minutes or so – less for pieces that are very thin.
Drain, scrape off the skins and serve tossed in a little melted butter and chopped parsley.

The Variations:

You don’t have to boil it, of course – you can bake it, batter and fry it, put it in a gratin or even make fritters (see below).

The Results:

Serves around 4 as a side-dish

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Salsify Fritters

Hugh Fearnley-Whatshisname had an article on salsify recipes in The Guardian a few months back which included lots to interest newcomers to the vegetable, including a recipe for salsify fritters. I have used his version as a template here, swapping out his chili and coriander and using thyme, parsley and parmesan instead, plus some lemon juice to finish – all of which work well with salsify. You can just eat these with a dollop of yoghurt or, if you’re in a brunchy kind of humour, you might just like to have a poached egg alongside too. I know I would.

You’ll need:

300g salsify
small pinch of dried thyme (less than 0.25 tsp) or use about 0.5 tsp fresh thyme if you have it
2 tblsp butter
1 egg, beaten lightly
3 tblsp fine wholewheat breadcrumbs
2 tblsp grated parmesan
3 tblsps chopped flat leaf parsley
1 small clove garlic, minced
0.5 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tblsp polenta
olive oil for frying

To serve:

lemon wedges
natural yoghurt (optional)

The Steps:

Scrub the salsify, peel them, trim the ends and grate coarsely. The salsify will discolour as you’re doing this, but it doesn’t really matter, as you’ll be frying it anyway.
Place a large frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the butter and allow to melt.
When the butter has melted, add the grated salsify and thyme. Stir and fry until the salsify has softened – around 15-20 minutes – then remove from the heat.
In a bowl, combine the salsify, egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, garlic, salt and black pepper, then divide the mixture into 6 individual patties.
Place the polenta in a separate bowl, then dip each patty into the polenta and coat on both sides.
Place your pan back on a medium heat and add enough olive oil to coat the pan.
Fry the fritters until golden, around 4 minutes or so on each side.
Serve with a wedge of lemon and a dollop of yoghurt if you like. Poach up an egg to go with them if that takes your fancy.

The Variations:

I rather fancied trying these with tarragon instead of thyme, but didn’t have any to hand. I might try that next time.

The Results:

6 small fritters, serves 2 (perhaps 3 if you have a lot of other things on the plate)

And for those of you who were wondering who won that wine and chocolate, the lucky winner was Yvonne Carty, who now has her Easter nicely sorted!

A Win-Wine Situation

Daily Spud — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:47:41 +0000

E is for Easter, E is for Eggs

Spell it with food.

That was the mission for those who chose to accept this year’s Eating Your Words Challenge. I chose, as you may have guessed from the picture above, to spell it with eggs. Bizarrely, I have Yellow Tail wines to thank for the eggy inspiration and you may very well end up with reason to thank them too.

You see, the folks who distribute Yellow Tail here contacted me with an offer of an Easter hamper for a Spud reader, containing several bottles of Yellow Tail shiraz, along with lots of Lindt Chilli Chocolate (worth a try with the spicy shiraz), a Lindt Easter Egg and some Easter bunnies (the chocolate kind).

A little something for you, the reader

They proposed that a little reader competition to win said goodies might involve ideas for eggs, it being an Easter hamper ‘n’ all. The suggestion was enough to get my creative yolks flowing and very soon, I found myself carving out edible eggy words. So I got to complete my mission and one of you readers gets a winey, chocolatey hamper. I’d call that a win-win situation.

So leave a comment below if you want to be in with a shout for the hamper and, to borrow a slogan from a rather well-known brand of chocolate gooey egg, you can tell me how you like to eat yours (your eggs, I mean).

I’ll leave this open until next Tuesday March 30th at 6pm (GMT), which will hopefully allow enough time for the winner to get their delivery in time for Easter. I’ll select the winner as randomly as I can and, yes, you will need an address somewhere in the Republic of Ireland at which to receive the goods.

Update 31/3/10: And the winner of the winey chocolatey hamper is… Yvonne Carty, who says that she likes her eggs scrambled with some chili and served with smoked salmon. Wouldn’t say no to some of that myself! Congratulations Yvonne & Happy Easter.

Now, though, it seems only fair that I show you how I like to eat mine. In fact, let me spell it out for you.

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Inside-out Eggs

So here it is then, my entry for the Eating Your Words Challenge 2010, hosted by Tangled Noodle and Savor The Thyme.

The idea is simple: cut shapes out of a plain omelette, refill with reserved egg whites et voilà – white and yellow have swapped their usual places. You can, of course, adjust the amounts here to suit the size of pan you want to use. You’re aiming to make a thick-ish omelette, which is easier to work with when it comes to cutting and refilling.

You’ll need:

6 medium eggs
0.25 tsp fine salt
oil for frying

You’ll also need:

A shallow, preferably non-stick frying pan – mine was about 24cm diameter – and a plate that is slightly wider than the pan onto which you can slide the omelette.
Cutters for whatever shapes you want to cut out. A small sharp knife is also useful for those occasions where the cutter does not cut right the way through.

The Steps:

Separate 2 of the eggs and keep the whites aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the 2 egg yolks and remaining 4 eggs. Add the salt and whisk again. You can add other herbs or spices here as the mood takes you.
Place your pan over a medium heat. When hot, add 1-2 tsp of olive oil (or another vegetable oil if you prefer).
Pour in the beaten egg and swirl it around to coat the pan. Cook over a medium heat for around 5 minutes or until it is has just about set right through. Note that I didn’t turn the omelette in the pan as I wanted to keep everything nicely yellow on one side.
Slide the omelette off the pan and onto your plate. Using your cutters, carefully cut out the desired shapes, employing a small sharp knife if necessary to complete the separation. Remove the shapes and set them aside.
Place your pan back over a medium heat, adding a little more oil if it needs it. Slide the omelette back onto the pan and carefully pour the reserved egg whites into the spaces left by the shapes you have cut out. Depending on the size of the spaces and thickness of the omelette, you may not need all of the whites. Cover with a lid and cook for another minute or two, just until the whites have set.
Serve up and enjoy!

The Variations:

The shapes used are up to you, of course, and you can add whatever herbs or spices you like to the eggs before cooking.

The Results:

Plain omelette for 2-3

Spud Sunday: Taking Up Smokies

Daily Spud — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:26:07 +0000

When you get an invitation that has lunch at Eden Restaurant as part of the deal, you say yes and then ask questions later.

So it was that I found myself ~~dining~~ stuffing my gob at Eden during the launch by the Temple Bar Cultural Trust of their well-packed 2010 programme of events (which, I am delighted to report, includes the return of the Chocolate Festival, this time making a pre-Christmas appearance in December).

However, before the gob-stuffing got underway, I wondered did my fellow lunchers notice quite how much time I had spent staring at the menu? Or if they had caught the slight trepidation in my voice as I ordered the smokies?

Smokies, you see, are a permanent and much-loved part of the menu at Eden. A starter of smoked haddock in a sauce of crème fraîche, with cherry tomatoes, spring onions and melted red cheddar.

Smoked haddock, however, has not passed my lips since childhood.

During my youth, my mother’s smoked-haddock-in-some-kind-of-white-sauce was the most singularly reviled dish of my acquaintance. A fish-on-fridays staple, it was the cause of countless you-will-not-leave-the-table-til-you-finish-your-dinner standoffs.

However, as I looked at the Eden menu, I realised that it was time, at last, to give smoked haddock a second chance.

And so the smokies were ordered and the smokies were eaten, happily. I even went out and bought some smoked haddock the very next day, figuring that we had a lot of catching up to do. And where else to begin, but with some spuds.

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Smoked Haddock Hash

This is what happens when you take some leftover boiled spuds and fry them up with the ingredients that Eden use to make their legendary smokies.

As for the melted cheese on top, it may be anathema to some who think that fish and cheese should not meet on the same plate, but it works for the original smokies and I think it works here too.

You’ll need:

olive oil for frying
150g smoked haddock fillet
400g boiled potatoes
4 spring onions
200g cherry tomatoes (around 10-12 cherry tomatoes)
100g crème fraîche
coarse salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
25g sharp cheddar

The Steps:

Cut the haddock into bite-size pieces, around 1cm wide, and slice the potatoes into pieces around 0.5cm thick, leaving the skin on if you like or peeling it off if you don’t. Finely slice the white and green parts of the spring onions and quarter the tomatoes.
Place a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. When hot, add enough olive oil to coat the pan. Add the haddock pieces to the pan and stir and fry for 3-4 minutes or until the pieces are opaque and just cooked through. Remove the haddock to a plate.
Return the pan to the heat and add another coating of olive oil and the sliced potatoes. Stir and fry, breaking up any larger pieces of potato as you do so, for around 10 minutes or until they are starting to brown.
Add the spring onions and tomatoes and stir and fry for another 2-3 minutes
Add the crème fraîche, haddock pieces, a couple of twists of black pepper and coarse salt to taste. Stir and fry for about another minute.
Remove from the heat, sprinkle with some grated sharp cheddar and place the pan under the grill for a minute or so, allowing the cheese to melt. Now serve up, perhaps with some nice crusty buttered bread on the side.

The Variations:

You could, of course, use other white fish here, smoked or even not-so-smoked.

The Results:

2 good-sized brunch portions