Tag Archives: potatoes

Christmas Leftovers Recipe: Broccoli Pesto Vichysoisse

Posted on December 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

It’s hot and stuffy and the house is full of leftovers, and in addition to being exhausted and not especially hungry, I’m actually in a fair bit of pain, which is not very Christmassy at all. Since you don’t get to take pain medication without food ~~(and, ideally, alcohol)~~, some sort of food preparation is required.

This recipe is, basically, a leftovers dish. It’s stock from the slow-cooked chicken, leftover roast potatoes and leftover broccoli dip. The quantities are nonexistent because it was just what I had in the fridge, but you should think of this as more of a template for making creative use of leftovers. I’ll be posting a few recipes like this in the next few days, because I can’t possibly be the only one who overcatered.

Also, it’s lovely and cold and easy to eat, even in this hot weather. And it’s a very fetching shade of green, too.

Your Leftovers List

Leftover potatoes from Christmas dinner – roasted, baked, gratin or even scalloped – the cream will be a nice touch!

Leftover broccoli pesto, or leftover pesto or any pesto or other dip composed primarily of herbs, vegetables and nuts

Leftover steamed broccoli, if there was no broccoli in your pesto

Stock or water. If you have a chicken or turkey carcase, it would be very much in the spirit of this recipe to make stock out of it, which is what I did, so I’m supplying the recipe below. It’s easy.

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Recipe: Mildly Courageous Potatoes

Posted on October 17, 2012 | 4 comments

(NB: still no idea what’s happening with shifting web-hosting, which is making me reluctant to post much here just now, in case I hit exactly the wrong window and it all gets deleted. Sorry. I had no idea it would be this complicated / confusing. On the bright side, my music blog is getting extra posts as a result – all this writing has to go *somewhere*.)

There’s a Spanish recipe for potatoes cooked with a spicy, tomatoey sort of sauce called Patatas Bravas. Roughly translated, this means Bold Potatoes. I’ve never been nearer to Spain than a slightly dodgy Spanish restaurant many years ago, so I can’t claim to know what the original variety tastes like, but I’ve seen a few recipes for these potatoes around the place.

Trouble is, I’m a wimp when it comes to chilli. I’m better than I was, but a lot of chilli in a dish tends to take all the fun out of it for me. As a result, most Patatas Bravas are far too bold for me – hence this gentler, more quietly courageous version of the recipe. You can, of course, chilli it all up again if that takes your fancy, but I rather like tasting all the flavours without being overwhelmed by chilli heat. Also, sweet potatoes make everything better (and better for you), which is always a bonus. Give it a try!

Your Shopping List

olive oil

400 g potatoes

400 g sweet potatoes

1 red onion

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 – 1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground chilli

1/2 – 1 tsp smoked paprika

pinch of saffron

salt, pepper

2 capsicums, preferably in two different colours

2 cloves garlic

400 g tinned tomatoes

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Posted in dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, low glycemic index, nut-free, Recipes, side dishes, vegan, vegetarian

Tagged capsicums, chilli, dairy-free, egg-free, fennel, gluten-free, low GI, nut-free, potatoes, recipes, side dishes, tomato, vegan, vegetarian

Recipe: Roast Potatoes with No Photos (Because we ATE THEM ALL)

Posted on October 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

No, I didn’t eat the photos. I haven’t even eaten these potatoes all that recently, which is a tragedy, because they are possibly my favourite food in the world. And, actually, I probably do have photos of these potatoes somewhere, which I will add at a later date. But this post is a bit ad-hoc because I have become involved in Surprise Last-Minute Opera this week, and so my blog has been rather neglected (and probably will be for a few more days). I wanted to write something, at leastt so that you didn’t think I had run away to join the… opera… hmm…

(Actually, the opera thing is fairly exciting – I got this email on Monday that some singers from Opera Australia were putting on a small production of Tosca this weekend and needed a few more people for the chorus, so I duly put my hand up, had rehearsal on Tuesday and Wednesday, and will be singing tonight and tomorrow night – just two choruses, but hey, it’s a chance to see Tosca and sing some Puccini, neither of which are things I’ve done before. And it’s going to be a good and rather intimate performance, too – 5 soloists, ten or so people in the chorus, and all performed in a smallish church, so that the audience will really feel in the middle of things rather than at a distance.)

Anyway, recipe! Everyone always asks me for my roast potato recipe, and it’s not really a recipe, but since I can make it in my sleep – which, coincidentally, is about how I feel right now – here goes! These potatoes should be golden and crispy on the outside and nicely soft inside, with a happy garlicky rosemaryish personality. They go with everything. Personally, I like them with a tuna salad, because then I can pretend I am being healthy. Or alternatively, they are great as part of a whole collection of roasted vegetables which you might serve with meat or stuffed mushrooms, but could just as easily serve as their own meal, with a big bowl of pesto or salsa verde or garlicky white bean dip or aioli on the side. Yum. Why aren’t I having this for dinner tonight?

Your shopping List

(Oh dear. I really have no idea how many potatoes I usually use!)

750 g potatoes. Maybe. Really, use however many you would normally use for a roast potato side dish. Do not use new potatoes – pick all-purpose or floury ones

2 red onions, sliced in the wrong direction so that they are little half moon shapes

3 tablespoons of olive oil. I am totally making this quantity up.

a teaspoon or two of dried rosemary, or three sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons or so of garlic powder. Yes, I know it’s disgusting, appalling stuff, but it is the best way to get the garlic flavour through the potatoes.

salt, black pepper

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Recipe: Potato Salad with Saffron and Herbs, for Beth

Posted on January 30, 2012 | 3 comments

This is another recipe that I promised to pass on more than a year ago. Maybe two years go. Oh dear. Sorry, Beth… Anyway, this recipe’s a real delight – light and herby and tangy, without the creaminess of traditional potato salads, but with so much more sharpness and flavour. Also, it’s vegan!

The recipe originated in Julie LeClerc’s cookbook, Made in Morocco, which I can heartily recommend, though not quite as much as Taking Tea In the Medina, which I love even more and is one of my go-to books for things middle-eastern. I’ve added more herbs, and have upped the dressing-to-potato recipe because I’m evil like that. Enjoy!

Your Shopping List

750g new potatoes, washed but not peeled

a good pinch of saffron threads

2-3 little red salad onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

several handfuls of herbs – Julie suggests mint and coriander or parsley (and in much smaller quantities) – I tend to use all three, plus whatever else I can find in my garden – a few sage leaves, some rosemary, basil, chives, tarragon, whatever. I recommend this approach!

salt and pepper to taste

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3 Comments

Posted in cooking with vegetables, dairy-free, egg-free, everyday cooking, gluten-free, low fructose, low glycemic index, Middle-Eastern, nut-free, Recipes, side dishes, vegan, vegetarian

Tagged coriander, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, low fructose, low GI, mint, nut-free, parsley, potatoes, recipes, saffron, side dishes, vegan, vegetarian

Recipe: Not Really Moussaka

Posted on September 7, 2011 | 3 comments

It tastes much better than it looks…

So I had this idea about making vegetarian moussaka with some of the leftovers and veggies I had in the house. And I looked at the Delia vegetarian moussaka, and liked the look of it, so I thought I’d give it a try. But then I couldn’t leave it alone, because I realised she was doing it wrong (moussaka has to have layers or it doesn’t count, at least in my book). And then I had to send Andrew out for Emergency Potatoes. And then it would barely fit in my casserole dish even when I pressed it down really hard, so I couldn’t give it as much custard as it deserved (and a sane person wouldn’t have given it any). And then I realised that I actually had a casserole dish which it would have fitted, only now it’s way too late because it’s all in the oven. Also, it’s 8pm on a weeknight and I’ve only just got this in the oven, possibly because I only started cooking at nearly 7pm and then I fiddled around being indecisive about the recipe and not multitasking.

It’s going to taste fantastic, you know, but I really could have done it better. Much better. This quantity looks like it will feed about 6-8 people, depending on how hungry they are and whether they are having bread and salad on the side, and also depending what’s for dessert, because you have to leave room for dessert, you know. Even when it’s chocolate pudding from a box. Which it might possibly be, but I’m allowed to do that, because it will also be with fresh strawberries and stewed rhubarb and icecream, which makes it Healthy. Well, maybe not the ice-cream, though, you know, calcium is good for humans, and anyway, who needs to worry about healthy when you’ve just eaten a main that is packed full of vegetables and lentils? Not you. Not me, either.

OK, maybe I should just get on with the recipe.

Your shopping list

2 eggplants

olive oil

salt, pepper

75 g puy lentils

75 g green lentils (or use 150 g of either puy or green)

375 ml vegetable stock (from a box, or make your own)

400g tinned tomatoes, or leftover quick tomato sauce

1 tsp cinnamon

200ml red wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

600 g potatoes, thickly sliced

2 brown onions, chopped fairly finely

2 capsicums (one red and one green, ideally), chopped

6 cloves of garlic, crushed (or to taste. I am a garlic fiend, and six cloves is positively moderate in my book)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried mint

500g yoghurt

2 tbsp flour

2 eggs

200 g feta

50 g parmesan

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3 Comments

Posted in cooking with vegetables, egg-free, gluten-free, low glycemic index, main courses, Middle-Eastern, nut-free, Recipes, vegan, vegetarian

Tagged capsicums, eggplant, feta, gluten-free, lentils, low GI, main courses, nut-free, parmesan, potatoes, recipes, tomatoes, vegetarian

Recipe: Potato and Kale Enchiladas

Posted on July 29, 2011 | 3 comments

By request, another recipe adapted from Veganomicon, and the last I’m going to post this year, for reasons of fair use. Mostly what I changed in this recipe was the chilli sauce, which developed quite a different range of chillis based on what I had available. And very tasty it was, too. Also, I couldn’t resist adding grated cheese on top. This is partly because I’m a wimp about chilli, but mostly because I just like cheese. And, as usual, the discursive prose is all mine.

Your Shopping List

Sauce

olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green chilli, seeded and chopped

1 1/2 chipotle chillis in adobo, chopped, and with some of their sauce

1 tbsp red chilli-in-a-tube (or one red chilli, chopped)

1/2 tsp chilli powder

2 tbsp spanish spice mix, or paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano

2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes