Search This Blog

Pages

Showing posts with label potato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potato. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Rösti

It has been one year since I started writing this blog.  It has been really great to share some of my favorite recipes with all of you.  I have enjoyed writing the recipes and photographing the food with hungry kids waiting to be fed.  It has been a great experience.  But... Of course there is a but... It takes a lot of effort to write and publish each post.  Sure, it doesn't have to be that way.  It is not how I would like to go on about it.  Not perfect probably but as better as it gets and it will continue like that.
Happy anniversary to Olives and Bread.  To celebrate, here is a recipe from Switzerland.  I know I had to write this super simple recipe for some friends and relatives.  This reminds me that there are still some people out there waiting for a Turkish version of this blog.  I am just waiting for the days that I will have time for that, so stay tuned.
Back to lovely rösti.   I ate this first time with my friend F at Zurich main train station.  There used to be a restaurant there with rösti specials.  It's unfortunate that it's now closed but they had a good variety of rösti dishes.  With cheese, with onions, with bacon, etc. I have learned how to make this from my mother-in-law and she does it with coconut butter most of the time.  It's very delicious like that and I definitely recommend it.  Usually it's made with butter or oil. Use whichever you prefer.   Rösti goes really well with cheese or meat, or any creamy meat dish, like Zurich Geschnetzeltes (cut meat Zurich style - recipe will be coming up soon). 

(Makes 4 portions as a side dish)

700-800 g potatoes (preferably fast cooking ones if you make it from raw potatoes - see below for reason)
butter or oil to cook
salt and pepper to taste

There are two ways of doing this.  You can either boil the potatoes with their skin. Then peel and make the rösti or you can do it from raw potatoes.  Either way you have to peel the potatoes and grate them to start with.  Put some salt and freshly milled black pepper in the grated potatoes and mix well.
Take a large non-stick pan, preferable with a lid.  Put some oil in it and put it over medium-high heat.  When it's hot enough, add the grated potatoes in.  With the help of a spatula flatten the top so it looks like a big potato pancake.  Close the lid and leave it to cook for few minutes.  Check the bottom frequently to make sure it's not burnt.  If you are making it from raw potatoes, stir it once in a while so that it's cooked better and fried bits from the bottom are mixed in.  This way you can get it to be more crispy.  You can use the same method also if you are making it from cooked potatoes.  Just make sure you flatten the top eventually and leave the bottom last time to brown nicely.  Once the it is brown underneath, you need to turn it upside down to cook both sides equally.  I use the lid to do that so the form (potato pancake) stays the same.  Just make sure you don't burn your hands.  When it's brown on both sides then it's done. You can use round rings or large cookie cutters to cut out shapes or slice it like a cake to serve. 

Enjoy!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Oven Roasted Potatoes


It seems that summer is already over here and I'm ready to go into the Christmas mood.  After waiting for summer to arrive for so long, I'm finally giving up.  Yes, there has been some nice days that were warm (hot) and sunny, but here we are again with cloudy, gray skies and with temperatures that we should have had around spring.  Somehow, after having few days of summer, then next day with winter temperature seems to be really acceptable around here.  After living for very long time now, I am finally accepting the fact that I will never ever have an uninterrupted summer of 3 months (or more) again.  A week or two weeks of summer is perfectly fine.  It saves you a lot of energy.  No need to do spring cleaning.  Who would need to have clean windows for few days anyway, especially if it will rain right after you clean them?
But if you are having a day or two of summer, or if you are one of those lucky people who has long summer season, then I suggest you make these roasted potatoes as a side dish to your BBQ.  They are so easy to prepare. There is no precooking involved. They are healthier and tastier than usual fried potatoes.
I have learned how to make these from my mother-in-law.  I had few friends who have asked me the recipe before, so here it is.  I've made few changes to the original recipe, such as adding the vinegar, which makes the potatoes a little more crispy.


Oven Roasted Potatoes

(Makes 4 servings as a side dish)

About 1 kg potatoes
1/2 tablespoon of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary leaves
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
Salt
Freshly milled black pepper

Preheat your oven to 200° C(400° F) before you start.  Wash the potatoes very well and without peeling them slice the potatoes into wedges.  Take a deep salad bowl and put the potatoes in and then the olive oil.  Turn them around to get the potatoes coated with olive oil.  Then add all the other ingredients and mix them well with the potatoes. On a flat baking tray, place a baking paper, then spread the potatoes on.  Put them in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.  If you want them more crispy then roast them for about 20 minutes, then take them out,  quickly turn them around a little bit with the help of a spoon or spatula, then roast them for another 10.  Depending on the type of potatoes you are using, cooking time can vary between 30-45 minutes, so check if they are cooked before taking them out.  Do not burn your fingers while doing so.  Enjoy!

Friday, April 30, 2010

Oven Baked Fish


My mother cooks fish sometimes like this one.  It's basically oven baked fish with some vegetables and some simple sauce or only some olive oil.  As I was cooking this, I also came across a similar recipe like this one in Jamie's Dinners.  It was originally made with Salmon, but I had only Pangasius fish in my fridge but it still turned out so good that I had to write it here.  I love Salmon more than any other fish here, but I thought I will try some other kind this time and that's why I ended up with the Pangasius fillets.  I also tried my new and not so thyme-like, lemon thyme herb from my freshly re-done herbs garden.  Only because it had a lemon-like smell, I thought it might go with fish.  You don't really need to put that if you don't have it, but some fresh dill or even dry dill will go perfectly with the fish.  If you need a light summer meal and you have some potatoes, some vegetables at home then try this one.  I thought it was a great dish, because it was all-in-one meal.  The carbs, veggies and fish baked at the same time without so much preparation beforehand.  I love practical dishes for our weekday lunches and I really try to find healthy and simple dishes as much as possible, although I'm not always so successful at that.  If you are a mother who has little time to cook, try this. Next time I'll be making this with Salmon. Yummy...




(Serves 4)
4 Pangasius fish fillets
800 g new potatoes - with skin but washed and scrubbed well
about 300-400 g of green beans - cleaned and the tops removed. 
about a cup of peas
2-3 spring onions - chopped
juice of half a lemon
half lemon - thinly sliced
some olive oil
1 tablespoon of fresh dill
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon thyme
about 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary
salt and pepper


Start with boiling your potatoes in water for about 10 minutes and boil your beans for 5 minutes.  Leave them to cool a little while, while you prepare your fish.  Rub the fish with some salt, pepper and olive oil.  Preheat your oven to 200°C(392° F).  Half the potatoes if you want them to be a little bit crispy.  Put all of the potatoes, beans, peas and spring onions on the tray and season them with salt and pepper.  Add some olive oil and stir them so all the vegetables are seasoned.  Place the fish fillets in between the vegetables and sprinkle the dill and thyme on the fish fillets and rosemary on the vegetables.  Put a little more olive oil and add your lemon juice over everything then place your sliced lemons on the fish fillets. Bake it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the fish is cooked.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Potato salad


You may think "Why on earth she's putting a potato salad recipe?".  Mainly because this is by far the best potato salad on earth.  It's my mother's recipe and although I have tried other potato salads, this still remains my favorite by far.  It has plain and natural flavors, not so many ingredients.  No cream, no butter, no mayonnaise, no vegetable stock.  It has the best flavor combination.  I've tried the vegetable stock version of the potato salad, which I think is a typical way of adding flavor to the potatoes around here, however I much prefer the natural potato taste in this version.  This goes perfect with grilled meat dishes in the summer and you can keep in the fridge for 2-3 days without a problem.  I made a lot of it this time, because I absolutely love the left over of this salad.  I think that it tastes even more delicious the next day.  If you have time, prepare the salad couple of hours in advance so that potatoes can absorb the dressing a little bit more.
I have slightly modified the salad dressing this time by adding some mustard.  I would like to hear from you if you try this salad.


700 g potatoes
2 spring onions - chopped
a handful of fresh parsley - finely chopped

Salad dressing
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of canola oil
1 teaspoon of mustard
1 tablespoon of apple vinegar
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of salt
some freshly milled black pepper

Cook your potatoes by boiling them in water without peeling them.  Be careful not to overcook them.  After they are done let them cool.  When they are cool enough, peel and dice them.  After you chop your onions with their green bits, add them onto the potatoes.  Prepare your dressing by mixing all your ingredients in the above list.  Pour the dressing into the salad and stir it all very slowly.  Try not to mash the potatoes while you are doing this.  At last add the chopped parsley to the salad.  Leave the salad to rest for about an hour before you serve.