Tag Archive for 'potato'

Tortilla d’oro

Published
by
marc
on June 13, 2008
in Spanish and Vegetarian
. 12 Comments

Despite my penchant for mid afternoon naps, rice and seafood dishes, and good red wine, no one has ever mistaken me for Spanish. But as I looked at a display of pheasant, duck and ostrich eggs at Whole Foods today I suddenly got a craving for eggs and potatoes cooked in a pan until golden brown and crispy on the outside while soft and luscious on the inside.

The dish of course is a Spanish tortilla (not to be confused with a Mexican flour or corn tortilla which are tasty in their own right). I’m not even going to try to claim authenticity for my rendition as I’ve added cream and cheese to it, but my experience with tortillas have been that there is no set way to make them.

I gave it the name (which translates to tortilla of gold) because I used sliced Yukon Gold potatoes which along with the eggs gave it a golden color all the way through. If you want to go for a more traditional shape, use a smaller pan so the tortilla comes out looking more like a wheel of cheese. I went with a thinner tortilla as I was hungry and didn’t feel like waiting for a thicker one to cook through. It also makes it a lot easier to flip and crisp (though it doesn’t have as creamy a center as a thicker one).

I served it with a tomato and pimenton (smoked paprika) jam and grilled morcilla and chorizo. The spicy sausages and sweet smokey jam made wonderful accompaniments. I’ve also taken to serving almost everything lately (as I’m sure you’ve seen in the photos) with baby green salads tossed with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, a grind of pepper and a pinch of smoked salt.

If you have leftover jam, it’s great the next morning on some crusty multi-grain bread with some slices of cheese.

What’s your favourite egg dish?
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Yuca with yogurt mojo

Published
by
marc
on May 23, 2008
in Cuban
. 5 Comments

This yuca was a spontaneous purchase I made yesterday while at Wholefoods. It’s a long thick root that looks like a giant sweet potato with a waxy scaly skin. I’ve never cooked it before and have only eaten it a handful of times and yet this staple in many parts of the world called to me as I was heading to the cashier.

Yuca also known as “cassava root” is the the tuber below a cassava plant. According to Wikipedia, “the cassava plant gives the highest yield of food energy per cultivated area per day among crop plants, except possibly for sugarcane”. Both the leaves and the roots are eaten, and the roots are turned into flour which is used to make tapioca, boba, bread, etc.

But there’s a catch: it contains a compound that turns into cyanide in the presence of an enzyme found in the plant. The leaves have a particularly high concentration of this compound but it’s also found in the roots. Luckily, cooking renders it harmless, so just make sure it’s cooked all the way and you’ll be fine.

It’s got a texture somewhere between potato and pumpkin with a slight sweetness. Doused in olive oil and dressed with a garlic yogurt mojo sauce, it makes for a great side for fish and meat dishes. The tart yogurt and lemon give it a nice light taste while the potent raw garlic adds a ton of peppery flavour.

How do you like to prepare yuca?

1 small yuca (cassava root) peeled and cut into large even sized chunks
1 garlic clove finely minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C plain yogurt
1 Tbs lemon juice
olive oil
cilantro leaves

Add the yuca to a large pot of salted water and bring to boil. Boil until you can pass a fork through a piece of yuca. You want it cooked through, but you also don’t want to over cook it as it will lose its shape.

Mash the minced garlic and salt together to form a paste then add the yogurt and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

When the yuca is cooked, drain and dump into a bowl. Add copious amounts of olive oil while gently tossing until the surface of the yucca is slightly shiny. Plate the yuca and pour the yogurt mixture on top. Scatter some cilantro leaves on top and grind a little black pepper to finish.

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Lemony potato salad

Published
by
marc
on March 12, 2008
in Salad, Side and Vegetable
. 1 Comment

Lemony potato salad

If you’re not a big fan (or even if you are a fan) of the starchy mayonnaise that usually passes for potato salad, give this recipe a try. It’s much less creamy and if you’re totally anti-mayo, you can just omit it and replace it with an equal amount of olive oil. It’s lemony, with a little bite coming from the briny capers and a little crunch coming from the pickled onions and cucumber.

Try adding some different spices like basil, dill or caraway. A little whole grain mustard complements the capers nicely and adds another textural element as well.

2 russet potatos cut into 3/4″ cubes

1 Tsp kosher salt
1/4 small onion sliced as thin as possible
2″ length of hothouse cucumber seeded, quartered and thin

1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs good olive oil
1 Tbs mayonaise (optional, if omitting add another Tbs olive oil)
1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 Tbs drained capers

Boil the potatoes in ample water until soft enough to stick a fork through.

While the potatoes are cooking, put the sliced onions and cucumbers in a bowl with the salt and add some water. This pickles them, breaking down the cell walls of the veggies and releasing water making them more crunchy. Let them sit for about 10 minutes then squeeze out as much of the water as you can using your hands (the more water you get out, the crunchier they’ll be).

Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, mayo, and salt to make the dressing.

Drain the potatoes well and put into medium bowl and cover with the dressing while still warm. Gently combine the potatoes and dressing trying not to smash the potatoes too much. Add the onions, cucumber, and capers and mix until evenly distributed. Taste to make sure it’s okay, you can add more lemon, more salt, or even a pinch of sugar if you want to mellow it out a bit.

Serve it warm or let it come to room temperature.

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