Warm Potato Salad with Ham

If there is one thing I am guilty of, it's frequently buying more potatoes than we can conceivably use. The potato is one of my favourite vegetables and I just always love to have lots of them around. I have even been known to have nothing but a plate of potatoes for my tea, simply boiled and served with lots of butter, salt and pepper . . . just because I love them so . . .

But . . . I digress.



I love them simply boiled, baked, mashed, fried and I especially love them made into tasty salads. My mother's version of potato salad is one of my favourites. She always diced cold boiled potatoes into small cubes, and then added some grated onion, cubed cucumber, chopped celery, chopped boiled egg and then Kraft Miracle Whip, along with some seasonings. then of course there was that extra special touch of love she put into it. Somehow mine never manages to taste as good as the memory of hers does . . . funny how that goes.

I'm afraid that her potato salad kind of spoiled me for every really enjoying anyone else's . . . and I have never bought a store made potato salad that made me happy . . . stogged full of mayo and lacking in flavour. ugh . . .



I do also really enjoy a potato salad when it's made with a lovely herby vinaigrette dressing. This is one I make from time to time and we always enjoy it . . . tangy and warm and full of lovely bits of salty ham. (Over here I have learned that ham is called gammon, until it is cooked, then it is ham.)

This made an especially delicously light early Spring supper which we ate along with some crusty rolls, after an especially full day of gardening . . . looking out over the patio at our efforts. Life is good.



*Warm Potato Salad with Ham*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

I love potato salads and often make them in various ways. This is one of my favourite versions. I just love the tang of the gerkins and capers along with the saltiness of the ham.

1 1/2 pounds of new potatoes, peeled
4 ounces cooked ham, chopped or thinly sliced (1/4 pound)
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
2 TBS tiny capers, rinsed and drained well
8 french gerkins, chopped
3 TBS chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

For the Dressing:
1 TBS red wine vinegar
1 tsp grainy Dijon mustard
4 TBS olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the potatoes in a pot of salted water and bring to the boil. Cook until just fork tender and then drain and place into a bowl. Cut any large ones into smaller pieces. Add the ham, shallots, capers, gherkins and parsley. Gently toss together.

Whisk the vinegar and mustard together in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste with some salt and pepper. Pour over the potatoes and toss to blend together all the flavours. Allow to set for 10 to 15 minutes before serving, in order to allow the potatoes to absorb the dressing. Serve warm.

Harissa Potatoes

Harissa is a Tunisian hot chili sauce commonly eaten in North Africa, whose main ingredients are piri piri (a type of chili pepper), serrano peppers and other hot chili peppers and spices such as garlic paste, coriander, red chili powder, caraway as well as some vegetable or olive oil. I have never been to North Africa, but I confess I love harissa!



I usually buy the Rose Harissa Paste by Belazu. It is a heady combination of rose petals and over forty spices, which give this paste a very unique aroma and complex, yet unmistakably spicy, taste. It has a hot kick to it but the rose petals in the sauce provide a unique balance to the chilli heat. I like a bit of spice, but not a lot, so the Rose Harissa Paste is perfect for me. OF course you can adjust the heat by adding more or less, according to your own taste.



I often toss hunks of potatoes with a bit of oil and harissa paste and roast them in the oven until they are all crisp and golden, with a bit of delicious heat and spice. I also add some to my chunky oven wedges that I like to make from time to time, oh so good with a sour cream dip.



Today I chose to pan fry some of the salad potatoes we grew last summer, the pink fir ones, in a mixture of olive oil, onions, garlic, spices and some rose harissa paste. I think they turned really lovely. (We've had the potatoes stored in a covered bin filled with sand just outside our back door and they have kept beautifully.)



Nicely spiced with crunchy bits . . . beautifully coloured and just spicy enough without going over the top.



We enjoyed these tonight with some grilled chicken breasts and vegetables. They were scrumdiddlyumptious! I have always loved pan fries, but these take pan fries to a whole new level!



*Harissa Potatoes*
Serves 4Printable Recipe

Spicy and delicious with little cripsy bits. These go very well with roasted meats, poultry or grilled fish.

3 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
750g of waxy potatoes (salad type), thickly sliced (about 1 1/2 pounds) (I used pink fir today)
5 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 heaped tsp of harissa, or more to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
a large handful of coriander leaves, chopped (cilantro)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook, stirring for about 1 minute. Add the potatoes. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, harissa, cumin and sea salt. Mix together well. Add enough boiling water to barely come halfway up the potatoes. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 20 minutes, gently. Remove the lid and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes longer, until cooked through, tender, beginning to turn golden and the water has all been absorbed. Stir in the lemon juice and coriander and serve.

You can find recipes to make your own Rose Harissa here, and regular Harissa, here.

A Weekend in Amsterdam

Eurostar were kind enough to send me and a friend off on a jolly to Amsterdam for a weekend. Imagine my surprise when we turned up at Citizen M to find the shower open plan to the bed (which we already knew we were sharing...). But we were there for one thing and one thing only - to do some eating.


We headed to Albert Cuypstraat to Albina for some Surinamese food. Suriname had been a former colony of the Dutch Guiana (thanks Wikipedia) and subsequently Amsterdam has a high population of Dutch Surinamese. Fried potatoes turned up first, topped with fish floss which we drenched with caramel soy sauce and a spicy picalilli that was on the table.

Roasted chicken and char siu pork arrived in 'moki meksi' sauce with white rice; this is seemingly the roasting juices of the meat with some soy. Star of the show was the chicken curry - chunks of chicken served on the bone in a light curry sauce with potatoes, an egg and topped with a flaky and piping hot roti. We dug in with gusto. For 10 Euro each with a beer, Albina was a bit of a gem. I know nothing about Surinamese food but even though it was half way around the world from it, it reminded me a lot of Malaysian food.

The next day we took to the streets in search of some interesting food. Raw herring had been recommended to me and are are apparently quite plentiful, mostly on street corners in solid stands, displaying their wares behind a glass case. We sampled two, the best coming from Frens Heringshandel, off the flower market in Koningsplein - unfortunately the picture above is of the inferior version. Still, at around 3 Euro each the soft white bun is split and stuffed with the herring - raw? Cured? - and then topped with diced white onion and sliced pickles. I won't lie; this does make you honk of fishy onions, but it was delicious. The herring flesh is really soft and yielding, while the sharpness of the onions and pickles lifts the richness.

A recommendation from @ediblethings took us down to Voetboogstraat to Vleminckx Sausmeesters, a hole-in-the-wall chip shop. The queue was at least 10 strong (I'll admit, they were rather bleary / glazed of the eyes...) and when we got our chips I found out why. They were amazing. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and well seasoned, we had ours topped with mayonnaise and diced onion. We were going for an oniony day.

We couldn't resist trying the Febo automats. A vending machine dispensing deep fried snacks and burgers? Yes please. We played it safe and went for a veggie cheese and mushroom croquette and it came out piping hot, crunchy on the outside and soft and yielding from the inside. It was filthily addictive.

After a cycle round the city screeching with terror - look, those trams are silent deathtraps - we turned up at the train station two hours late having misread the ticket. My friend and I realised at exactly the same point, and the sight of her horrified face remains etched deeply into my memory. Eurostar switched our seats with ease and thankfully we made it back to London on the last train back.

Eurostar go to Amsterdam from £99 return. It does take 5 hours though.

Breakfast for Lunch . . . Egg and Potato Wraps

I've been wanting one of these for days now . . . I know, I'm a naughty girl. I just can't help myself.

These are so easy to make and so very tasty. They don't even have to be all that fattening . . . well, depending on the type of bacon you use . . . and how much oil or butter you use in the pan. I like to use cooking spray. That way I can control it better.



Nicely browned potatoes, onions and peppers . . . lightly seasoned and sprinkled over a nice piece of bacon . . . not too crisp. (The way I like it.) Then topped with some softly scrambled eggs, salsa and cheese and wrapped up in a nice warm tortilla.



Ok . . . so technically you could call this a breakfast burrito . . . I eat mine out of hand, coz I'm a bohemian . . . wild wooded colonial . . . Todd's a Brit through and through, and from the old school. He must have a knife and fork . . . and truth be told, he'd just as soon not have the wrap part of this at all.



Quick, easy and satisfying, and quite, quite tasty.

It's a wrap.



*Egg and Potato Wraps*
For one serving
Printable Recipe

You can increase the amounts according to however many people you are wanting to serve. This is quick easy and tasty!

1 cold cooked potato, coarsely chopped ( peeled or not as you wish)
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 small pepper (green, red, whatever), chopped
salt
pepper
oil or cooking spray
1 thick slice of back bacon (smoked or not, as you wish)
1 large egg, beaten

To serve:
1 warmed flour tortilla
grated cheese
salsa

Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Spray with cooking spray and grease with a bit of oil, about 1 tsp. Add bacon and cook until it's as crisp as you like it. Remove and set aside, keeping it warm. Add the potato, peppers, and onion slices. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and the potato is beginning to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside, keeping warm. Wipe the pan out with some paper toweling. Lightly spray again and then scramble the egg, over medium low heat, just until the egg is cooked through, but still moist.

Take your warm tortilla. Lay the bacon in the middle of it, leaving about a 2 inch space at the bottom end. Cover with the potatoes, and then the eggs. Sprinkle with some cheese and salsa if desired. Wrap snuggly, leaving the top end open.

Eat and enjoy, either in your hands or with a knife and fork. I'm a hand person. Todd . . . well, he's British . . . knife and fork all the way.

Note: if you want, you can add other vegetables to the potatoes for added interest, like chopped courgettes. Nom! Nom! (or even some herbs)



Over in The Cottage today a delicious Holiday Fudge Wreath. Perfect for gift giving if you are so inclined!

Blue Cheese and Cheddar Stovies

Ahhhh . . . stovies . . . that traditional Scottish Dish which consists of potatoes, leftover roast from the Sunday roast, and onions stewed in beef drippings and broth on top of the stove . . . until the potatoes are tender and golden . . . and the whole thing becomes amazingly deliciously scrummy. Kind of like a leftover Sunday lunch stew I guess.



These are not stovies in that old tradition . . . I mean there's no meat in sight . . . and I've added cream to the broth, and herbs . . . but it is basically a potato and onion stew . . . cooked in a skillet on top of the stove, until the potatoes are meltingly tender and beginning to brown a bit on the bottom . . .



Sprinkled with cheese and then placed into a hot oven so that the cheese gets all golden and browned in bits . . . these are fabulously delicious.

Each mouthful . . . rich, cheesy, creamy . . . oniony, herby . . . moreishly scrummy.



You get those nice crispy brown bits of potato on the bottom. That oozingly rich sauce. The melted cheese gilding it all with more scrum almost than a body can handle. Blue cheese and strong cheddar . . . oh what a beautiful marriage.



Meat free. . . and on Monday too. If you use a vegetable stock and vegetarian cheeses, it is completely vegetarian . . . but don't shoot me for not being that pedantic. I do my best.



*Blue Cheese and Cheddar Stovies*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Potatoes, onions, cream and cheese. Oh my goodness! Heaven on earth!

1 TBS butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
4 medium to large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (a generous pound)
a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves stripped (about 2 tsp)
125ml of chicken broth (1/2 cup)
125ml of double cream (1/2 cup)
1 bay leaf
4 ounces strong cheddar cheese, grated (1 cup)
1 ounce of blue cheese, crumbled (1/4 cup)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
a few thyme leaves to garnish

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Melt the butter in a large oven proof skillet over medium high heat. Once it begins to foam, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until it softens and begins to turn golden brown. Toss in the garlic and thyme leaves. Cook, stirring for about 30 seconds. Add a pinch of salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Add the potatoes, chicken broth and cream. Bring to a simmer and then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook, covered, for about 10 minutes.

Remove the cover and the bay leaf. Sprinkle both cheeses evenly over top. Place the skillet into the heated oven and cook for 15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and slightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with a few fresh thyme leaves to garnish.



Over in The Cottage today, Crispy Fried Potatoes with Eggs.

Smashed Roasted New Potatoes and a Giveaway Winner!

We have a lot of potatoes in our cold room now . . . all homegrown, three different varieties, and all of them small. The Toddster learned an important lesson this year on how to plant and care for potatoes. Unfortunately it is a lesson he learned the hard way, as we are now stuck with tons of baby potatoes to use up. Not so good for mashing I'm afraid . . . but great for salads, boiled and roasted like this!



These get all crispy on the outsides . . . and stay moreishly fluffy on the insides.



That final breaking open, cracks the skin so that some of that tasty fluff pours out and crunches up a bit in the final baking . . . with the help of a bit of Olive Oil.



A few flakes of sea salt . . . a good grinding of black pepper . . . and some fresh rosemary leaves . . . and you have tasty little bits fit for a king.



These even make good appetizers especially when you use the really tiny ones and serve them with a moreish dip . . . adjust the times accordingly as smaller ones won't need to bake as long.



We love 'em just as they are. It's a good thing too . . . as I forsee a lot of these tasty little babies in our future. ☺




*Smashed Roasted New Potatoes*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is a great way to cook baby new potatoes. Crisp on the outsides and soft and fluffy inside.

16 small new potatoes, unpeeled
2 TBS light olive oil
a few sprigs fresh rosemary
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 8. Place a baking tray into the oven to heat.

Toss the potatoes together with 1 TBS of the oil to coat. Spread them out onto the hot baking tray. Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Flip the potatoes over and then gently squash them down with the back of a large metal spoon. Strip the leaves from the rosemary sprigs and sprinkle over top along with some sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle with the remainder of the oil.

Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the potatoes are crispy and golden brown.



I hope you all remember this little Giveaway I posted before I went away on Holidays, and I hope you'll all forgive me for having taken overly long in picking a winner! I've been spending lots of time coddling the Toddster, and thankfully he is now starting to feel a lot better. Your patience in waiting has been rewarded however, as I am adding a Bero Baking Book to the Prize!



It's a tasty little book, chock full of good basic home type of baking recipes. I am sure it will go great with the Cook's Measure.

I don't know how to post it here, but I used one of those online number pickers and it picked the number 22. Suze, you are the winner. Please send me your postal details at mariealicejoan at aol dot com and I'll pop it off to you asap!

(Post Script) Alas I counted wrong, Janet is indeed number 22, so Janet you will also be getting a Cook's Measure. Two lucky winners!)

Thanks so much to all of you good sports who played along, and take heart . . . knowing me I'll be giving something else away sometime soon!!



In The Cottage today, Beans and Weiners Under Cornbread.

Potato, Tomato, Corn and Basil Salad

We sure are enjoying the potatoes from our garden. We've harvested all the early's now and are working on salad potatoes. Does anything on earth taste as good as a sweet new potato that you have grown yourself???



I think not!! Most things you grow yourself taste infinitely better, at least that's my opinion!

The other night I made Potatoes Lyonnaise with them, and they were soooo delicious. All buttery and oniony and moreishly scrummy. I had the leftovers for lunch the next day. (Yes, all by myself too . . . tis the cook's prerogative you know!)



Other days we have them steamed and then rolled in melted butter and herbs.



Most days though, I like to have them in a salad . . . there is no end to the variety of salads you can make with new potatoes . . .



They go so well with most things. Today I dug an oldie out of my files and made a tasty Potato, Tomato, Corn and Basil salad. It went down very well with a simple grilled steak.



Fresh flavours, pretty colours, and oh so delicious!



*Potato, Tomato, Corn and Basil Salad*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

The delicious blend of flavours in this salad is outstanding, The tartness of the lemon dressing along with the peppery sweetness of the basil are so appealing to the taste buds and the colours are a veritable feast for the eyes!

1 pound of red or white salad potatoes, cleaned
2 cups of corn kernels, fresh, frozen or tinned (fresh is better)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small red onion, peeled and thinlysliced
1 bunch of fresh basil, rinsed and dried
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
the juice of two lemons
1 tsp sea salt
freshly grated black pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. Cook them until they are just fork tender, about 15 minutes. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and drain them well. Add the corn (if you are using fresh) and cook it for 5 minutes, in the same water. Drain that well also, when done.

Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters if large and place them into a large salad bowl. Add the corn, tomatoes, and onion. Toss gently to combine. Tear the basil leaves or julienne them, and add them to the mix, along with the olive oil and lemon juice, again tossing gently to combine. Season with the salt and pepper and serve.