Cider House Rules

The house rules regarding cider around here are simple - we don't drink it, we cook with it. The hard variety, that is. I find even the driest hard ciders a bit sweet for my taste when it comes time for a frosty relaxing brew, so we usually opt for beer (although we have been known to cook with that, as well as drink it). You will be pleased to know though, that when there is cider left over in the bottle after completing a recipe, I do polish it off. Nothing gets wasted around here.... in one sense of the word 'wasted' anyway ;-)

This recipe is a great use of hard cider. Because it is slow cooked, it doesn't end up tasting overly alcoholic (and neither do I believe it could be, given how long it cooks for), so the kids eat it just fine, and no one gets wasted in any sense of the word. The recipe hails from a dog-eared scrap of a print-out from a website that I stowed away some years ago, lost, re-found, and probably lost and re-found again. I just checked and the website it came from is no longer in existence unfortunately. Clearly my hoarding tendencies and storage capabilities have a longer lifespan than the site had.

I am not always a fan of pork chops, but I did use those for this recipe. Often I find them tough and dry, but in the slow-cooker they tenderize beautifully. If you are worried though, I would use pork tenderloin (called pork fillet in the UK, I think). In line with my usual preferences, it makes a great one-pot meal. I did supplement with some vegetable sides, but it would also be easy to stir in some extra vegetables in the last 15 minutes of cooking, if you are that way inclined. The left-overs also make a great thermos-full for a packed lunch the following day (yup, all three kids still refusing to eat sandwiches..... grrrrr).

Cider Pork Stew
Serves 6

2lbs pork (chops, or fillet/tenderloin), cubed
3 TBSP flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
4 medium potatoes, cut into 1" cubes/wedges (no need to peel)
2 onions, halved and sliced
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes
2 cups hard apple cider
1 TBSP cider vinegar
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup flour

1. Combine the 3 TBSP flour, salt, thyme and pepper in a large Ziploc bag or bowl. Toss with the meat.
2. Put carrots, potatoes, onion and apple in the slow cooker stoneware, and top with the meat cubes.
3. Combine apple cider and vinegar and pour over the meat.
4. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.
5. Turn cooker to high. Blend the 1/4 cup flour with 1/2 cup cold water and stir into the crockpot. Cover and cook for 15 minutes until thickened.

Smokin' good chili and the redemption of the Brussels sprout

I have already posted up three different chili recipes, so at this point, you've got to be a pretty awesome dish to make the list. This one made the grade for sure. It isn't as straightforward as 'The easiest chili in town', and it doesn't already contain the whole grains your gut needs to function as it should like Chili con Wheat Berries does. Neither is it a 'throw it all in a pot and shove it in the oven' dish like the Oven Barbecue Chili, but this one is worth the minimal additional effort of stirring the pot a few times, and putting on some rice to go with it. Plus it has a delicious smoky flavor that makes it not your average chili.

The recipe comes from a recent article in Sunset magazine, heralding it's 25 all time best recipes. It is no surprise to me that this one made the list. I served it alongside some delicious roasted Brussels Sprouts, the recipe for which is also included below. As a child, Brussels Sprouts were a vegetable that I dreaded. Whenever they were served (and to avoid trouble, my mother didn't serve them often), the rule was that I had to eat one. Evan that was a tough rule to follow. As an adult, and a parent myself, I am trying to ensure that we eat a variety of different vegetables in our house, and therefore decided to give Brussels Sprouts another chance. I'm kind of glad I did. Roasted in this way, they take on a crispy texture and a nutty flavor, enhanced with the addition of lemon and parmesan (what ISN'T enhanced by that combination, I ask you?!). I can't say they were a hit with all the Farrars around the table, but three out of five isn't bad, and one of those three had seconds!

Smoky Beef and Bacon Chili
Serves 5

2 oz chopped/cubed pancetta or thick-cut bacon
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1 1/2 TBSP chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted for more smoky flavor)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce (passata)
1 cup amber beer (I used Fat Tire)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 14.5 oz can pinto/kidney beans, drained and rinsed
rice, sour cream, sliced green onions and shredded sharp cheddar cheese to serve

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon until it starts to brown (about 4 minutes). Add onion, lower heat the medium, cover and cook until onion is translucent, stirring occasionally (about 4 minutes). If the onion and bacon start to stick, add a little of the beer at this point to loosen the mixture in the pan.
2. Add garlic and cook for a further 1 minute.
3. Increase heat to medium-high and add beef. Break up beef as it browns with a spoon. Once all the beef is brown, add the spices and salt and cook for 1 minute more.
4. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, beer and Worcestershire sauce, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partly cover and cook for 30 minutes.
5. Add beans and cook for a further 10 minutes, uncovered. Serve over rice with toppings.

Roasted Shredded Brussels Sprouts

12-14oz shredded Brussels Sprouts
1/4 cup lemon flavored olive oil (or olive oil, plus zest of 1 lemon)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
2. Toss the shredded sprouts with the olive oil, salt and pepper in a large roasting pan.
3. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring at the halfway point. The sprouts will turn brown, but don't worry, that just makes them extra tasty, not burned!
4. Stir in the cheese and return to the oven for 2 minutes until cheese is melted.

A snuggie, in food form

Remember when these were all the rage?

Go on, admit it - if you didn't own one, then you wanted one. What better way to warm up on the sofa on a cold winter's evening, or scare away people ringing the doorbell trying to sell you sponges? Why, they even came in child-sizes, meaning that the whole family could indulge (and make that poor unsuspecting person at the door think you had formed a cult of style-averse fleece fanatics). And even the family pet was not left out:

If that didn't result in a spate of calls to the humane society, then I'm frankly appalled.

Anyway, it is not my job here to offer fashion advice (although seriously, what WERE you thinking?). What if, though, there were a means of warming up, without resorting to forcing your family/fellow cult members to don 20 yards of brushed polyester fleece and brave the ensuing outbursts of static electricity? This is where I come in.

This dish is, quite seriously, the snuggie of the food world. It is a winter warmer that warms the cockles of your heart, and indeed any other cockles in dire need of defrosting. Take my word for it: after a bowl of this, I actually removed my slippers and wandered barefoot through the house. Yes indeed, it was fortunate no one rang the bell and tried to sell sponges that evening, because we pasty, shivery Brits rarely remove our fuzzy slippers, so it was a substantial lowering of my standards when it comes to appropriate attire.

The recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine, and hails from the French Alps, meaning you can even impress your friends and family by calling it 'Soupe Savoyarde'. I'm pretty sure that this also means that it is obligatory to serve it with wine. It may sound a tad odd (even after the wine you've already consumed whilst cooking it), to serve the bread and cheese beneath the stew, but trust me, it is beautiful the way it all melts together. Open your mind. As Dr. Seuss once said: "You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may."

White Winter Vegetable Stew
Serves 6-8

1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
2 TBSP butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
3 cups thinly sliced leek
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 turnips (or 1 large one), peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 small celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 cups water
2 cups whole milk
8 3/4" slices of French bread, lightly toasted
5 oz sharp white cheddar, sliced

1. Place potato in a medium bowl and cover with cold water to 1" above the potato. Set aside.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, but not browned (about 7 minutes).
3. Add leek and next four ingredients (through celery root) to pan. Place a piece of aluminium foil directly over the vegetable mixture. Cover the pan completely and then reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Discard foil.
4. Drain potatoes and add to the pan. Stir in 2 cups of water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are all tender, stirring occasionally.
5. Heat the milk in a small saucepan Taste and adjust seasoning if you so desire.
6. Place a bread slice in each individual serving bowl, and cover with slices of cheese. Ladle stew over the bread and cheese so they are covered.

Four-helpings-worthy!

Yep, FOUR helpings. And this from the kid who doesn't like pasta or sandwiches... That is an indication of success, and when coupled with the fact that everyone else around the table liked it too, it is enough to send the average home chef into a celebratory post-dinner stupor that merits another glass of wine, and maybe some of that leftover Christmas chocolate that she cunningly hid in the back of a cupboard containing stuff that the kids would never ever even try to access. Oh yes.

The dish in question is indeed pretty tasty, and is easy too (what a combo), being another slow-cooker dish. I accompanied it with some sautéed kale and some soft creamy polenta. I confess that the child in question did eschew the polenta (how can you NOT like polenta, particularly when it has parmesan in it?!), but you can't have everything. The recipe came from Judith Finlayson's The Vegetarian Slow Cooker, with the polenta side one that I have already blogged about here. The woman is a goddess.

Given that we needed quite a quantity of this dinner to feed the five (thousand) around our dinner table, I've doubled the quantities of this recipe, which left us with enough for two packed lunch portions today. If you have normal family members (as Judith clearly does), a smaller family, or smaller family members, then you might want to halve the quantities listed below.

 

 

Cheesy Fennel and Leek Bake

Serves 6 huge appetites

 

olive oil

4 bulbs fennel, leafy stems discarded, cored and sliced

6 leeks, halved and cut into 1/2" slices

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 tsp dried Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

1 28oz can diced tomatoes in juice

2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend

 

1. In a skillet heat some olive oil over medium high heat and sauté fennel in batches until lightly brown (about 5 minutes per batch). Transfer batches to slow cooker stoneware.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add more oil to pan if necessary. Saute leeks until softened (about 5 minutes). Add garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste, and cook for a further minute. Add tomatoes with their juice and bring to the boil. Transfer to slow cooker and mix together with fennel.

3. Cook on LOW for 6 hours (or HIGH for 3 hours). Stir in cheese, cover and cook for a further 15 minutes, until cheese is melted.

 

 



Get unstuffed

This post is dedicated to a great friend of mine, Heather. Everyone should have a friend like Heather. We met online, she lives over 2000 miles away, and we have only met in person twice, I believe. However, we have shared a great deal. To give you some idea of what an important person she is in my life, here's just one example. The Red Cross recommends that you give each family member the contact details for an emergency contact person who lives outside of your home state. After a disaster, such as an earthquake, it is apparently often easier to reach someone by phone who is far away, rather than someone who is local. This means that you can establish contact with someone whom your other family members may also have been able to contact, and find out that everyone is OK, even if you are not with each other, and unable to reach each other for a while. When we were setting up our family's plan in case 'the Big One' comes, Heather volunteered to be our contact. Now that is a big deal in and of itself, but having done so, Heather then wrote a handwritten letter to my kids, whom she has never met, and introduced herself, explained who she was, welcomed them to contact her etc. She's awesome. I rest my case.

As if that weren't enough, Heather gave me this recipe, as a great comfort dish for a cold winter's night. Suffice to say, it is the dish that my eldest son requests more than anything else. And it makes me think of Heather whenever he does, which is no bad thing! Everyone in the house eats it, and if such behavior were permitted, they would lick the plates clean (which probably means they do it, when my back is turned anyway). Because I am an interfering so-and-so, I have tweaked a little, using ground turkey instead of ground beef, because our family simply prefers that, and sprinkling the top with cheese, because... well, because cheese is fabulous. But the credit is all Heather's. Thanks Heather, for making their eyes light up, filling the Farrar tummies, and for being... well... awesome.

Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole
Serves 6

olive oil
1 lb lean ground turkey (or beef)
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 28oz can diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup water
3/4 cup of brown rice (use one that only requires 15-20 minutes of cooking time, not one that needs longer)
salt and pepper
1 16 oz package of coleslaw mix, or equivalent of shredded cabbage and carrots
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Brown the onion, turkey and garlic together in a large skillet, stirring to break up the meat.
3. When the meat is no longer pink and the onion is softened, add half of the can of tomatoes, the water and the rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Bring the mixture to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Place half of the coleslaw mixture in the bottom of a 9" x 9" casserole dish (or equivalent), which has been sprayed with oil spray. Pour half of the meat mixture over that. Follow with the remaining coleslaw mixture and then the remaining meat. Drizzle about 1/2 of the remaining tomatoes over the top (so about 1/4 of the can in total will remain leftover). Sprinkle with cheese and a good grinding of black pepper.
6. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 1.5 hours.

My bread and butter

Bread and butter pudding, baked French toast, strata, eggy bread.... doesn't matter what you call it: there is nothing more comforting! I have recently posted up two such paragons of deliciousness in the savory realm (see here and here), and one in the sweet, breakfasty domain (click here). Today's treat is another savory dish, which makes a perfect winter's evening meal. accompanied by a salad.

I have to say, I was living dangerously with this one. No, not in a hang-by-your-fingernails-death-defyingly dangerous way, but I did at least throw all caution regarding dinner table harmony and child fulfillment to the wind. Firstly, I didn't have a recipe per se, but was working off a recipe for a similar dish made in a slow cooker. However, the idea of finding a dish to put inside the slow cooker stoneware, then surround it with water, yada yada yada... that all seemed like hard work, which is kind of the reverse of what the slow cooker should be. Plus. you can easily make a baked bread and butter pudding in advance, then stick it in the oven on a timer. This is actually advantageous, since it means the bread has some time to soak up all the liquid, making for an extra-squidgy dish (ooops, hang on a minute while I wipe the dribble from my keyboard).

The other reason why this dish was a bit of a risk was because of the ingredients - it uses olive bread, which unsurprisingly contains olives, and is therefore destined to make at least one of my children grimace. And it uses tomatoes, which is enough to make another one choke at the very thought (although not the same child, obviously, because that would be way too straightforward, wouldn't it?!)

However, I am pleased (and palpably amazed) to note that all three ate this up. Crikey. Clearly, bread and butter puddings have magic powers. Don't know why I should be surprised, quite frankly, but there it is.

Olive and Tomato Bread and Butter Pudding
Serves 6

1/4 cup salted butter
1 loaf of olive ciabatta - preferably at least one day old
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 TBSP sun dried tomatoes (not the kind packed in oil, but the dry kind)
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups evaporated milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 28oz can diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups grated fontina cheese, or an Italian cheese blend

1. Reconstitute sun-dried tomatoes by covering them with boiling water and leaving them to soak for 30 minutes. Then drain and chop finely.
2. Cut bread into 1" thick slices and butter them on both sides. Then chop into cubes and put into a large mixing bowl.
3. Drain can of tomatoes over a bowl. Discard 1/2 cup of the drained juice, then mix remaining juice with the drained tomatoes.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, milk, salt and pepper until blended. Whisk in tomato and juice mixture, and then stir in 1 1/2 cups of the cheese.
4. Pour this over the bread cubes and stir until well coated. Push the bread down so that it is under the liquid as much as possible. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Transfer bread mixture into an oiled baking dish (I used a 9" x 9" dish) and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake in oven for 40 minutes, or until set, tinged with gold and smelling amazing :-)

Done with salad... for now

It couldn't last forever. Sometimes a plate of salad, however delicious, just doesn't cut it. Last night was one such night. We needed a hot meal, quite frankly. So I decided to try out something from my new cookbook -  Williams Sonoma's 365 days of  One Pot Meals. You know how I feel about things that all go in one pot. That is my kind of meal! The way I feel about Williams Sonoma, meanwhile, is mixed. In my next life, I wouldn't mind at all having a kitchen stocked with over-priced shiny All Clad cookware, and special appliances that only make one esoteric kind of Swedish breakfast doughnut. However, in this life, I find going into Williams Sonoma fills me with a combination of sticker-shock and disgust. However, this cookbook looks pretty good - and I will be cooking all the dishes I fancy from it in my Target saucepans, after breakfasting on cold cereal. So there.

What I like about this cookbook is that it is organized by day - not that you have to cook that particular dish on that particular day. That would be a tad OCD. However, because it is organized in this way, it means it is easier to cook seasonally. True enough, it makes it a little more difficult to act on the impulse to, say, cook something with beef, since it doesn't give you a section with beef recipes; instead they are dotted throughout the book depending on what other seasonal ingredients accompany the meat. However, there is an index. And if the way the book is organized means you browse more, then sobeit. Personally, I love nothing more than sitting, 'window-eating', by flipping through a cookbook. For someone addicted to trying out new recipes, this is a treat indeed.

Whilst the dishes claim to be 'one-pot meals', I do think that some need a side of vegetables, if we are to get anywhere near the 53 portions of fruit and vegetables we are supposed to put away each day. (Possibly an exaggeration, but forgive me, as I have no patience for dietary recommendations today, having heard on the radio this morning that women should have no more than 8 alcoholic drinks per day. WHAT???!) So to accompany the beef dish below, I baked some zucchini. Now, I realize that this is about as far from in season as humanly possible, but I'm trying, and the zucchini was already in my fridge, so my carbon footprint was already perilously swollen. And it's a side, so know that at least 3/4 of the meal below is seasonally appropriate! My aim with the zucchini was basically to 'pull a Jessica Seinfeld' of sorts, and hide the fact that it was zucchini, a vegetable which 2 1/2 out of 3 of my kids claim is "disgusting" (for number 3, it varies, in a completely frustrating, random fashion). Clearly I was forgetting that all three kids are substantially older than 3, and are of at least average intelligence, so this strategy failed. But hey, my job is to put the healthy stuff on the table. I can't force-feed it to them. And it simply meant that there was more for my husband and I to enjoy.

Beef and Wild Rice Casserole
Serves 6

1 cup long-grain and wild rice blend
2 cups chicken broth
1 TBSP butter
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic salt
10 oz mushrooms, chopped
10 oz fresh baby spinach
8 oz sliced Muenster cheese (or any mild, cheese, if you can't get Muenster)

1. In a small saucepan with a tight fitting lid, bring rice, broth and butter to a boil, cover and simmer for 50 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
2. Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in a large frying pan and cook beef, breaking it up as you go, until no longer pink. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
3. Saute onion in fat left in the pan until it begins to soften, then add garlic, cumin, garlic salt and pepper to taste. Saute together, stirring continuously, for a further 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and toss to coat with the oil. Saute the mixture until the mushrooms are soft, browning, and have released their liquid. Mix mushroom mixture and rice into bowl with the beef. and stir to combine.
4. In the now empty frying pan, stir fry the spinach until wilted with some salt and pepper, adding more olive oil if necessary (I didn't need to).
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
6. Spray a 9" x 9" (or equivalent) baking dish, with olive oil spray, then add half of the beef mixture. Cover the beef layer with the spinach, then a layer of cheese slices. Add remaining beef, then put remaining cheese slices on the top.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly (if, like me, you make the casserole ahead, to cook later that day, then bake for 20 minutes so that it reheats through).

Oven-Roasted Zucchini (Courgette)
Serves 6
From foodnetwork.com

olive oil spray
3 zucchini, sliced into 1/8"-1/4" rounds
salt and pepper
pinch of paprika
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (or any coarse breadcrumbs, if you can't find panko)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped from stems and chopped.
1 TBSP olive oil

1. Unless your oven is already on for the casserole, preheat it to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Spray a 9"x13" pan with oil spray, then arrange the zucchini in rows of overlapping slices in the pan.
3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.
4. Make the topping, by mixing together the panko, parmesan, thyme and some salt and pepper. Add olive oil and stir until the breadcrumbs are all soaked with a yellow tint from the oil. Sprinkle this topping over the zucchini and bake until top is golden brown (30-35 minutes).

From memory - yikes!

The phrase "If memory serves me well..." is not one you'll see around here very often, since it is pretty much a given that my memory doesn't serve me well these days, and some days doesn't turn up to serve at all. The slide began some time ago. I remember one particularly frightening occasion when I was in the park with my (then toddling) kids, and chatting to another mother, who asked me where I lived. For a brief moment, I simply couldn't remember the name of the city I live in. Brief moment, yes, but long enough to be scary and sobering. Fortunately brief enough not to identify me as a complete loon who shouldn't be in charge of small children. Phew.

Anyway, occasionally, there is a brief flash of brilliance in the memory department. And yes, I am using the word brief deliberately again - long enough to allow me a moment of success at whatever incredibly important, earth-shattering task I am engaged in, whether it's math homework, working out my calendar for the coming week, or nuclear physics experiments. However, brief enough to prevent me from feeling like I'm twenty again....dammit.

This weeks flash of memory was in the form of a taste test of sorts. When I was younger, kid-free and obviously not concerned about money... perhaps it was the lack of ballet class fees, the gas requirements of a minivan, or that I didn't need to buy adult sized shoes for a growing teenage boy whose feet are growing about an inch per week... Anyway, I digress. Clearly I wasn't exactly concerned about over-expenditure, as I would occasionally buy lunch at the deli counter in Whole Foods. I know - very frivolous. One of my favorites was a penne pasta salad with smoked mozzarella. Why my memory decided to recall this the other day is a mystery to me. Clearly it had nothing more important to do. However, it did cause me to attempt to recreate the dish for dinner. I know we are on our post-Christmas purge, but if I don't serve some kind of carbohydrate, then the boys around the table may starve, or at least complain about their potential emaciated demise loudly and long enough to cause me to want to scratch my ears out.

I have to say that the result was pretty amazing - I could claim that it resembles the original with incredible accuracy, but that would be assuming that my memory of how that tasted is reliable, which I'm not quite ready to do, even if I do enjoy embracing its occasional flashes of brilliance. Nevertheless it is pretty tasty, if I, and my addled memory, do say so ourselves.

Penne Pasta Salad with Smoked Mozzarella
Serves a small army... or at least 5 Farrars as a side, plus 2 for lunch the following day

1 lb wholewheat penne
1 12 oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry
3 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
3/4 cup halved black olives
8 oz smoked mozzarella, cubed
6 green onions (spring onions), green parts only, finely chopped

Dressing:
1 cup reduced fat buttermilk
1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
2 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
2 TBSP fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh dill, finely chopped

1. Make dressing by whisking all ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Cook penne according to directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Combine penne with other salad ingredients, and then toss with the dressing - this recipe makes too much dressing. You'll probably need about 3/4 of the quantity. The rest is great on a spinach salad :-)

Potato salad redeemed

I'm not usually a fan of potato salad. Don't get me wrong, I love me some humble potato-ey starchy goodness with my dinner, but the combination of cold, powdery potato, raw onion and huge globs of mayonnaise isn't exactly my idea of foodie heaven. And whoever thought of adding gray hard-boiled eggs to the mixture needs their sanity (and taste-buds) testing. However, there are two potato salads that do make it to my table. Both of them are best served at room temperature, or even warm, which I think helps to assuage my usual aversion to potato salad. And both are gobbled up by my kids, meaning that doubling quantities is always worthwhile, as the daily 'OMG-what-do-you-give-children-who-don't-like-sandwiches-for-lunch?' dilemma is solved for at least the following day (particularly given that they don't mind their starch served chilled).

The first recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine, and is a recent discovery this week, during our post-Christmas purge. (OK, so I know that potato salad isn't exactly the most healthy and low-calorie side out there, but compared to what my family has been putting away over the holiday season, it is veritably virtuous!) The second recipe below is taken from Delia Smith's Summer Collection, and fulfills two of my family's golden rules at mealtime: there must be some kind of carbohydrate served or we may starve; and lemon juice makes everything taste fabulous. Over the years, I think I have made several truckloads of this recipe, and it never fails to all disappear. I've stayed relatively true to both recipes - you can't mess with perfection.

Fingerling Potato and Prosciutto Salad
Serves 4-6

2lbs fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise (if you can't find fingerlings, any new potatoes will do)
2 TBSP white wine vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
6 TBSP crème fraiche
2 tsp finely chopped fresh sage
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
6 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped

1. Place potatoes in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain, return to pan and stir in the vinegar. Cover and leave to cool to warm in the pan.
2. Combine barely warm potatoes and remaining ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently to combine.

*******

Warm Potato Salad with Lemon Chive Vinaigrette
Serves 4-6

2lb new potatoes, with their skins on, halved if large
4 TBSP lemon juice
grated zest of 1 lemon
4 TBSP olive oil
1 heaped tsp grain mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2 TBSP snipped fresh chives
4 green onions (spring onions) trimmed and sliced thinly

1. Place potatoes in a saucepan covered with boiling water and simmer for 15-20 minutes depending on their size, until tender. Drain and return to saucepan.
2. Make vinaigrette by whisking together, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, mustard, garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add vinaigrette to hot potatoes and toss together. Scatter in chives and green onions.