Best EVER Mashed Potato

Back in the day I used to work on film sets. No, not nearly as much fun as it might sound. No, I can't get a job with Peter Jackson, so don't ask.

Getting back to the topic, there is one thing that I will always remember fondly about working in film, and that is the catering. Well, not always. Certain jobs spring to mind and make me shudder, but for the most part, I remember being pretty well fed on most jobs.

The thing that amazed me most, however, was how excited people got when there was mashed potato on the menu.

People! I would say. It's mashed potato, for crying out loud! I would say.

It was only then that I realised how lucky I had been to have a mum who dished us up mashed potato on a fairly regular basis. As it turns out, a good old ladelful of mashed spud was a right royal treat for most people who weren't me.

Of course, as you can imagine, there are varying degrees of deliciousness to mashed spud. And over the years I've picked up a few little extras that tip the humble mashed spud over into the divine.

What a few film techs wouldn't give to eat dinner at my house one night!

World's Best Ever Mashed Potato

(Serves 4)200g Boiling Potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
1 large Kumera, peeled and diced as above
1/2 an onion, chopped
1/4 C Colby Cheese, grated
Freshly Ground Pepper and Salt
Milk
Butter

Rinse the potatoes and kumera, then add fresh water and salt and place on a high heat to boil. Meanwhile, fry up your onion and set aside (I did this first, as I then used the pan to cook some lovely lamb sausages - but I digress).
When the potatoes are cooked, and simply fall apart when you poke them with a fork, remove from the heat and drain the water off. If you want to keep a gluten-free thickener on hand, I recommend reserving this water and freezing it to add to soups or stocks later.
Add a knob of butter and a dash of milk to the potato, about 3T. Mix in.
Add the cooked onion and go wild with the fork. No flash equipment is required here, not even a potato masher. A humble old fork and a speedy wrist are all that's required to whip your spuds up to a creamy lather.
If it seems a bit dry, add a bit more milk until it flows freely through the tines.
Add the grated cheese and a little seasoning of pepper, and whip the cheese in.
Dish up in a ragged swirl in the centre of the plate. You will find there is no better accompaniment for gravy in the whole wide world.

Autumn Harvest

The time has come to dig up the garden, and see if all that neglect that I poured upon it resulted in any rewards worth reaping.

That's the good thing about potatoes; so long as you keep them watered, but not too watered, it's pretty hard to get it wrong.

Of course, a bit of care and attention can mean that you get it really right, and you find yourself almost drowning in the things, but if you just give it a go, like I did, and you get a lovely haul like this, then you'd have to be happy. I was.One big bowl of potatoes that we didn't have to buy. Woo!Boiled up with fresh mint straight from the garden... ...and tossed with butter. Delicious, and satisfying, in so many ways.
And we got our first pumpkins. The week I picked these, and dug the potatoes, we didn't have to get potatoes, pumpkin or tomatoes from the market. Ka-Ching!
We're still eating the tomatoes we grew on the front deck, and still picking the wild ones from the back garden. Gotta love this pretending-to-be-a-gardener thing.

Gnocchi, Gnocchi, Gnocchi on Heaven's Door

Yes, the sad puns don't get much sadder than that. However, you get the point.

Every culture has its own version of dumplings. The English have lovely glutinous globs of flour and butter, in China they wrap up pork in dumpling dough and steam them, and in Italy they make them out of potato and call them Gnocchi.

My sister asked me specially to have a go at gnocchi, because she's had some really good ones, and some really bad ones. Generally speaking, the bad ones have come from the supermarket in sealed plastic bags, and the good ones have been homemade or catered.

My own experiences of gnocchi have been, unfortunately, a combination: Mass produced gnocchi supplied as part of a catered meal, and I've never been impressed. So this time I did some research.

Eventually I settled on this recipe (scroll down a little to reach the recipe), give or take a few tricks and techniques and ingredients I noticed along the way. The key thing I found, and what I think distinguishes the rubbery shop bought stuff from the elusive light and delicious homemade type, is the handling. It's very important not to overwork the dough, as the air you create by grating the potato is what gives the gnocchi their lightness. I assume that commercial attempts at this are all done by soulless machines that crush the life out of the potato long before it ever gets as far as your mouth, thus the disparity of experiences as reported above.

I set out to remedy this cosmic injustice.

I just wish someone had told me how long it was going to take to do so.

Making good gnocchi took a long time. For the most part, I put this down to my not having a clue what I was doing, and I'd say that I could easily trim up the time and effort required with a bit of practice and the application of some cooking nouse, now that I've done it once.

But seriously, this is a dish for a rainy Sunday afternoon. Delicious, but labour intensive. My verdict: eating-wise, these were really well worth the time, but if I'd had anything else that had needed doing, it would have just become plain old hash browns.

Fresh Potato Gnocchi with Tuna Sauce (Serves 3)

Gnocchi Ingredients:
500g New Potatoes
75g Strong (Hi-Grade) Flour
25g Fresh Grated Parmesan
1 Small Egg, Beaten
Freshly Ground Pepper, Salt and Nutmeg, season to taste

Method (Direct from the Otago Daily Times, Wed 20th August 2008)Wash and boil the potatoes with the skins on until just cooked.

Drain and peel with a paring knife while still hot. (If the potatoes are not hot when peeled they can become gluey when mashed.) Mash or pass potatoes through a mouli, make a well in the centre and season.

Add egg, Parmesan and flour and mix together as you would scone dough.

It is important not to overwork the mixture.

Divide dough in half and roll out, on a floured surface, into two 2cm-thick lengths.

Cut through dough on the angle using a sharp knife or dough scraper.

For a clean cut, sprinkle a little flour over the dough before cutting.

Gently place gnocchi onto a tray and blanch in a large pot of salted boiling water.

The gnocchi will sink but rise to the surface when almost cooked.

Cook for one more minute and remove with a slotted spoon.

Chill in iced water, drain and toss in olive oil to prevent them sticking together.

Place gnocchi into a hot ovenproof non-stick pan with one tablespoon of olive oil.

Avoid stirring the gnocchi in the pan as you can damage the crust.

When a good colour is achieved, turn gnocchi over and place into a 180degC oven for 4-5min.

The Tuna Sauce, in comparison, is really really quick:

Tuna Sauce (Serves 3)

Ingredients:
1 Onion, Chopped fine
1 Large Fresh Tomato, Chopped
2T Worcester Sauce
Freshly Ground Salt And Pepper
1/8 Cup of Tomato Paste
2t Sugar
100g Tin of Sandwich Tuna
2T Sour Cream

Method:
Fry the onion and tomato in a small pan with the Worcester and seasonings. When the onion has softened, add the tomato paste and sugar, then the tuna.

Mix well, bring to a steady heat and then simmer until heated through. Shortly before serving, stir Sour Cream through, then remove from the heat.

Dish up on a plate with the hot gnocchi.
Serve with salad, and more sour cream. And after all that work, you better make sure that everyone who's sharing these with you really enjoys them.

Sweet Mash

Following on from yesterday's steak post, I wanted to push the veggie side too. I also posted an edit regarding the gravy, noting the Tomato Paste that I add to the pan during deglazing to give the gravy its body and colour.

The other winner on the plate was the Sweet Mash, which will go brilliantly with just about anything, and is another way of getting more veggies on your plate.

Sweet Mash

(Serves 4)

Peel and cube 2 Potatoes, 1 Kumera and either 1/8 of a large grey Pumpkin or a whole Butternut Pumpkin. Boil rapidly in salted water until soft. Mash up with a fork, adding a little milk and butter to make the mash creamy and frothy. Beautiful stuff.

Draniki

2008 is the International Year of the Potato. Over these two days (September 8-9), in Paris, France, the International Conference on Potato Issues and Prospects is being held. No, I have nothing to do with it. I'm not even in Paris. The closest event we have going on in NZ is the 7th World Potato Congress, in Christchurch, March 2009. Which isn't even the Year of the Potato, but that's the Kiwi Way. Even when it comes to honouring the noble Potato, we're fashionably late.

Had we been just across the ditch, we might have had the opportunity to attend the Pinaroo Spudfest in South Australia (April) or the Unveiling of Potato Sculptures in Trafalgar, Victoria (June). Trust the Aussies to give credit where its due.

By not being in Slovenia two days ago (and why not? you might rightly ask) I missed the 8th World Festival of Sauteed Potatoes. That would've been good to be at.

No, here in NZ the best we can do is eat our spuds with pride. Following on from yesterday's Pioneer Potatoes, today we present a Russian dish, Draniki, or Potato Pancakes. For some unknown reason, except that our eyes must have been bigger than our stomachs at some point in the not-too-distant past, we had a tray of frozen mashed potato in the freezer, which served our purpose perfectly. If you don't have pre-frozen mashed spud on hand, feel free to make yours the old-fashioned way. If anyone really needs the low-down on whipping up top-notch mashed spuds, leave a comment to that effect, and I'll gladly oblige. Either way, I suspect that it's best to let the mash cool before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Draniki

Basic Recipe:

200g cold creamy mashed potatoes
2 Eggs
Freshly ground Salt and Pepper to season
1 Finely chopped Onion
2-3 T Flour
Olive Oil to loosen as required

Mix these all together until you have a dough. Add a little flour or olive oil as necessary.
The Draniki can be rolled into patties and cooked at this stage, or you can add more ingredients to make them tastier, or to upgrade them from a side dish into a main. We added whole kernel corn (from a tin), finely chopped red onion, and grated cheese. But you could add pretty much anything that will be ok with the 10 mins or so that it takes to cook them in the frying pan. Tuna, capsicum, tomato, cooked bacon, whatever.
Melt some butter in a small non-stick frying pan until it's bubbling, then add the patties to the pan. Cook until brown on the bottom, then flip and cook until brown on the other side.
Just like that, you have Draniki. And to think that we didn't even know that's what they were called when we made them (I recall I was bathing Isaac while Dessert Chef C whipped these up after a long day on the road, so any mistakes are mine). Serve with a crisp green salad and your favourite sauces.

Father's Day Fuzzies

Yesterday was my second ever Father's Day, and I think that's worth making a big deal over. So what did I get for Father's Day?

I got to have a little sleep in. That's always good.

I got brought breakfast in bed, French toast with bacon and banana and maple syrup. Nom nom. No photos though, as I was still in bed, of course.

I got a Father's Day Gingerbread from Our Emma who came for a visit, which was really nice.

I got to pull the leaking guttering apart and repair it (fingers crossed).

I got to plant the aforementioned potatoes. Mmm, the fragrance of compost.

I got to go to the hardware store on my own - usually not allowed as it can have a devastating effect on the family finances. But to my credit I only got what I needed for the guttering and a strawberry plant for Dessert Chef C, since she cooked me such a yummy breakfast.

I got to go to the butcher's shop and talk cuts of roast beef with an expert.

I got to put all the leftover wood from the fence-building project under the house.

I got to split up some more firewood, because despite all the promissory notes being issued by Spring, its still pretty darned cold here.

I got to take the chainsaw to the pohutukawa tree and trim it up a bit. More sun for the lawn!

I got to cook dinner. But that's another story.

I got to play X-Box.

And that was Father's Day 2008.

Now as promised, here's the Smashed Potato Recipe from last week. I'm so far behind on posting dinners that it's not really funny anymore, but I'll do my best to catch up this week. The inspiration for these potatoes came from Pioneer Woman, who has a great series of photos and detailed steps for making these her way. I improvised a bit with what I had on hand.

Pioneer Potatoes

Boil a pot of potatoes, cooking 1 - 2 per person as required. When cooked, toss lightly in olive oil. On an oven rack, place a piece of baking paper and brush oil on that, too. Place the potatoes on the paper and gently crush with a potato masher, so they look like so: Dress up the potatoes with a generous dose of freshly ground salt and pepper and olive oil, then add your favourite toppings. I used onion, parmesan, Italian herbs, and finely chopped garlic. Place under the grill and brown.
Serve with pretty much anything. We had ours with steak, chorizo sausage, salad, boiled kumera and a gorgeous Pinot.

Goatherd's Pie

I would in no way want to imply that goatherds are lazier than shepherds - some of my best friends are goatherds. But this particular dish is a lazy meal, and although it is very much the essence of Shepherd's Pie but is not in fact Shepherd's Pie, I have, in my great ignorance, dubbed this meal Goatherd's Pie. And if I was a Goatherd, I would be proud to have such a magnificent dish named after me.

Of course, lazy and easy are relative terms (No, I'm not suggesting that my relatives are either lazy or easy, thank you very much), and much of the ease of this pie came from the fact that I had cooked up a huge pot of mince the previous day. The other part of the laze/ease factor was in my just slicing and parboiling the potatoes over the top, instead of boiling and mashing as per a Shepherd's Pie.


We were very lucky in that Grandad J had come to stay and brought with him a veritable cornucopia of fruit and vege, some of which needed to be cooked up rather urgently. So on the first night of his stay we had pasta with mince and mushroom sauce done in the slow cooker, and I used what was leftover for this warming winter nosh-up.

Goatherd's Pie

In a bowl, blend up the following:

3 large tomatoes
15-20 cherry tomatoes
1 chopped onion
1 t dried Italian herbs

Place the following in the slow cooker on low for 7 hours:

600g Mince
Tomato and Onion mixture
200g chopped flat mushrooms
1 T soy sauce
Freshly Ground Salt & Pepper to taste
1/4 Cup of Tomato Sauce

(Alternatively, cook up in a pot on the stove over a very low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring frequently and adding water as necessary to keep the ingredients from sticking or drying out.)

Wash 3 or 4 small new potatoes and 1 kumera. Slice into roughly 1cm pieces and boil vigorously for 5 minutes. They should be soft enough to pass a knife through easily but still firm enough to hold thier shape. Drain and put aside.

When the meat is done, layer it in the bottom of a pie dish. Place the potato and kumera slices around the top of the dish like so:
Over the potato grate some cheese and sprinkle a good handful of breadcrumbs. Season with pepper and paprika and place in the oven for 30 mins to heat through (Possibly less if you have just cooked the meat as described - remember, I was using chilled leftovers!). When the meat is bubbling and the potato is definitely cooked through, switch the oven to grill for a further 5-10 mins until the cheese and breadcrumbs are nicely browned.
Serve up with your necessary 5+ a day of fresh greens, preferably whatever is in season and locally available.
Then, if you're pretty much anywhere in NZ right now, head outside and check that A) your roof hasn't blown off, and B) that your car hasn't been washed away by floodwaters. Good Luck.