potatoes – Audrey's 74

Elisa’s Potatoes

Giulia Doyle — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 12:22:30 +0000

These potatoes are scrumptious. Not usually a word I’d use, but that’s what came to mind. Every time we make them they are gobbled up, my son in particular asking for more. My aunt Elisa is a chef in New York City and made these potatoes for us. She told me how simple they are, which proves to me that good food does not necessarily require a laundry list of exotic ingredients or complicated steps. It also emphasizes Julia Child’s mantra that with enough butter, anything is good. So here you, the non-recipe for Elisa’s potatoes, that make the potato shine and will serve as the perfect side dish for your protein of choice.

Elisa’s Potatoes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Yukon gold potatoes, sliced very thin with mandolin or food processor
Melted butter
Salt and Pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Take a non-stick cake pan and brush it with melted butter. Arrange sliced potatoes in one single layer, brush with butter, salt and pepper. Repeat with 2-3 more layers depending on how many potatoes you have, but make sure not to go too thick. If you need a lot more potatoes add them to a second pan. Finish off with melted butter, salt and pepper.
Bake in oven until cooked through (poke fork to see if they are tender), 30-40 minutes.
Remove from oven and tip onto serving plate. Slice servings like a tart.

Notes

You can make this with as many potatoes as you want, just make sure you don't add too many layers in each cake pan so you can get a nice tart like finished product once tipped onto a serving platter. Make sure you bake the potatoes long enough so they turn golden on the bottom for extra flavour and nicer presentation. I made mine in single tart pans which is great if you want individual servings.

/2015/04/07/elisas-potatoes/

Simple Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Giulia Doyle — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:23:29 +0000

Weekends can be a time where you might want to stand in the kitchen a little longer, work on an intricate meal, invite people over for multiple courses or prepare a batch of sweets for the week to come. But it might also be a time of busy engagements, such as birthday parties, swim classes or early fall excursions to the farm.

The other weekend was a mix of busy schedule and just hanging out at the house. I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and used the BBQ to cook our roast chicken. It’s hands off time, comes out beautifully and is moister and less salty than your grocery store bird. I also took the opportunity to use up our CSA potatoes and large stash of carrots. Chicken dinner is always popular at our house and it makes for perfect leftovers.

Simple Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Ingredients

Whole chicken (I had mine butterflied at the butcher for faster cooking time)
Potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
Carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
1 yellow onion cut into chunks
1 lemon cut in half
Olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
Salt and pepper
Handful of fresh sage or other herb you like

Instructions

Heat oven or BBQ to about 425 F. Rinse the chicken and pat dry.Rub with olive oil and butter, adding some gently under the skin. Season with salt, pepper and torn sage.
Place chicken in roasting pan. Add half a lemon each to front and back cavity (If you have your bird butterflied, just rest it on the lemons).
Toss potatoes, carrots and onions in a bit of olive oil, season with salt and pepper and scatter around bird in roasting pan.
Roast for 1 hour (if using whole chicken roast for 1.5 hours) until temperature of chicken is 180F. Let rest for 10 -15 and serve.

Notes

If using the BBQ your chicken skin won't be as crispy as using an oven, since most of the heat comes from below.

/2014/09/17/simple-roast-chicken-with-root-vegetables/

Seafood Bake

Giulia Doyle — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 10:14:27 +0000

As you are reading this we are sitting happily in Cape Cod, enjoying our summer vacation at the beach. I was impatiently waiting for this week of relaxation, sand, ocean air and excessive amount of seafood. To prepare for the trip we made this seafood bake at home. It’s based on this recipe, but I also found some inspiration from my Legal Seafood Cookbook. I’ve made this many times before and it never fails. The potatoes are nicely done, the corn is perfect and the cod and shrimp are divine. My favourite part is dipping a piece of crusty bread in the flavourful broth.

Seafood Bake - slightly adapted from Martha Stewart and Legal Seafood

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh green onions or chives, plus more for garnish
1 small garlic clove, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 ounces young yellow potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1 pound skinless cod fillet, cut into four equal pieces
8 ounces frozen uncooked medium shrimp (peeled and deveined), thawed
2 ears corn, quartered
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Instructions

Heat grill to medium. In a small bowl, combine butter, chives, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Fold four 14-inch squares of heavy-duty aluminum foil in half, forming 4 rectangles. Assemble packets: On one half of each of four folded pieces of heavy-duty foil, dividing ingredients evenly, arrange potatoes in a single layer; top with cod, then shrimp. Place 2 pieces of corn on the side. Season with salt and pepper. Add a dollop of the butter mixture and two lemon slices. Fold foil over ingredients, and crimp edges tightly to seal.
Place packets on grill, with potato layer on the bottom. Cook, rotating (but not flipping) packets occasionally, until fish is just cooked through and potatoes are tender, about minutes.
Remove from grill. Slit packets open, and transfer contents to serving bowls. Garnish with chives; serve with pieces of french bread.

/2013/08/12/seafood-bake/

One-Pan Pork Tenderloin with Lemon and Potatoes

Giulia Doyle — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:20:55 +0000

One-pan meals are my favourite – fast and a lot less clean-up. On days when we come home from work and need to get dinner on the table, I often choose this recipe. It’s not pasta, but just as easy to make. Truth be told, I often have to make a conscious effort not to default to pasta. You know, those days when you feel drained after driving home from work. When your kids ask for a million things as soon as you pick them up from school? The day you had grand ideas of serving a healthy and nutritious meal, but once you’re standing in the kitchen at 5:30 pm all you want to do is drop that box of Barilla into boiling water and call it a day? Those days, when you know that if you served said box of Barilla with jarred tomato sauce and a healthy sprinkling of fresh Parmesan shavings, you’d be set and your kids will gobble up their plates? Yes those – try to make this instead. You’ll gobble it up and if you’re lucky your kids will as well, but I won’t guarantee that, because kids are just weird that way.

I adapted this recipe from Sarah Carey . Do you get her Everyday Food recipe videos? I love them. They inspire me to try new things – even during the week. The recipes are easy and foolproof and the videos are short and very instructional. I highly recommend you subscribe to them – even if you don’t cook each and every recipe, you’ll be happy to get the food inspiration.I also think the combination of pork tenderloin with the lemons presents itself very nicely, so it would work really well if you had company. It looks fancy without being fancy. Adding lemon to a meal just makes it so much better, don’t you think?

One-Pan Pork Tenderloin with Lemon and Potatoes (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
1 stalk of leek, thinly sliced
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)
1 lemon, thinly sliced
fresh cilantro leaves (optional)

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add potatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup broth; cover, and cook until potatoes are tender and liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add leek; cook 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a bowl, and keep warm (reserve skillet).
Using a sharp knife, cut tenderloin crosswise into 12 equal slices. Press pork slices between your hands to flatten evenly.
In skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Working in two batches, cook pork until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side, adding lemon slices in the last 2 minutes of cooking. Serve pork with lemons and potatoes, topped with cilantro.

/2013/04/08/634/

Maluns and remembering my father

Giulia Doyle — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:24:50 +0000

My dad grew up in a small Alpine village, which today is part of a large ski resort. His father was a grocer and he was the first of his siblings to go to university, leave the small village and become a lawyer. My parents met in Miami of all places – no place more different than flashy Miami and a small sleepy alpine village.

My father loved food – he would try new foods and loved to seek out traditional foods all over the world. When we lived in a small town in Switzerland, he would serve brunch with pancakes, eggs and bacon – shocking the Swiss visitors with the type of food and the unsavoury hour it was served. This was the 70s and 80s after all. But he also made sure that we knew what the foods were that he grew up with – simple alpine food – potatoes, cured meats and sharp cheeses. My father passed away five years ago after a two year battle with cancer. He was 61 years old. Today’s recipe is Maluns – a meal he served us every time we visited after my parents divorced. Maluns is a potato based meal with origin in Chur. It was a special meal made by farmers for weddings – it’s very simple, but it takes some patience. So today I took the time to make Maluns and to introduce it to my children, knowing that he would have served it to them had he known them.If you ever visit the eastern region of Switzerland – make sure to try this meal. It’s comforting, simple and a piece of history.

Maluns and remembering my father

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes
300 g flour
salt
280 g butter
Apple sauce
Strong cheese, such as Alpine cheese, Gruyere, Tilsiter

Instructions

Cook the potatoes a day in advance and peel while warm
Grate half the potatoes and cut the other half into thin slices
Gently mix the flour mixture with a generous amount of salt and mix with all the potatoes until they are covered in flour
Melt 50 g of butter in a heavy skillet and add the potato mixture
At medium heat under constant stirring fry the potatoes - adding pieces of butter along the way.
After 45 minutes you'll get small, crunchy potato crumbs
Serve with apple sauce and strong cheese.

/2013/03/04/maluns-and-remembering-my-father/