Mashed Potato

I enjoyed watching Emmanuel Mollois making mashed potato a few weeks ago on Poh's Kitchen.  He used a 1:1 ratio of butter to potatoes, with about a half proportion of milk.  Not good for the diet, but well worth trying just once.

The potatoes were boiled, then cooked in the oven for 12 minutes to dry out.  The peeled potatoes were then pushed through a mouli grater to give a very fine texture.  The potatoes were returned to the saucepan over a medium heat, with the milk, then the butter was slowly whisked in.

The final result looked fabulous- creamy, smooth and rich.  My mum was a fan of rich mashed potato - I can remember her puting in loads of butter, often an egg, sometimes cream(!!), and occasionally nutmeg.  I also once made mashed potato with a hint of blue cheese mixed in - that was yummy.  (Incidentally, a hint of blue cheese in bechamel sauce is also amazing.  If you only use a little, it doesn't overpower it, but adds such a depth of flavour).

The flavour and texture of rich, silky smooth mashed potato is a world away from dry, lumpy, bland mash you sometimes see.

Beef with Red Wine

I fiddled about a bit with one of Nigella Lawson’s recipes for beef stew.


I usually use stock when making casseroles. This stew didn’t use any stock, and I was really impressed by the subtlety of the flavours as a result. I am so used to the strong salty kick that you get from stock that can really overpower other flavours.  This combination made a very nice change.

This stew has a subtle, rich sweetness. I served mine with a lovely mound of mashed starchy Jarrah pumpkin, and steamed mixed greens. As with all of my savoury recipes, quantities are approximate.

Ingredients

2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
600g chuck steak, cubed
½ cup plain flour
A teaspoon of allspice
Salt and pepper
½ cup water
½ cup red wine
2 bay leaves
A teaspoon of dried sage
1 cup of chopped mushrooms

1. Gently sauté the onions and carrots in a small amount of oil a large heavy-based pan till onions are softened. Remove from pan.

2. Mix together plain flour, allspice and salt and pepper. Coat cubed beef well in flour mix.

3. Add a little more oil to the pan, and brown steak over a medium heat. Remove meat from pan.

4. Add water, red wine, bay leaves and sage to pan, stir over medium heat. Return onions, carrots and beef to pan, bring to a simmer.

5. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low, leave to cook for approximately 2 and a half hours. Stir in the mushrooms towards the end of the cooking time.

Pumpkin Frittata

This was a bit of an experiment, and it actually turned out really well.  The yoghurt adds a nice edge, and I love the paprika, which goes really well with the sweetness of the onion and the pumpkin.

Ingredients (measures are approximate)
400g ripe pumpkin, cut into thin slices
1 onion, sliced finely
1 dessertspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
100g mushrooms, sliced (optional)
2 overripe tomatoes, chopped (optional)
100g ham, finely sliced
6 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheese
1 dessertspoon plain natural yoghurt
1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and pepper

Sturdy, non-stick frying pan

Cook pumpkin until just soft (I use the microwave).

Heat a small amount of oil in frying pan on a medium heat.  Saute onion until softened.  Reduce heat to low, add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar.  Cook gently over low heat for approx 10 minutes, until onion is very soft and caramelised. 

Fry mushrooms over medium heat until softened.  Add tomatoes, continue to cook until tomatoes have softened.  Mix ham in with onion, mushroom and tomatoes, remove from pan.

Beat eggs in a medium sized bowl.  Add cheese, yoghurt, paprika, season with salt and pepper.

Wipe out frying pan.  On low heat, spray with Spray 'n' Cook (or use a small amount of oil).  Spread onion mix over base of pan, then cover with pumpkin pieces.  Tip egg mix over the top, making sure it goes into all the gaps, covering the base of the pan.

Cook over low heat until set around the edges (middle will still be slightly runny) - should take no more than aobut 10 minutes.  Turn grill to high, finish frittata under grill (approx 5 minutes) until middle is cooked.

Pumpkin and Sweetcorn Soup

I was experimenting with pumpkin soup last weekend, and stumbled across a really nice combination - pumpkin and sweetcorn.  I can't remember the exact quantities, but I'd say there was probably close to two parts pumpkin to one part sweetcorn.

Ingredients (measurements approximate)
1kg ripe pumpkin (Kent or butternut are both good), chopped into chunks
500g frozen sweetcorn kernels, left out for a few hours to defrost, then drained
3 spring onions (or 1 brown onion), chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
Stock (powdered is fine - I used Vegeta)
Chilli powder (optional)

Saute spring onions and garlic in a small amount of oil in a large pan.  Add pumpkin and stock (just enough to cover the pumpkin - probably about 3 cups or so).  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or so or until pumpkin begins to soften.  Add drained sweetcorn, simmer for 10 minutes or so more until all ingredients are tender.  Blitz with a hand blender.  Season to taste.

As long as you haven't added too much stock, the soup should be thick and rich when you've blitzed it.  If too thick, just add more water.  A small amount of chilli adds a nice kick, just don't overdo it.  The great thing about soup is that it's always a work in progress; it's easy to just add more of something else if the flavour's not quite right.