Tag: Potatoes
salade nicoise with roasted beets & potatoes
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When I find myself with a refrigerator full of beautiful Alaskan produce (and sometimes, some fresh seafood), I often prepare this salad to make a big dent in it. Just pick several of the vegetables to prepare. I usually make a huge salad and invite friends over to help eat it, since it’s so beautiful—I just have to share it! It’s a meal in itself if you add plenty of vegetables and serve it with toasted whole wheat bread dunked in olive oil!
lemony vinaigrette
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small red onion, minced fine
juice of one lemon
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (if you have grainy mustard too, you can use 1 tablespoon of each)
1 tablespoon honey
½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cracked pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Whisk together all the vinaigrette ingredients, except the oil, in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking. Season with salt and honey to taste, then set aside.
vegetables (pick 5 or 6 of the following to prepare)
2 pounds garlic-roasted potatoes (see following recipe)
1 pound green beans, blanched in salted water until just tender. Drain the beans and immediately spread them out on a baking sheet spread with a dishtowel. (This allows extra water to evaporate, and the beans stop cooking almost immediately.)
1 pound roasted beets (see following recipe), peeled, sliced into wedges, and tossed with some of the lemony vinaigrette
1 pint cherry tomatoes or several slow-roasted tomatoes (see “tomatoes” section)
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered (See perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs in the “sandwiches and things to eat on toast” section.)
1 pound grilled asparagus (see “asparagus” section)
4 roasted red peppers (see following recipe)
1 large cucumber, sliced thin and tossed with some of the lemony vinaigrette
3 large carrots, grated and tossed with some of the lemony vinaigrette
optional fish (pick one if you’d like to include fish in your salad)
fresh Alaskan scallops, threaded on skewers, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and grilled on a clean, oiled rack just until done
kippered salmon, flaked
fresh salmon, seasoned with salt and pepper or lemon pepper, and grilled
fresh halibut, seasoned with salt and pepper or lemon pepper, and grilled
salad
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
12 cups of assorted salad greens
cracked pepper
Compose this salad on a large serving platter. Toss the salad greens with some of the lemony vinaigrette, and make a bed of lettuce on the platter. Attractively group each vegetable on the lettuce. Have fun with all those colors! Drizzle vinaigrette over all the vegetables. Scatter the olives and capers over all, and sprinkle cracked pepper over the top. Enjoy!!
garlic-roasted potatoes
2 pounds small Butterball potatoes (or other yellow, waxy potato)
garlic oil (recipe in Step 1.)
sea salt or kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper
1. Make garlic oil: Mash or mince 3 or 4 garlic cloves and cover with ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil. Let steep for 30 minutes if you have time. Strain out the garlic and store the oil in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters. Toss them in a bowl with a few spoonfuls of garlic oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss again.
3. Lightly oil a large baking dish or sheet pan, and transfer the potatoes onto it, making sure that a cut side of each potato is touching the pan. (The side touching the pan will brown nicely). Roast the potatoes until tender and browned, 35 to 40 minutes.
roasted beets
1. Put the beets (unpeeled) in a baking dish and put ¼” of water in the dish. Cover with foil, and bake them until tender when stabbed with a paring knife. Usually they take 40 minutes or longer, but young beets might be quicker, depending on how big they are. In the fall, when the beets are bigger, they may take much longer—up to an hour and a half. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can pick them up without burning yourself.
2. When the beets are cool enough to handle, slip their skins off. Cut in halves lengthwise and then crosswise into ¼-inch thick slices, or in wedges—as you prefer.
roasted red peppers
1. Preheat your grill or broiler. Roast the red peppers, turning them as each side gets blackened.
2. When they are blackened all the way around, place them in a big bowl and cover it with a lid or a plate until the peppers are fairly cool (this steams and cooks the peppers the rest of the way).
3. Peel the skins from the peppers and remove the seeds, but don’t rinse the peppers—just rinse your fingers as you peel the skins off. Slice the peppers into ½” wide pieces.
green soup of sorrel, beet greens, and lettuce
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Have you always wondered what to do with those lovely long-leaved bunches of sorrel greens you see at the Farmers’ Market? I ran across this recipe last winter, reading Deborah Madison’s new cookbook about soups, and bided my time, waiting for sorrel season. It’s the perfect thing to use the beet greens left over from using the beets in the beet pilaf recipe! One warning: this soup is sort of an army green color—not the most beautiful color—plus it darkens with time, so it’s homelier still when you eat it as leftovers the next day. However, the flavor is fantastic and vibrant, especially with garnishes of garlicky croutons. The crouton recipe is from rebar modern food.
The second time I made this recipe, I didn’t want to do croutons (I was serving this with the eggplant crostini), so I just sprinkled toasted hazelnuts on the top, and then drizzled a little roasted hazelnut oil over the top… Very yummy! You can find roasted hazelnut oil at Summit Spice & Tea Co.
If you’re using water for the recipe instead of vegetable broth, it might be a little too bitter. The second time I tried this recipe with water, instead of using my very oniony and sweet bean-cooking broth, and it needed a little sweetness. I tossed in some caramelized onions that I had in the freezer, but if you don’t happen to have some of them on standby, try sprinkling a little sugar in the soup to even out the flavors a little.
soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 small potatoes (about 1 cup), thinly sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 bunches of beet greens or chard, stems removed and leaves sliced
1 large bunch of sorrel, leaves sliced (about 2 cups)
4 cups chopped lettuce
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
6 cups of water or vegetable stock (I use the leftover liquid from cooking white beans or chickpeas with onions and garlic)
fresh lemon juice to taste
croutons
5 slices hearty whole-grain bread (preferably whole-wheat sourdough)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion, 1 teaspoon salt, potatoes, and garlic. Cook for several minutes, then add the greens and parsley. Give them a stir, add the liquid, and bring to a boil. Simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Puree the soup in a blender (let it cool down a bit, first, and don’t fill the blender too full). Taste for salt, season with pepper, and add a few drops of lemon juice to sharpen the flavors, if you like.
3. While the soup cooks, make the croutons. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With a fork, mash the garlic with the salt in the bottom of a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the olive oil. Cut the slices of bread into ½” cubes and toss them in the garlicky oil until the oil is thoroughly absorbed and distributed. Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes, until the croutons are crispy and golden-brown.
summer vegetable and potato “pie”
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It’s not actually a pie at all, except that it’s got a bottom layer of potato slices that acts like a crust. I love to make this recipe in the peak of our growing season, because of all the perfect Alaskan produce that can go into it. You can get the potatoes, garlic, herbs, zucchinis, and tomatoes from the farmers’ market! It makes such a difference to use those beautiful Alaskan Butterball potatoes,they are sweet and yummy, and brown up so nicely.
If the weather is warm, serve this with any green salad. But if it’s cold and rainy, it’s also great with green soup of sorrel, beet greens, and lettuce. This recipe is based on one from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen. If you have a truly huge skillet (with a lid), you can double this recipe like I do—it makes great leftovers and can be served warm or at room temperature.
1 pound waxy potatoes (like Butterball)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
a handful of herbs, like parsley and basil or rosemary
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 zucchinis
2 roasted red peppers, cut into ½” strips (see the “red pepper” section for recipe)
2 cups small tomatoes, halved
1. Scrub the potatoes and slice them into ¼” rounds. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet over low heat, add the potatoes, stir them to coat with oil, then spread them evenly over the pan. Scatter a third of the garlic and herbs over the potatoes, and season with salt and pepper.
2. Add a layer of the onion, follow with the zucchini, and top with more garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Add the pepper strips with the remaining garlic and herbs, then the tomatoes. Dribble any juice left from the roasted peppers on top, plus 3 tablespoons water. Raise the heat just enough to get the water bubbling, then cover the pan and reduce the heat to low.
3. Cook until the vegetables are tender, 25 minutes or more (stab with a paring knife to check). Remove the lid, raise the heat, and reduce the excess liquid by simmering gently for a few minutes. If there is a LOT of liquid, you can pour a portion of it off (carefully) into a separate pan and boil it down for a little while until it reduces and thickens (be careful not to let it burn). Then pour it back over the pie, along with a drizzle of olive oil over the top.
4. If you have time to let the pie sit for 20 or 30 minutes, it melds the flavors and sets the pie up nicely, making it MUCH easier to slice.
butterball potato salad with green beans and thyme
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This recipe is modified from a recipe in Annie Somerville’s Everyday Greens. If you serve this recipe at a picnic, I predict that people will be neglecting the burgers. Or do like we do, and just make this salad and another vegetable or salad to go with it, like grilled zucchini or the carrot & mint salad with currants. I like a high proportion of green beans to potatoes, but if you’d prefer the salad to be heavier on the potatoes, use fewer green beans.
2 pounds garlic-roasted potatoes (recipe follows)
garlicky red wine mustard vinaigrette (recipe follows)
½ medium red onion, minced (about ½ cup)
red wine vinegar
1-2 pounds green beans, cut into 1” pieces
1 ½ tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
½ tablespoon fresh thyme, coarsely chopped, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
1. Make the garlic-roasted potatoes.
2. Make the vinaigrette.
3. Bring a pot of water to boil and salt lightly. Place the onions in a small bowl and scoop a little boiling water out of the pot, just enough to cover them. Let the onions soak for 30 seconds, drain, and toss with ½ tablespoon of the vinegar. This takes away the sharp bite of the onions, but leaves great flavor and crunch.
4. Drop the green beans into the boiling water and cook until just tender (2-5 minutes). Drain the beans and immediately spread them out on a baking sheet spread with a dishtowel. (This allows extra water to evaporate, and the beans stop cooking almost immediately.)
5. Transfer the roasted potatoes to a large bowl with the onions, capers, thyme, and several large spoonfuls of vinaigrette. Add the green beans just before serving (so their color won’t fade from the acid in the vinaigrette) and adjust the seasoning with more vinaigrette, salt, pepper, and/or a splash of vinegar, if needed.
6. If you’ve made enough for leftovers, only add the green beans to the portion you’ll be serving right away, to keep them nice and green.
garlicky red wine mustard vinaigrette
This might make more dressing than you need, but it keeps very well in the refrigerator. See the other uses for this salad dressing in the salad greens section, under green salad with garlicky red wine mustard vinaigrette.
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 medium cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey
——
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Put first 5 ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Slowly pour in oil to make a creamy emulsion. Taste and season with more salt and/or honey.
garlic-roasted potatoes
These potatoes are great with all kinds of things, and are the basis of the previous potato salad recipe, as well as a possible component of the salade nicoise and the tostadas three ways recipes. The garlic-infused oil really makes a difference in the taste! Use these instead of mashed potatoes or rice with any dish. This is an especially fantastic recipe if you use Alaskan Butterball potatoes. Make an effort to buy them, if you can, because they make the very brownest, most caramelized potatoes of any I’ve ever eaten, I think because they have a slightly higher sugar content.
2 pounds Butterball potatoes (or other yellow, waxy potato)
garlic oil (recipe follows, in Step 1.)
sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Make garlic oil: Mash or mince 3 or 4 garlic cloves and cover with ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil. Let steep for 30 minutes if you have time. Strain out the garlic and store the oil in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters. Toss them in a bowl with a few spoonfuls of garlic oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss again.
3. Lightly oil a large baking dish or sheet pan, and transfer the potatoes onto it, making sure that a cut side of each potato is touching the pan. (The side touching the pan will brown nicely). Roast the potatoes until tender and browned, 35 to 40 minutes.
tostadas three ways
potatoes
beans
avocados
tortillas
tostadas
roasted vegetables
refried beans
winter squash
squash, winter
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We cook this meal quite frequently, changing the toppings based on the season. The constants for this meal are corn tortillas, toasted until crisp in the oven, a layer of homemade refried beans (I switch between black beans, pintos, and anasazis), and salsa. After that, it’s up to what’s in season, what’s fresh at the farmers’ market, what storage vegetables I have in the garage, and how elaborate I want to get. In the middle of summer, we’ll top the tortillas with beans, then a limey cabbage salad, then avocado cubes and some salsa. In the fall and winter, on top of the beans, we pile roasted butternut squash cubes, then guacamole, and pickled red onions or salsa. Sometimes we do roasted potatoes, instead of the squash—we tried purple potatoes last summer and they were really fun. Cheese turns out to be unnecessary with all the other great flavors, but it’s certainly fine to add it—either on top of the beans, or to the tortilla at the end of its toasting time in the oven.
And maybe you feel like a simpler meal? Just make the beans and pick one of the vegetable salads, depending on the season! We very often just have the refried beans and cabbage salad. I make lots of extra beans and freeze them for when I want a quick meal! See the photo for the abbreviated version of this meal—with the cabbage salad, and refrieds made out of pinto beans.
corn tortillas
refried beans (recipe follows)
roasted winter squash cubes OR cabbage salad OR garlic-roasted potatoes (recipes follow)
salsa and/or pickled red onions (recipe follows)
guacamole or diced avocado (recipe follows)
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Set the corn tortillas on baking sheets in a single layer and toast them in the oven for 15 minutes, until crisp, fragrant, and just starting to get golden brown. Toast 2 or 3 tortillas per person.
2. Let each person top their tortilla with beans, then squash or cabbage salad or potatoes, then avocado, salsa, and/or pickled onions. Eat with plenty of napkins at the ready!
refried beans
This recipe will give you plenty of beans for a couple of days’ leftovers (always a good thing, in my book). They freeze really well, too, so make as many as you like and freeze them (well-labeled) in plastic containers for future tostada meals.
3 cups dried beans: black turtle beans, pinto, or anasazi beans
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions (1 for quartering, 2 for dicing)
10 garlic cloves, peeled (4 to be left whole, 6 to be minced)
2 bay leaves
4 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted in a skillet and freshly ground
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, or regular chili powder
sea salt or kosher salt
1. Soak the beans in water for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Quarter 1 of the onions, leaving the root end on so the quarters stay intact. Cover the beans in water by a couple of inches, and add the quartered onion, 4 whole garlic cloves and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer, partially covered, until the beans are completely tender. When the beans are tender enough to easily squish between your tongue and the roof of your mouth, turn off the heat. This could take from 30 minutes to an hour or longer, depending on how old the beans are. Just make sure the beans are nice and soft. Turn off the heat and let the beans cool for a bit. If you have time, let them sit, covered, until they are completely cool. Remove the quartered onion, bay leaves, and whole garlic cloves and discard.
3. Chop the remaining 2 onions into small dice, and mince the remaining 6 garlic cloves. Saute the onions with 1 teaspoon salt in a wide skillet over medium-high heat until they start to brown—5 or 10 minutes. Then add the garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and 1 more teaspoon salt, and sauté for 5 minutes more.
4. Add the beans and 1 cup of their cooking liquid. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or so, partially mashing some of the beans with the back of a wooden spoon, a potato masher, or an immersion blender.
5. Season with plenty of salt and pepper to taste. The beans can take a lot of salt, so just keep tasting until they are perfectly seasoned. You may need to add more salt when you reheat them—just taste and see.
roasted winter squash cubes
Smooth-skinned squashes (like butternut and banana squash) are easiest to do this with, because it’s very easy to peel them before they are cooked. When I do this recipe, I usually roast 2 pounds, at least, because the squash cubes make such great leftovers… If you make this meal for dinner you’ll have leftovers for lunch and another dinner, which is always a good thing! You can eat more tostadas, or toss the squash cubes into a salad, or just eat them with leftover beans.
1 pound banana squash, or 1 large butternut squash (at least a pound)
½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel and seed your squash and dice it into ½” pieces (the pieces don’t have to be square, though).
3. Coat a large baking sheet with non-stick spray or oil. (This makes clean-up a lot easier.)
4. Toss the squash cubes with the olive oil and salt. Spread them out in a single layer on the baking sheet.
5. Roast for 20-25 minutes, or until starting to get brown and slightly shriveled. Remove the squash from the oven, keeping the oven on, and drizzle a little honey over the squash. Toss the cubes with the honey and return to the oven. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the squash is browned.
cabbage salad
This salad recipe is based on one in Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Suppers book. It’s fine even the next day as leftovers with the beans—it just gets to be more like cabbage pickles.
6 cups finely sliced green or purple cabbage
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ cup finely diced white onion or scallion
2 pinches dried oregano
2 to 4 tablespoons chopped cilantro (if you have it—but go ahead and make this salad without cilantro if you don’t have any hanging around.)
1/3 cup lime juice
Toss the cabbage with the salt and onion and sugar. Add the rest of the salad ingredients, toss well, and refrigerate until ready to use.
garlic-roasted potatoes
2 pounds Butterball potatoes (or other yellow, waxy potato)
garlic oil (recipe in Step 1.)
sea salt or kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper
1. Make garlic oil: Mash or mince 3 or 4 garlic cloves and cover with ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil. Let steep for 30 minutes if you have time. Strain out the garlic and store the oil in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Toss them in a bowl with a few spoonfuls of garlic oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss again.
3. Lightly oil a large baking dish or sheet pan, and transfer the potatoes onto it, making sure that a cut side of each potato is touching the pan. (The side touching the pan will brown nicely). Roast the potatoes until tender and browned, 35 to 40 minutes.
pickled red onions
1 pound red onions
1 quart boiling water, more or less
1-2 cups white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt
2 bay leaves
10 peppercorns, lightly crushed
2 pinches dried thyme
a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1. Halve the onions, peel them, and slice them into half-moons about ¼” thick. Separate the half-ring slices from each other and pile them in a bowl.
2. Bring a kettle of water to a boil, and pour the boiling water over the onions. Stir the onions around in the hot water for 30 seconds, just to soften them, then drain them in a colander (you don’t want to let them sit in the boiling water too long or they’ll lose their crunch.)
3. Put the sugar, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme, and red pepper flakes in a large jar, and add about a ¼ cup of hot or warm water. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt.
4. Jam the onions into the jar. Pour in white wine vinegar to cover the onions. If you don’t have enough vinegar to cover, you can add some water. I don’t usually do this, though, because I reuse the vinegar once or twice, so I like the brine solution quite strong. Put the lid on the jar, shake to combine, and keep it refrigerated. The pink color will begin to infuse in about an hour. Taste them after they’ve pickled for a day, and add more salt and sugar to taste, if they don’t have enough zip for you.
guacamole
Yes, this website is all about seasonal, local food, but it would be awfully hard to live without avocados. I buy bags of avocados all year ‘round at Costco. Here’s how to ripen and store the avocados from Costco so they don’t get overripe and go to waste. Buy a bag of them when they are rock-hard, and set them on your counter. Every day (you must be vigilant), squeeze them very gently to see how soft they are getting. When they have just begun to get soft (don’t wait until they are squishy), put them in the refrigerator RIGHT AWAY—this will more or less arrest their further ripening, and you will have a treasure trove of perfectly ripe avocados for a week or more. If you want to make this Alaskan guacamole, make it with our local onions!
¼ to ½ cup minced onion (to your taste)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 jalepeno peppers, seeded with a spoon and minced
¼ cup minced fresh cilantro (optional)
¼ to ½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
3 ripe avocados
2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1. After mincing the onion, scoop it into a glass or bowl and cover with cold water and let it soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. (This takes away some of the bite of the raw onion.)
2. Put the garlic, jalepeno, cilantro, salt, and cumin in a medium bowl.
3. Halve, pit, and peel the avocados.
4. Drain the onion well in a sieve and add to the bowl, stir with a fork. Put one avocado into the bowl and mash the flesh with the onion mixture.
5. Cube the remaining 2 avocados into ½” pieces and put the pieces into the bowl. Sprinkle the lime juice over the diced avocado and mix entire contents of bowl lightly with a fork until combined but still chunky. Adjust seasoning with salt and lime juice. Try not to eat the entire bowl while you’re testing it.
6. You can cover it with plastic wrap, pressed directly onto surface of guacamole, and refrigerate it for a few hours before serving, if you like.
savoy cabbage and potatoes with pesto
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I was inspired to invent this recipe when reading a letter from my friend Andi, who recommended a recipe from Lynn Rosetto Kasper’s The Italian Country Table. She adds broccoli and a potato to her pasta with pesto, and calls it “the King of Pestos.” I had a beautiful Savoy cabbage in my refrigerator, aching to be eaten, and I had a brainwave that thin slices of cabbage would be fun to toss with pesto sauce, like spaghetti noodles! You can eat this on top of spaghetti, or not—add olive oil and parmesan to the spaghetti, if you like, before piling the cabbage strands and potatoes on top. But I like it best just by itself—no noodles or cheese, but just the potatoes added to the cabbage for heartiness. The cabbage is sweet and delicious (you can’t beat our Alaskan crucifers!) with the pesto! You’ll be surprised how much cabbage you can eat in a sitting with this recipe!
You could just use commercially prepared pesto if you like—that would save you a little time. This recipe for the pesto is what I do to make a big batch and then freeze flat in ziplock bags. If you’re just making it for this recipe, just make about one-third of a batch. If you’d rather make parsley pesto instead of basil pesto, that works, too! I’ve included both recipes. When I make this, I use more parsley pesto than the basil pesto—it’s not quite as flavorful as the basil, so I like a more generous coating.
basil pesto
This makes a lot—about three times more than you need, so you can freeze the rest, if you like. I like my pesto on the smooth side, so I do this 2-step process with the food processor and then the blender. It makes a lot of dirty dishes, which is why I make a big batch all at once and freeze the extra. If you don’t mind a rougher texture, you can skip the blender.
6 large cloves garlic
½ teaspoon salt
6 packed cups fresh basil leaves
10 tablespoons pine nuts
12-14 tablespoons best quality extra-virgin olive oil
1. In a food processor, puree the garlic with the salt.
2. Add the basil leaves and puree them.
3. Then add the pine nuts and process into a rough paste.
4. Add half of the olive oil, process again.
5. Transfer the whole batch to a blender jar. Add the rest of the olive oil while pureeing the sauce in the blender—stirring down and around as needed to get a nice smooth puree.
6. Taste for salt, and add more as needed.
7. Scoop into 3 freezer ziplock bags and freeze them flat.
parsley pesto
This recipe also makes more than you’ll need for the cabbage and potatoes, but you can very easily freeze the extra for later use as a pasta sauce! I’ve used it to spread on pizza dough, too, as a sauce. It’s great! And parsley is a lot more affordable than basil, too. (Note: when using this for pasta, loosen the pesto a bit with pasta-cooking water—to the consistency of heavy cream—before mixing the sauce with the pasta.)
Whatever you do, don’t use curly parsley. It has hardly any flavor, and the texture is awful, no matter how long you puree it.
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
4 cups packed parsley leaves
½ cup pine nuts
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
1. In a food processor, chop the garlic with the salt.
2. Add the parsley leaves and pine nuts, and turn on the motor, beginning to grind the parsley. It’s OK if all the leaves aren’t incorporated yet.
3. While the motor is running, pour in the olive oil gradually. Let the blade run for a while to puree the mixture. It won’t be very smooth, but it’s hard to get the parsley pesto smooth, anyway—the leaves are very tough, and it’s almost impossible to get the blender to get it smooth.
4. Taste for salt, and add more as needed.
5. Use what you’d like for tonight’s dinner, then scoop the rest into a freezer ziplock bag and freeze flat.
cabbage and potatoes
3 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (Butterballs are ideal)
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
1 large Savoy cabbage, halved, cored, and cut into ¼-inch slices
sea salt or kosher salt
Freshly-ground pepper
1. Drop the potatoes into boiling, lightly salted water. Cook until tender, 5-7 minutes.
2. Saute the garlic for a minute in the olive oil over high heat, then add the cabbage strands. Add ½ teaspoon salt and saute until wilted and just tender. Taste for more salt and add more as needed, plus some pepper.
3. Scoop 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the pesto into the bottom of a big pasta bowl. Add a little hot potato water to thin the sauce. Toss the cabbage with the pesto, then add the potato and toss again. Taste to see if you want to add more pesto. Serve, topped with freshly-ground pepper.
potato and onion salad with smoked salmon
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This salad is wonderful with new little peanut potatoes! But any kind of waxy potato will work wonderfully (even the purple ones!). You can use any kind of flaky smoked fish for this recipe, but I’m more likely to have salmon than anything else! If you don’t eat fish, you can substitute 2 tablespoons rinsed, drained capers for a briny flavor (along with the olives).
The recipe is based on one in Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors. It looks like a lot of lettuce, but the hot potatoes wilt it down to almost nothing—it’s just a wonderful green color without much bulk, once you mix everything together.
1 ½ pounds peanut potatoes (or other waxy variety)
sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, or 2 small onions, sliced thinly into rounds (red onions are lovely!)
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
16 green olives, pitted and halved (you can use black kalamata olives if that’s all you have, but the green are very pretty)
6 ounces smoked salmon, flaked
8 cups lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces
1. Cover the potatoes with cold salted water and bring to a boil. While they are cooking, toss the onion with the vinegar, sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt and let sit for a few minutes. Then add the oil, olives, and fish (or capers).
2. When the potatoes are fork-tender, drain them, then cut in half lengthwise if they are small. Cut into bite-sized pieces if they are bigger. While still hot, add them to the bowl along with the lettuce. Turn gently with a rubber scraper. Taste for salt and season with pepper.
hash browns, plain and fancy
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This recipe is based on a recipe in the September 1998 issue of Cook’s Illustrated. Don’t try this recipe unless you have the proper potatoes—you really need to use russet or Idaho potatoes—a high-starch, non-waxy variety. If you try and use Yukon Gold or Butterball potatoes, they burn before getting brown and crispy because of their higher sugar content.
Don’t bother grating the potatoes ahead of time, because they will discolor—it doesn’t take long to grate them, so just do them right before you’re ready to start frying them up.
I love to make hash browns for dinner, not just breakfast! Even if you don’t serve them with my little garnish of yogurt and tapenade, they make a great dinner dish. Just serve wedges of hash browns with a big salad!
1 pound high-starch potatoes (such as russets or Idahos), scrubbed and grated coarsely
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
freshly-ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or butter (I use olive oil)
optional fancy garnish
a few scoops of plain yogurt (low-fat rather than non-fat)
tapenade (my recipe below, or buy it prepared)
1. To get rid of some of the extra water in the potatoes, place the grated potatoes in a dish towel, roll the towel up around the potatoes and, using two hands, twist the towel as tightly as you can, and watch the water pour out!
2. Toss the dried grated potatoes with salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
3. Heat half the oil or butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot, then scatter potatoes evenly over the entire pan bottom. Using a wide spatula, firmly press potatoes to flatten; reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until dark golden brown and crisp, 7 to 8 minutes. Check the underside after 3 or 4 minutes and turn down the heat if it looks like it’s browning too fast.
4. Slide hash browns, browned side down, onto a large plate. Cover with another plate and flip them over so the browned side is up. Add the remaining oil or butter to pan. Once the oil is hot, slide the hash browns back into pan. Continue to cook over medium heat until remaining side is dark golden brown and crispy, 5 to 6 minutes longer.
5. Slide the hash browns onto a plate or cutting board, cut into wedges and serve immediately, with or without garnish.
6. If you’re garnishing, stir the yogurt until smooth. Put a little dollop of yogurt on each wedge, then top with a spoonful of tapenade.
kalamata olive, sundried tomato & roasted garlic tapenade
This tapenade is really easy if you already have roasted garlic hanging around, and it keeps for a long time in your ‘fridge. You can also put it in a jar and freeze half of it for another time—it keeps just fine that way. Because of the addition of the tomatoes, it’s not quite as rich as regular tapenade, but it’s still got fantastic flavor.
2 cups sundried julienned tomatoes (not the kind packed in oil)
6 garlic cloves
¼ cup roasted garlic cloves (use either one of the following recipes)
2 cups kalamata olives
¼ cup capers
¼ cup pine nuts
1. Put the sundried tomatoes into a heat-proof bowl, pour boiling water over them to cover, and cover with a small plate. Let them soak for 15 or 20 minutes until soft.
2. Put the raw garlic into a food processor and mince finely. Add the roasted garlic and softened tomatoes and puree until smooth. Add the olives and pulse several times until the olives are in smallish pieces and the mixture is coming together, but don’t turn it into a paste.
3. Add the capers and pine nuts, and pulse several more times until everything is nicely combined.
olive oil infused with “roasted garlic”
This is how we “roast” the garlic for our Alaskan cheese & roasted garlic bread… and both the olive oil and garlic are wonderful in many other dishes.
several heads of garlic, cloves peeled
olive oil (you don’t need extra-virgin olive oil for this—the garlic imparts so much flavor that you can use regular olive oil)
1. Put all the whole peeled garlic cloves in a heavy pot. Cover the garlic cloves completely with olive oil.
2. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Give the garlic a stir, and then turn the heat down to the absolute lowest possible heat, cover the pot, and simmer just at a bare bubble. Stir the garlic occasionally and continue to cook until the garlic cloves are completely soft and tender, and you can easily squish them against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. This will probably take an hour or more, but check after 45 minutes.
3. Uncover the pot and let cool. Strain the garlic from the oil. This garlic can be used in any recipe that calls for roasted garlic (for example, in the Southwest Caesar Salad, or in the Hummus in the cookbook or on the website). If you make a soup or a stew that needs a little extra pizzaz, just scoop out a few cloves, mash them with a fork, and add them to your dish to really pump up the flavor. You can freeze the garlic indefinitely (I keep it in pint-sized canning jars in the freezer), and just take it out when you need it.
roasted garlic
You can make several heads of this garlic when you bake it, and spread the soft, sweet cloves on toast, or add to other dishes, like soups, or hummus, or beans.
heads of garlic, unpeeled
olive oil
salt & freshly-ground pepper
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees (or whatever temperature at which you’re baking something else). Slice the top off the garlic bulb, just enough to expose the tops of the garlic flesh. Center the bulb on a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap the bulb securely and pop it into the oven.
2. After 45 minutes or so (longer if it’s at a lower temperature), you should start to smell the roasting garlic, but depending on the size of your bulb, it may need a bit more time. Test by unwrapping it and slipping the sharp point of a paring knife into one of the cloves. If it slides in effortlessly, or the cloves are starting to poke out of their skins, then the garlic is ready.
potato and kale casserole
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potato and kale casserole
This wonderful recipe comes directly from I Heart Kale and their blog at http://iheartkale.blogspot.com
3 large red waxy potatoes, very thinly sliced
4 tablespoons melted salted butter
10 leaves kale (the curly-edged green or purple kinds are good here), washed, stemmed and finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large bowl, drizzle melted butter over the potatoes and mix well with your hands, making sure each slice is coated.
3. Grease a large cast-iron skillet and arrange a layer of potatoes on the bottom. Top with kale, black pepper and 1/3 of the parmesan cheese. Repeat until you run out of kale, then top with a final layer of potatoes and a sprinkling of parmesan.
4. Cover skillet with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake for another 15-30 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through.
tibetan potato curry
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Whenever I’m feeling in a bit of cooking rut, I look to a culture I know very little about. The cuisine of Tibet is somewhat mysterious to Westerners. One of my favorite cookbooks, The Whole Chile Pepper Book by Dave DeWitt and Nancy Gerlach is a great source when I feel like having something spicy too. You can control the heat factor to suit your taste.
1 tablespoon chopped small green chile such as jalapeno chiles
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds or curry powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 medium tomato, diced
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1 pound potatoes, peeled, diced, and cooked
1. Heat the fenugreek seeds in the oil until they brown. If using curry powder, heat it in the oil just until fragrant. Stir in the chile, onion, garlic, and ginger and simmer until the onions are soft.
2. Add the tomatoes and turmeric, and heat. Place the mixture in a blender and puree until smooth.
3. Gently mix the sauce with the potatoes and serve.
Fenugreek seeds can also be sprouted just like alfalfa seeds. The sprouts will have a curry like flavor with a slight bitter edge. You can find them at Summit Spice & Tea Co. on the corner of Huffman and Old Seward.
potato and leek soup
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potato and leek soup
(contributed by Nancy)
A potato and leek soup from Julia Child. Sometimes simple is best!
3-4 cups of diced peeled potatoes (1 lb.)
3 cups thinly sliced leeks, including the tender greens
2 quarts water
1 tablespoon salt
6 tablespoons heavy cream or 3 tablespoons softened butter
3 tablespoons minced chives or parsley
1. Simmer vegetables, salt, and water together, partially covered for 40-50 minutes in a 3-4 quart saucepan.
2. Mash the vegetables into the soup with a fork or pass through a food mill.
3. Adjust salt and pepper. You can stop at this point. When ready to serve, bring soup back to simmering. Then off the heat, stir in the cream or butter and top with chopped chives or parsley. It does not get much better than that!
Cook’s note: If you put your soup in a blender or food processor be careful. Pulse and do in small batches so the soup still has some texture, but does not become gluey which can happen with high starch potatoes.
lettuce soup
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Sometimes when you get a beautiful head of lettuce the outside leaves are not as perfect as those inside leaves. This is a great way to use those outer leaves and ribs, which usually go to waste. Or, when you want something a little different in your soup repertoire! It is great hot or cold and whips up in a flash. This is my version of a 2005 Gourmet Magazine recipe.
1 cup chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup diced (1/3 inch) peeled potato
8 cups coarsely chopped lettuce leaves including ribs-approximately 3/4 lb (I used Romaine)
3 cups water
1. Cook onion mixture and garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add coriander, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
2. Stir in potato, lettuce, and water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potato is very tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Purée soup in batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids) and transfer to a 2- to 3-quart saucepan. Bring soup to a simmer. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
red potato salad
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This recipe is from Jean Havemeister. She found a bread box in her root cellar full or old recipes. This one is from her husband’s mom. In 1935 they did not have a lot of grocery stores to go to and never used mayonnaise or Miracle Whip. They used what they had which was a lot of cream and sour cream.
4 lbs red potatoes
2 sweet onions, sliced
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
chopped celery and olives to taste
3/4 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons salt or to taste
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
cubed cheddar cheese (optional, but delicious!) to taste
1. Boil 4 pounds red potatoes with the skin on until crisp done. Slice with skin on after cool.
2. Add 2 sliced sweet onions and 6 chopped or sliced hard boiled eggs and chopped celery. You can use olives too if you like.
The dressing
1. Boil 3/4 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of ground mustard and 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper.
3. Boil for about 2 minutes and then pour a little hot vinegar mix into 3 eggs lightly beaten Then put back in pan and boil for about 11/2 to 2 minutes until thick (160 degrees Farenheit on your thermometer).
Cool in refrigerator and when cool mix with 1/12 cups of sour cream and put on potato salad. Add the cheddar cheese if you wish.
olive oil mashed potatoes
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(contributed by Nancy)
Ditch the butter for your mashed potatoes in this recipe! If you have a special olive oil, now is the time to use it. If not that’s ok too. I have used big box/generic olive oil and it tasted very good! From Lidia’s Italian American Kitchen, by Lidia Bastianich.
1 pound Russet or yellow potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled
salt
¼ cup olive oil
freshly ground pepper, preferably white
1. Pour enough cold water over the potatoes in a large saucepan to cover them by three fingers. Season the water with salt and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender but still hold their shape, 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size and shape of the potatoes.
2. Drain the potatoes and let stand until cool enough to handle.
3. Peel the potatoes, and pass them through a ricer or a food mill with a fine disk. Gently stir in the olive oil and season them to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
sauteed cabbage (with mashed potatoes)
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Here’s another great, simple recipe for all that cabbage showing up at the market. If the cabbage is too strong on its own, try mixing it with garlicky mashed potatoes.
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1 small head cabbage
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cut the cabbage in half. Place the cut side down and slice it into thin ribbons around the core. Discard the core. Melt the butter in a large saute pan or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and begins to brown. Season to taste, and serve warm.
lazy lentil soup
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This lentil soup is one of my lifelong favorite comfort foods. It’s great in summer when all the produce is in and everything is fresh. It’s great in fall when the weather turns cold and rainy. And it’s great in winter paired with a with a warm, hearty bread for a cozy meal after a long day of skiing. It’s easy to prepare and makes your whole house smell delicious while it’s simmering. It freezes well for easy lunches and dinners when you don’t have time to cook. You can even make it in winter with a combination of stored root crops and frozen greens. Any time of year, though, it’s a great way to appreciate the flavor and quality of all the excellent produce Alaska offers.
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2 cups dried lentils
3 cloves garlic minced
2 medium onions chopped
1 bay leaf
2 carrots chopped
2 Tbs fresh or 1 tsp dried basil
4 stalks celery chopped
1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
2 small potatoes
7-8 cups vegetable stock or water
3 sprigs parsley
3/4 tsp salt (optional)
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes with liquid or 4 large fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 bunch swiss chard (optional)
parmesan cheese, grated
In large pot, combine all ingredients except the chard and cheese. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for two or three hours. Add freshly ground pepper to taste. If you prefer smoother soup, use a hand blender to puree to taste. Remove center veins from the chard, cut into smaller pieces, and add to soup. Simmer until chard is tender. Add freshly ground pepper and salt to taste. Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.
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