Potato Salads

I love potato salad. I love potatoes. In all ways - baked, boiled, fried, mashed, roasted - and in all potato dishes - potato salad (as mentioned), gratin dauphinois, rosti, potato cheese soup, double-baked potatoes, potato cutlets, etc, etc, etc. I'm lucky that Albrecht buys me 10-kg bags of potatoes from a nearby farm. When I'm feeling too lazy to cook a proper meal, I sometimes just have boiled potatoes with some olive oil (or butter) and crushed garlic. One of my staples is potato wedges roasted with seasoned salt, dried mixed herbs and chili flakes. I make it so much that Shank has adopted it too as his signature dish; it's always asked for at potlucks.

The best potato I've ever had is the Jersey Royal. They're so good, I can eat them plain. They have a buttery, nutty taste, and a very thin skin. Boiled, some butter and salt, and I'm in potato heaven.

There are so many versions of potato salads. With eggs, without eggs, with onions, without onions, with mustard, without mustard, with mayonnaise, or sour cream, or yoghurt... The very first potato salad I learnt from my mum contained potatoes, chopped hard-boiled eggs, canned pineapple, spring onions, bacon bits and mayonnaise. I still make it now and then, but somehow it tasted better in my memories.. Does that happen to you too with your childhood foods? Our tastebuds develop and change as we grow older and some foods that we simply adored as kids are now simply... bof. (Of course, the converse is also true, I hated aubergine when I was small, but now it's on my fav list.) Since my first potato salad, I've tried so many recipes. I've experimented with warm potato salads with olive oil dressings, mashed potato salads, hot cheesy potato salads, and I loved them all.

Minty potato and green bean salad
from BBC Good Food magazine

500 g new potatoes
200 g green beans
2 shallots
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 handful mint leaves, chopped

Boil the potatoes for 15 minutes or until tender. When the potatoes have 5 minutes cooking time left, tip the beans into the boiling water. Drain and cool under cold running water.

Meanwhile, finely slice the shallots. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with the vinegar and oil then leave for 5 minutes. Toss potatoes and beans in with the shallots and sprinkle with the mint.

Creamy potatoes with peas and pesto
from BBC Good Food magazine

500 g new potatoes
100 g peas
1/2 pot creme fraiche
3 tablespoons pesto

Cut potatoes into thick slices, then boil for 10 minutes. Tip peas into the boiling water for the final 2 minutes of cooking. Drain the potatoes and peas together in a colander and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Spoon creme fraiche into a large bowl, season to taste, then gently fold in the sliced potatoes. Swirl over the pesto just before serving.

Our Chateau Weekend

Might I interrupt my recipe repertoire to describe our pre-honeymoon honeymoon. We didn't have time for a proper honeymoon as the school year started almost immediately and we had to go back to work. So we took a weekend trip in October to the Perigord region where we stayed in a castle.

We arrived in the evening. After exploring the castle a bit, we had dinner in the large dining room. There was soothing Mozart playing as we entered. The dining room was nicely decorated with an old chandelier, long tables and there was a large fireplace at one end. We started with a homemade walnut aperitif which was very good. Walnuts are one of Perigord's specialities. We were the only guests in the castle that night and sat at the large table in front of the fireplace. We felt like a king and queen as dinner was served. Dinner started with a salade landaise which is a green salad with smoked duck breast, gizzards and croutons. The gizzards in this particular salad were deglazed with balsamic vinegar which gave it a caramalised touch, very different from the other salades landaises that we've tried. For the main course, we had magret de canard served with peas, carrots and bacon, and a potato gratin. Duck is another Perigord speciality and this magret the canard was by far the best we'd ever had. It was very succulent and gamey, not like the vacuum-packed duck we buy in supermarkets. Dinner was accompanied by good Bergerac wine. Dessert was tarte tatin with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm... Need I say more?

After a restful sleep in our beautiful room overlooking the woods, we had a big breakfast with croissants, toast, butter, homemade strawberry and plum jams, honey, orange juice and hot chocolate. We then went for a tour around the castle with the owner, Etienne. The castle was built in the 16th century and was located on top of a hill overlooking a wooded forest. Although it had a fortress-like architecture, it served no military function. The castle had 4 levels. In addition to the dining room and kitchen, there was a large main room on the groundfloor. The two upper floors contained a dozen bedrooms. The cellar and old kitchen were below. There were 4 towers at the corners of the castle. We climbed the towers and walked along the covered walkway all around the castle. There was also a chapel which was built much later, in the 19th century. Imagine all that, just for us that weekend. It was a perfect romantic getaway.

Seared Encrusted Carpaccio of Beef

A classic carpaccio is composed of thin slices of raw beef served with an olive oil-lemon juice dressing. I like this seared version with its crispy bits in contrast to the meltingly tender very rare beef. This is one dish that I've made many times, and have tweaked the original recipe by adding my own herb and garlic dressing. It can keep for 3 days in the fridge, just make sure to cover the beef slices completely with olive oil. Leftovers are very yummy in a sandwich.

I first made this dish when I was cooking lunch for my lab mates. For six months, I supplied a 2-course meal (main dish and dessert) everyday. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I could try out my ever-growing list of recipes on my willing guinea pigs. That totals up to 120 recipes. And I still have more!!

This dish is very versatile. Add different herbs like rosemary or basil, olives, parmesan, etc. Slice the beef into thin strips and add them to a salad. I also found another version in the same cookbook with chili, ginger, radish and soy.

Seared encrusted carpaccio of beef
adapted from The Return of the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

1 kg approx. fillet of beef
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch chives
2 garlic cloves
1/2 bottle olive oil (exact amount will depend on depth of dish)

Season the meat well with salt and pepper, making sure as much of the black pepper sticks to the meat as possible. In a very hot oiled pan, sear the meat for around 5 minutes until brown and crisp on all sides. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. The meat will be easier to slice when it's cold.

Finely chop the parsley, chives and garlic. Slice the fillet of beef as thinly as possible. Lay out the beef slices on a dish, sprinkle over the herbs and garlic and top with olive oil. The olive oil must completely cover the beef. Give the whole thing a stir and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.