Dill and Honey Mustard Baby Potatoes

Potatoes seem to be universally liked. Hence, if you’re entertaining guests, a potato side dish is generally a safe bet - they are easily available, cook fairly quickly, and are extremely versatile. Go with baby potatoes, and even the presentation will be a win!

 

This recipe makes flavorful baby potatoes that are tender yet crispy. The honey mustard adds a subtle tang to the dish, while dill helps brighten it up.

Ingredients:

~½ lb baby potatoes (could use regular potatoes cut up in cubes)

2 tsp honey mustard

1 tsp chopped dill (I used dried dill)

1 tsp olive oil

Salt & black pepper to taste

 

Wash and parboil the potatoes until tender but not mushy. Drain, and cut them in half lengthwise.

Mix the mustard, oil, dill, salt and pepper in a small bowl and add it to the potatoes. Toss to coat the potatoes evenly.

In a nonstick pan over medium heat, cook the potatoes for ~8-10 min until they are cooked through and have a golden brown crust. It’s best to leave them alone for a minute or two at a time before stirring. Serve warm as a side topped with a dollop of sour cream.

 

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Friday, March 11, 2016

Oil Free French "Fries"

There are several recipes out there for baked French fries that need only a little bit of oil to coat the potatoes. But recently I came across this interesting recipe that is completely oil free and uses egg whites to crisp up the potatoes. I was a little worried that it might smell like eggs, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was absolutely no hint of eggs once baked!

Ingredients:

1-2 large potatoes (I used Russet)

1 egg white - beaten

Paprika (optional)

Salt to taste

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Fresh parsley - finely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.

Wash and peel the potatoes and slice them about ¾- 1cm thick. Toss the potatoes with the egg whites and coat evenly.

Lay down the potatoes on the prepared pan in a single layer. Sprinkle some paprika and bake for ~15 minutes. Flip them over and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through (test one of the fries). If you’d like them to be golden brown, broil on high for a minute or so.

Remove from oven, sprinkle some salt and toss around to coat. For an even more delicious flair, toss in some fresh grated Parmesan cheese and parsley.

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Spinach and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes

Green foods are generally healthy, and broccoli and spinach are excellent examples of that. They’re a great way to sneak in extra protein, fibre and other essential nutrients into our favorite foods. Not to mention they can really elevate the taste of something as simple as baked potato. This low fat healthy version of baked potato involves pre-cooking the potato, scooping part of it out, mixing it with the delicious green veggies and stuffing the mixture back into the potato before baking it.

Ingredients:

1 large potato (I used a Russet potato)

½ cup cooked broccoli florets (steamed or boiled)

¼ - ½ cup spinach leaves

1 clove of garlic

2 Tbsp low fat cottage cheese (or greek yogurt or mayonnaise)

Salt & black pepper to taste

Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Leaving the skin on, cook the potato until almost completely cooked. This can be done by boiling the potato, or wrapping in foil and baking it in the oven.

Slice the potato down the middle lengthwise. Start scooping out the potato using a melon baller or small spoon, leaving about ¼ - ½ inch at the edges. Add the scooped potato, cooked broccoli florets, spinach, cottage cheese, garlic, salt and pepper to a food processor and pulse until everything is mixed, but still chunky.

Spoon the mixture into the potato halves, top with parmesan cheese, and bake covered in a preheated oven at 400 F for 15 minutes. I used an inverted baking pan to cover, but you could also use aluminum foil. Take off the cover and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is browned. Serve warm as is or top it with some salsa and sour cream or cottage cheese.

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Monday, January 25, 2016

Roasted Redskin Potatoes

Whenever I get a side of roasted potatoes in a restaurant, they are so deliciously seasoned with crisped skin and soft insides. I usually end up liking the potatoes better than whatever meal I ordered! It seems an easy enough side to make - even the cafeteria at our work does a decent job :-P

I did some quick research on baking potatoes, and then adjusted the spice scheme and voilà! Homemade, droolworthy, restaurant-caliber (in my opinion) roasted redskin potatoes!

Ingredients:
6-8 redskin potatoes
~2 TBSP canola oil (or olive oil)
~1 TBSP garlic powder
~1 TBSP parsley
~1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat oven to 400F.

Wash the potatoes and chop them into roughly 1-inch cubes. Mix the oil and spices together in a bowl or bag, then toss the potatoes in the spice mixture until the pieces are evenly coated.

Spread evenly in a baking dish, in a single layer if possible. Bake 30-50 minutes (times vary depending on how many potatoes you have) until the skins are wrinkled and insides are browned, stirring once or twice to get a good crisp on all sides.

Serve up with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

~Karla

Note: You can also add Parmesan cheese to the potatoes for the last 10 or so minutes of bake time for some melted cheesy goodness.

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Saturday, October 31, 2015

Fasting... with Potatoes (Upavas Batata Bhaaji)

Fasting is quite common in India, and a lot of these fasts don’t necessarily mean eating less/healthier food. However there are certain restrictions on what is considered fasting food. One of the most common fasting ingredients is potato. Even though I never fasted, I would always be excited when my grandma did, because she would make these delicious potatoes with roasted peanuts and cumin. The recipe requires simple ingredients and doesn’t involve much work - hence one of my favorites for weekday dinners. But the best thing about this dish is the wonderful aroma of cumin seeds tempered in ghee (clarified butter).

Ingredients (3-4 servings)

5 small potatoes

~3 Tbsp coarsely ground roasted peanuts

½ tsp cumin seeds

2-3 tsp ghee/oil (ghee can be made at home using unsalted butter (this is a good tutorial), or you can buy it at an Indian store)

½ tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste)

¼-½ tsp sugar (adjust to taste)

½ - 1 tsp lemon juice (adjust to taste)

salt

Wash and boil the potatoes. Peel and cube them once cool enough to touch.

Heat ghee/oil over medium-high heat; add cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds are roasted (only takes a few seconds for them to puff up and be incredibly aromatic), add the potatoes. Saute for a few minutes, add salt, chili powder to taste. Add a little bit of sugar (optional). Once the potatoes get golden brown, add the ground peanuts, mix well and cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice, adjust seasoning if required and take it off the heat.

Serve warm by itself, or with roti/chapati.

~Gayatri


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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Monday, June 22, 2015

Varenyky (Ukrainian boiled dumplings)

Every culture has some recipes for comfort foods that not only warm your stomach, but also warm your heart. Even though there is a vast variety in these foods, there are also similarities between the comfort foods in different cultures. Soups and stews are some of the best examples. Another common theme in comfort food around the world would be dumplings. Whether it is the Italian ravioli, Japanese gyoza or the Nepali momo, a warm plate of these soft filled pillows of dough makes for a wonderful meal.

Several Eastern European countries make similar types of dumplings with each one having their own twist on it. Varenyky (pronounced: va-re-ni-ki) are boiled Ukrainian dumplings. They can be made sweet or savory, with the most traditional fillings being cherry, farmers’ cheese, mashed potato, mushrooms or cabbage. The recipe I have here is for a mushroom and potato filling, but the same dough and procedure can be used for making varenyky with any other filling. After playing with the dough recipe for a little while and not being too satisfied with it, I asked my friend Maria for her traditional recipe used at home. She was kind enough to share the recipe with me and to let me share it with you all on the blog.

Making varenyky can take up some time, but there is something very therapeutic about the whole process from making the dough to filling and sealing each dumpling. It also makes for a good weekend afternoon project and once you’ve made a big batch, they can be frozen to enjoy at a later time!

Ingredients:

Dough:

1.5-2 cups flour (Start with 1.5. Add more if the dough is too soft before rolling)

1.5 tbsp oil

¾ cup warm water

Pinch of salt

Flour for dusting the rolling surface

Filling:

2 large potatoes

1 cup finely chopped mushrooms

Oil for frying mushrooms

Salt

Pepper

Cooking:

Water

Salt

Topping:

~3/4 cup chopped onion

~2 tbsp oil

~2 tsp flour

Sour cream

Chopped parsley/spring onions

To make the dough, mix the flour and salt. In a separate bowl/cup, mix the water and oil. Stir a little and add to the flour. Mix well. Knead for a few minutes. Cover with a towel and let the dough rest for about an hour. I had to add about ¼ - ½ a cup of flour in addition to this because it was too soft to roll.

While the dough is resting, boil the potatoes until soft. Peel and mash the potatoes (potatoes should be soft, without any lumps). Fry chopped mushroom in oil until they have released moisture. Mix the mushrooms with the mashed potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

To make the varenyky, roll out a portion of the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness (use flour for dusting). Cut ~2 inch diameter circles using a cookie cutter or inverted glass. The dough will stretch as you fill and seal the varenyky so don’t make them too big. Repeat until all the dough is used up.

Spoon about two teaspoons of filling in the center of each circle (this quantity might have to be adjusted a little depending on your dough consistency and size). Fold into a semicircle and seal the edges well by pressing them together firmly. At this point, the varenyky can be frozen if you are not cooking them right away. Place them on a plate without touching each other and leave in the freezer until hard. Then they can be transferred to an airtight container or a Ziploc bag.

Before cooking the varenyky, prepare the onion for topping by frying them in oil with the flour until golden brown.

To cook the varenyky, heat water in a medium/large pot. Add salt to the water. Bring the water to a rolling boil. With the heat still on high, carefully add the varenyky to the water. Cover and cook until they are fully cooked and rise to the surface (~3-5 minutes). Take the pot off the heat and remove the varenyky. Add the onions along with the leftover oil in the pan. Cover and shake the container until the onions + oil coat all the varenyky.

Serve warm garnished with chopped parsley or spring onions and a dollop of sour cream for extra deliciousness!

~Gayatri

Farmer’s pie (for the vegetarian shepherd)

Typically a shepherd’s pie is a meat pie with a mashed potato topping. What would you call it then if it doesn’t have meat? Well, I called it “Farmer’s pie”, but creative name suggestions are welcome :-). Irrespective of the name, it makes a delicious and hearty meal coupled with a salad and maybe some bread. I used chickpeas as the base ingredient to pull everything together, but any kind of beans can be used. If you’re not particularly fond of beans or don’t need the extra protein in the pie, beans can be skipped and you could use more vegetables of any kind you like. The ingredients I used were what I had at home, but other vegetables (like broccoli, cauliflower, squash etc.) could be used as well. 

 

Ingredients:

1 medium onion - chopped (~3/4 cup chopped)

2 cloves of garlic

1-2 carrots – chopped

~¾ cup chopped green beans

1 small bell pepper – chopped

1 can of chickpeas (or ~1.5 cup cooked chickpeas)

½ cup of cooked red lentils (optional – I used this because I had some leftover)

1 Tbsp oil

Salt

Pepper

Paprika (optional)

Cumin powder (optional)

Vegetable stock/water (if required)

For the topping:

~4-5 red potatoes (or any other kind) - boiled

1 sweet potato (optional) - boiled

1 Tbsp butter

Milk

Salt

Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and carrots and sauté until the onion is translucent. If using cumin powder, add that at this point. Add green beans, bell pepper and cook for a minute. Mix in chickpeas and lentils, salt, pepper and paprika (adjust to taste). Cover and cook for a few minutes until the chickpeas are soft. Use a fork or a potato masher, mash the mixture just a little, but make sure there is still a good texture to the filling for the pie. If the filling seems dry, add a little stock or water and let it heat through to make sure the mixture is moist. 

Mashed potato topping:

Mash the boiled potatoes separately. Divide the butter and add it to the potatoes. Add milk if required to mash them to a smooth texture. Season with salt.

Assembling and baking the pie:

Fill a casserole/baking dish (I used a 8x8 glass dish) with the pie filling, leveling it with the back of a spoon. Top it with the mashed potatoes. You can get creative here and make any design you would like. Piping the potatoes with a frosting tip is also a good option. I just spooned the potatoes over the filling alternating between regular and sweet potatoes, and then made a pattern on it with a fork. The patterns help make several edges on the mashed potatoes which crisp up in the oven.

If you’re not baking right after making the filling and the topping, let the pie heat through in the oven at 400 F for about 10 min. If the filling and topping is still hot, this step can be skipped since everything is already cooked. Broil on high until the top is browned a little. Serve warm.

~Gayatri