Jane DoeI have never met a single person who does not like potatoes and all their wonderfulness. How could you not love them? The humble potato however, is not as humble as you think it is. Yes, we can make French fries and roast potatoes from them but there is a whole plethora of potato goodness that has not yet been explored!
Not to mention that potatoes are also super good for you! For the longest time, potatoes received much hate for being ‘unhealthy’. According to nutrition statistics, 1 medium size potato has just 110 calories and is fat, sodium and cholesterol free. They are also great sources of potassium, vitamin C and fibre! So how could you resist eating this wonderful vegetable?
We need to stop believing the food myth about how unhealthy the potato is and instead you need to start eating it in a manner that will not make you feel like a couch potato once you are done! These 5 recipes aim to elevate the potato to a heavenly status so that you feel potatotastic once you are done pigging out!
Gnocchi with Sage Butter
You need:
For the Gnocchi:
- 6 large potatoes
- Olive oil
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 ½ cup flour
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
For the Sage Butter:
- 100 g butter
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- Handful of sage
- 1 tsp of salt and pepper
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
Method:
- Preheat oven to 200’c.
- Place potatoes on a baking tray and prick with a fork. Rub them with olive oil and bake them for 1 hour.
- Remove from oven and cut them in half. Scoop out the potato and place in a bowl. Mix well till no lumps form. (A potato ricer will be ideal for this job but you can use your hand/masher too)
- Add the egg yolk into a separate bowl along with the parsley and mix well.
- Add this into the potatoes along with half of the flour. Keep mixing. Add flour if the mixture is too wet and add water if the mixture is too dry.
- In order to test the gnocchi, tear a small piece and boil in salted water. If it falls apart, then add more flour. Once it is of the required consistency, roll the dough out into a sausage and cut it into 2-3cm pieces.
- Place on a tray sprinkled with flour and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Cook the gnocchi in simmering salted water for 3 minutes or until they float to the top.
- Simultaneously, melt the butter in a pan and sauté the garlic. Add in the sage and allow the butter to bubble and change colour. Be careful not to burn the butter.
- Add in the cooked gnocchi and stir well. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve!
Potato Dauphinoise
You need:
- 1 kg of potatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 100 g butter
- 1 ½ cups grated cheese (cheddar works best)
- ½ cups cream
- Handful of thyme, rosemary or sage
- Salt and pepper.
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180’c.
- Grease a baking dish (9cm) with the two cloves of garlic and 1 tbsp of butter.
- Peel the potatoes and slice them to 4mm thick rounds. (a mandolin or a slicer works best) Place the potatoes in the dish in a fan shape or in rows, slightly overlapping each other.
- Pour over 1/3 of the cream, cheese, salt, pepper, butter, and herbs.
- Repeat with a layer of potato and then a subsequent layer of cream, cheese, and butter.
- Continue till all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 45 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbling.
Potato Risotto with Grilled Sausages
You need:
- 6 large sausages (meat of your choice or even vegetarian sausage)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 large potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)
- 6 large mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 50g butter
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Parboil the sausages in water for 5 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
- Sauté the sausages in a pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil, turning whenever required until brown on all sides.
- Place the cubed potatoes in a pan of boiling water, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
- In a pan, sauté the onion in some oil and add in the potatoes along with a ladleful of stock. Keep stirring till the stock is absorbed.
- Keep adding in the stock into the potatoes till they are soft and creamy but still have a bite in the middle. Careful not to overcook.
- Sauté the mushrooms in a separate pan with butter and the minced garlic until soft.
- Add the mushrooms into the potatoes along with the cheese and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with the sausages.
(Inspired by Chuck Hughes’ Potato Risotto with Pan-Grilled Sausages)
Potato and Strawberry Pudding
You need:
- 2 dozen strawberries
- ½ cup sugar
- I tbsp vanilla extract
- 500 gms potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 50 g butter
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
Method:
- Cut the strawberries in half after removing the stems.
- Place in a pan and sprinkle with sugar and vanilla extract.
- Mash the strawberries lightly and cook while stirring constantly to avoid burning.
- Cook till it reaches the consistency of jam.
- Keep warm.
- Preheat oven to 150’c.
- Using a rice mixer or a masher, mash the potatoes till there are no lumps.
- Whisk in the flour, eggs, butter, milk, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
- Place in greased ramekins and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and top with strawberry jam.
(Inspired by dominicancooking.com)
Sweet Potato Cookies
You need:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 75g butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp nutmeg
Method:
- Preheat oven to 200’c.
- Pierce potato with a fork and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes.
- Remove flesh from potato and mash well.
- Mix in the flour, butter, baking powder, salt, sugar, chocolate chips, milk and nutmeg into the mashed potato and mix till the batter is combined.
- Using an ice cream scooper or easy access, dollop a spoonful of the batter on a greased or cookie sheet lined baking tray leaving some space in between each cookie.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown
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