Chips
It’s strange but I always choose what we will eat in the evening. Even when Danny does the big shop. Even when he does the cooking. I wake up and the second thought after”I must have a large mug of tea. Now.” Is immediately, “What will we eat tonight? D is a carnivore with a capital K. If I am feeling tired and droopy, I want light meals with very little meat. He is understanding and agrees to the wildest whims as long as 1) I take his turn to cook and 2) He can have chips Chips would be an integral, pivotal element of...
read moreDanny’s Wonderful Gratin Dauphinoise Potatoes Recipe
Finally Danny announced that he would make his fabulous Gratin Dauphinoise Potatoes to accompany the roast beef this evening. These are a more traditional recipe than my Cheesy Dauphinoise Potatoes and are delicious. Gratin dauphinoise reheat well. In fact, when I worked in a restaurant years ago, they were made in advance and reheated and browned under the grill on demand. Robert (pronounced Rob-bear) was French and longing to toss away his hat and paint (pictures) full time. He smoked cigars in the kitchen and cooked like a dream. His...
read moreLazy mini roast potatoes. A crisp, slow cooked roast potato recipe at low temperature.
I was introduced to the Penultimate Paramour’s elderly parents thirteen years ago on a classic “come down for the weekend” invitation. They were charming and we offered to cook supper. They had bought a chicken so roasting was the easy option. We grinned. Roast chicken is easy. We could shine. Looking back now, I appreciate that going to the pub before we started cooking the bird was a bad idea. Half an hour into the cooking process we realised that we had forgotten the roast potatoes. “They are essential.” The PP...
read moreMashed potatoes with olive oil, goats’ cheddar and chives recipe
Last night someone came to the blog looking for the answer to a fundamental question, “Who invented vegetables?” Whoever invented potatoes was onto a good thing. They are included in 80% of dishes in the Northern hemisphere and Danny adores them. Occasionally I cook rice or cous cous but when he cooks, potatoes are always included. They are his touchstone. Until I met D I just bought “white potatoes”. Apart from Jersey Royals in the Spring. Danny knows all the names (even the ones from his childhood when he was forced...
read moreChamp = the king of best creamed potatoes recipe
We were given this recipe years ago in the middle of negotiations for a foolish purchase. It is consequently the most expensive recipe in our book but one of the best. The secret is not to use too much spring onion. You can increase the amount of butter and cream for a richer dish as per your own personal taste. Champ recipe Ingredients: 1 kilo of firm potatoes (such as Maris Piper) peeled and chopped into 2.5cm chunks 50g of butter 2 tablespoons of single cream 1 medium spring onion (chopped fine including 2.5cm of the green stalk) 0.5...
read morePrawn croquette recipe
This is our entry for Waiter There’s Something In My… Pie, hosted by Jeanne at Cooksister. These blog events are a good idea. They focus attention. This sort of event forces us to think of a new dish as all of the recipes on The Cottage Smallholder are original and straight from our kitchen, apart from the conrtributions fom friends. We thought it would be fun to develop our potato croquette recipe and try to make something that could be a starter or side dish. Our croquettes are baked in individual ramekins or a large shallow...
read moreGiant potato croquette recipe
My mother used to reheat yesterday’s mashed potato with milk, in a saucepan, very gently. This wasn’t good – it had a wishy-washy taste. Up until two weeks ago we made potato cakes if we had some left-over mash knocking about in the fridge and were feeling galvanised. More often than not, the bowl would be pressed into a dark area of the fridge where food mysteriously vanishes until it is exhumed days later to make room for something fresh. One lazy day last week, I opened the fridge and found a decent sized bowl of cold...
read moreCheesy dauphinoise potatoes á la Cottage Smallholder
I’ve been fond of Dauphinoise potatoes since I worked in a Le Routier restaurant and the chef, Robert, made fabulous Dauphinoise. I decided to make them tonight to accompany our Spanish Lamb. I had chopped and arranged the potatoes before I discovered that we had run out of cream. This has happened before and in desperation, I created this dish. I’d forgotten how good it is and it worked brilliantly with the lamb. The crunchy, cheesy top covers a wonderfully succulent bed of soft potato – real comfort food. Cheesy...
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