Potato Splats

These delectable crunchy two-bite potatoes are positively addictive. Eating one is an impossibility. Besides their crispy, salty outside and slightly creamy inside deliciousness they have a couple of things going for them. One, they can be made ahead, mostly. Two, they go with just about anything - roast, steak, chicken, grilled meats, etc. Three, their flavour can be changed by whatever herb or spice your heart is craving.

The recipe is ridiculously easy. First, wash as many little potatoes as you think you'll need. Add another handful because a few will disappear in the kitchen before they even get to the table. You can use red or white potatoes - I've used Yukon Golds here.

Place the potatoes in a saucepan, add water to about half way up the pot, salt, and bring to a boil. Simmer covered, until just barely tender when poked with a knife.

Dump them into a colander, then onto a tea towel on your counter. While they are still hot, or at least very warm, fold up another tea towel and use it as a buffer for the heel of your hand to gently squash each potato. Feeling each potato give under the weight of your hand is very satisfying, but don't get too aggressive. Just break the skins and flatten them out a bit.

Cover a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, then drizzle it liberally with olive oil. Gently place each potato splat on the oiled paper. Cover and chill up to 24 hours, or proceed immediately.

Preheat the oven to 420 degrees. Liberally drizzle the potatoes with olive oil. Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and season as you like. Freshly ground black pepper, thyme, rosemary...be creative. Today I used smoked Spanish paprika. Slide the baking tray into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, remove from oven, turn each potato and return to the oven. Bake for another 10 or 15 minutes, depending on how crispy you would like them to be. That's it.

This little plateful is what wouldn't fit on my baking sheet today. The rest of them are in the fridge, resting comfortably until tomorrow's lunch. I baked up these last 7 splats and ate them all, not even offering one to my husband. He was busy anyway. 

French Silk Pie

Although I'm not a fan of double crust fruit pies I do enjoy Lemon Meringue, Kentucky Derbe and this Chocolate Pie. I first discovered French Silk Pie in the late 70s, I think, and made it regularly, raw eggs and all, with no problems, even in Ecuador. But somewhere along the line it became incorrect to make things with raw eggs (although I continue to do so, and I eat cookie dough!), so someone came up with this recipe for "Today's French Silk Pie." It's rich, chocolatey and a small piece is enough. With a cup of tea, it's a perfect afternoon treat.

French Silk Pie - today's version

1 cup whipping cream

1 6-oz package semi sweet chocolate chips (or use Baker's squares)

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

2 beaten egg yolks

3 Tablespoons whipping cream

1 baked 8 or 9 inch pastry shell (or use a graham wafer crumb crust)

In heavy 2 quart saucepan combine the 1 cup of whipping cream, chocolate, butter and sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring until chocolate is melted (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir about half of mixture into the egg yolks. Return all to saucepan. Continue cooking over medium low heat until slightly thicken and nearly bubbly (3-5 minutes). Remove from heat. Mixture may appear to separate. Stir in the 3 Tablespoons of cream. 

Place pan in a bowl of ice water, stir occasionally until mixture stiffens and becomes hard to stir (20 minutes). Note: This always takes longer and I usually end up putting the pot in the refrigerator. It needs to be stiff enough to whip but not completely firm. 

Transfer mixture to a medium mixing bowl. Beat on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy (I usually beat it a bit longer). Spread in pie crust. Cover and chill about 5 hours or until firm. 

Garnish with whipping cream, chocolate curls and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. This is very rich, tiny pieces are wonderful!

Mango Strawberry Salsa

Why is it that fruit and fish go so well together? Tonight we're having grilled shrimp skewers and in the grocery store today I saw ripe mangoes and strawberries. I didn't think of making a salsa until after I got home, but I'm glad I did. It was fast and easy and dresses up plain fish or seafood. Of course, I had to taste the salsa first, which I did with some corn chips. Yum - equally good.

1 ripe mango, diced
4 ripe strawberries, finely diced
1/4 cup finely minced onion (I used yellow because that's what I had, but red might be better)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced (or use 1/2 for less heat)
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lime

Mix all together. Enjoy with seafood or cornchips!

Coconut Lime Crème Caramel

Flan, aka Crème Caramel has never been one of my favourite desserts. It's very common in Ecuador, but I rarely chose it. And I've never made it. Something about the whole caramelizing sugar technique kind of worried me. I thought it was beyond my capabilities. Dumb I know. And I prefer Crème Brulée, flan's cousin.

I watched an episode of Laura Calder, French Food at Home on line. Sadly, we do not have Food TV. Or maybe that's a good thing because I'd spend too much time in front of the television. Regardless....Laura made this flan using coconut milk. I was intrigued. Would the flavour be creamy and custardy? Would the coconut flavour dominate?

The family was here over Easter and I decided to give it a try. It was easy to make and yummy to eat. The coconut flavour was extremely mild and the lime zest added a fresh zing. This is one I'm putting in the files to make again. Laura Calder's recipe had a handful of coconut, toasted, I think, added in at the last, but I left that out, having some family members who are extremely texture sensitive.

Coconut Lime Crème Caramel, courtesy of Laura Calder

1 cup sugar
bit of water (2 T?)

Place in heavy bottomed small pot on medium high heat. Stir until mixture comes to a boil. Lower heat to medium. Watch carefully as mixture continues to bubble and turn golden-coloured. Don't turn your back or it will burn. Remove from heat and immediately pour into a metal pan - I used a cake pan, 8 or 9 inches. Allow to cool and harden, anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes.

6 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups coconut milk
1 T rum (optional)
zest of 1-2 limes (I found one sufficient)

Whisk together the eggs, sugar and coconut milk. Strain, then stir in the rum and lime zest. Pour custard mixture over the hardened caramelized sugar.

Place cake pan in a larger pan and pour boiling water up to about half way around the cake pan, taking care not to splash any water into the cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool, chill and turn out onto cake plate. The hardened caramel will have turned into a lovely syrup.

I thought it almost magical.

Brownie Bites

We've moved into our new home and are finding our way around a new town. It always takes awhile - each grocery store is different, driving means paying strict attention to where I am, unlike the automatic "turn right" "turn left" of familiar places.

Baking something always means I'm settling in. The children and my parents are coming for Easter weekend, so I'm filling the pantry and the freezer with good things to eat so I won't spend all my time in the kitchen. Cinnamon bun dough is in the breadmaker.

These little brownies are just two bites - just the right size for a rich bit of chocolate sweetness. And they are easy to make.

Brownie Bites

1/2 cup butter
4 oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (or a combination)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips (white, semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
18 mini cupcake liners (I use my small tart pans for two bite brownies and get 36 small brownies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini muffin pans with paper liners

Melt butter and chocolate. Reserve.

Beat eggs and sugar until creamy. Stir in melted butter and chocolate. Add flour, cocoa and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake 15 minutes or just until the tops are firm to the touch. Cool, and try to eat just one.

Nuts about These

A friend gave me this recipe. She made them to top a salad, then brought out the rest after dinner and we couldn't stop eating them. Sweet, but not too sweet, with a hint of heat and a bit of spice. They are addicting.

Mine look a little gloppy in this picture. I'm trying to use up stuff from the freezer and didn't take time to thaw these pecans before adding them to the egg white mixture. Result - frozen egg whites stuck to the nuts, which didn't want to stick to the sugar. But they tasted fine.

I made a double batch and served them with drinks before dinner last weekend. They disappeared in a hurry. I'm saving the other batch as a snack for unpacking - we'll have a crowd helping out - yippee!

Candied Nuts

½ cup white sugar

2 ½ T brown sugar

½ - 1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of cayenne

1 large egg white (at room temperature if you remember)

Heat oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy, whisk in 1 T water until combined. Add 4-5 cups of nuts – walnuts, pecans or almonds. Stir to coast. Sprinkle on the sugar mixture and stir.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the nuts in a single layer on the sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stir and continue baking until the nuts smell roasted, about another 15 minutes.

Let the nuts cool on the pan, then separate them. When completely cool transfer them to an airtight container. They’ll keep for two weeks. Or freeze them.

Blue Cheese Coleslaw

I like eating coleslaw. But I hate making it. Bits of cabbage fly everywhere, whether I use the food processor or chop it by hand. So I don't make it very often. This is a yummy version, full of lots of good things. If you don't like blue cheese, you could leave it out, or add some feta.

Blue Cheese Coleslaw

1 small Savoy cabbage, shredded
½ sweet red bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled
1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup toasted chopped almonds

Dressing

2/3 cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix the dressing ingredients, then combine it with the other ingredients. Let sit for an hour or so in the fridge to let everything meld together.