Caribbean Smashed Potatoes

I'm here to talk about smashing stuff.

Can I confess that more often than not I arrive home in a mood that is more conducive to smashing things, rather than preparing dinner.

These potatoes are two thumbs up, high five, secret handshake delicious AND they have the added bonus of giving you an outlet for burning off some of the day's stress.
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Here is how you go about pretending that you are crushing your boss' giant potato head making these smashing good potatoes.

SMASHED POTATOES

Ingredients
12 potatoes (small to medium sized potatoes)
2  tsps kosher salt (or more to taste)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Herbs (* you can pretty much use any of your favourite herb blends. Fresh rosemary is nice. Herbs de Provence or Italian herbs are great too. Here I have used green seasoning which is a staple in every Trinidadian's kitchen.

METHOD
Boil your potatoes in water salted with 1 tsp of salt. Cook the potatoes until they are tender. Check that the centers are cooked through by piercing with a fork or bamboo skewer.

Preheat your oven to 450°F

Drain the potatoes.  Brush a large baking tray with oil. 

Use a potato smasher to pulverize those puppies.

Brush the smashed potatoes with oil. 

Be generous. 

Sprinkle with your favourite blend of herbs. 

Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon kosher or a coarse grained sea salt. The larger grains cling to the crispy skins just a little bit better than table salt. 

Roast potatoes in the oven at 450°F until they are crispy. This should take about 30 minutes.



Cooks Tip: You can do the prep work - boiling and flattening the potatoes- the night before. Then all you have to do the next day is cover them with oil, herbs and salt before roasting them.

As a final note I'd like to make mention that I am very honoured to have been featured in this month's newsletter of Simply Trini Cooking. Click the link to head on over to the website and subscribe to get your free copy. I wonder if you can guess which one of my recipes is being showcased?

Lemony Sweet Potato 'Fries'

These aren't actually fried but baked and yet they are everything that you just love about fries - only healthier and without the side of guilt. Freshly baked with a sprinkle of salt clinging to their still hot sides you won't be able to restrain yourself.

Because the idea of  peeling and slicing potatoes for a large family is about as exciting to me as watching paint dry, my first attempt at this recipe was with a bag of McCains.
 
Bad news bears.

Although I used a lot of oil and didn't overcrowd the pan they stuck to the foil so badly that I had to scrape them off,  leaving behind a charred mess. The end results were limp, soggy fries that were burnt on the outside and  undercooked on the inside.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I read the ingredients. It's second nature when you have a child with a food intolerance to do so even when the food is naturally gluten free. Once it has been processed chances are there will be additives and in this case there seemed to more stuff in there than the actual potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes, Canola Oil, Sugar, Potato Starch - Modified Contains Less Than 2% or Less of Annatto (color), Corn Starch - Modified, Dehydrated Sweet Potatoes, Dextrin [see above], Extract of Paprika (color), Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Malt Powder, Malted Barley, Wheat Flour, Dextrose, Maltodextrin, Medium Chain Triglyceride, Molasses, Natural Flavor, Rice Flour, Salt, Sodium Acid Polyphosphate [see above] Added to Maintain Natural Color, Xanthum Gum.

The highlighted ingredients make this food off limits if you are gluten intolerant. Luckily I found local frozen sweet potatoes that contained just one ingredient - sweet potatoes.

West Indian sweet potatoes have a somewhat different flavour than their almost day-glo orange American counterparts. The two most popular varieties aren't orange but yellow and a soft creamy white. Compared to the McCains, the local brand of frozen sweet potatoes produced a superior 'fry' that was lovely and crisp on the outside despite being baked in the oven as opposed to being fried. By themselves these are a lovely snack or they can be served as a side to a main meal.

Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into fat chips

2 tbsp Taliani extra virgin olive oil with Lemon
2 tbsp sesame seeds
* coarse salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 390°F

2. Toss the sweet potatoes in the oil, sesame seeds and salt and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, until tender within and crisp outside.

Yield: one generous serving

The Wednesday Meal

Late breakfasts, lazy Sunday lunches and posh desserts are the stuff of dreamy, relaxed weekends. Weekdays are a whole other story.

Sure, it’s nice to have a fabulous repertoire of sensational epicurean delights to wow your family. But of what use is haute cuisine when you find yourself completely exhausted with only microwave time to get dinner on the table?

Enter the Wednesday meal. You know that dish that you can make blind and in your sleep.  I call it my Wednesday meal because that's the day of the week when I usually want a bit of reprieve from the kitchen. You won’t find this in many cookbooks nor will it grace your plate in a restaurant. However the combination of smoked herring, rice, dhal and bhaji is a traditional meal that every Trinidadian knows well.

With the exception of the dhal, each component of this meal only takes 10 maybe 15 minutes to prepare. You will forgive me the omission of the dhal as the cooking time is longer.

Dasheen Bush Bhaji

Serves- 5-6

2 bundles dasheen (rolled younger leaves)

1 onion

6 cloves garlic

1 tsp oil

1 tablespoon curry

4 ochros (okra) optional

1 pk (50g) coconut milk powder

½ lime

Salt to taste

Here is what you do. Boil some water and put smoked herring fillets to soak. Now, feeling all virtuous that you are about to nourish your family instead of cave and reach for the takeout menu, prep dasheen leaves and heat oil on medium high. Mix the curry with water and add to the pot. Cook for about 2 mins.

Finely dice a garlic clove or six.

Yeah six is definitely better.

Then in a wide, deep pot, sauté the curry and the garlic. You want this mixture to get wonderfully fragrant, but without burning. Monitor the heat and keep moving everything around the pan. Add the dasheen leaves, ochros (okra) if using, coconut cream powder and 1 cup of water. Cook it all on medium heat until the callaloo melts in the pot and the water is cooked off.

While that is bubbling away, cook your smoked herring.

Smoked Herring

1 lb smoked herring fillets

2 tomatos

2 medium onion

1 hot pepper (optional)

6-8 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 Trinidad pimento peppers (optional)

1 sweet pepper(optional)

Method
Start by putting the fillets into a fairly deep bowl and cover with boiling water. This will help remove some of the salt and make the fish tender enough to shred. Let it soak for about 10 – 15 mins. Salt content varies so taste a tiny piece of fish before going on to the next step. If it is too salty repeat the first step and steep the fish in boiling water again.

Drain the water from the bowl and rinse the fillets with a fresh batch of cool water. Squeeze dry and start shredding the fillets into small pieces. You will encounter a few small bones. Remove as many as you are inclined too but don’t worry if you don’t get them all because they are very soft and can be safely consumed.

Chop the rest of ingredients and set aside
Sauté the onion, garlic and seasonings in 1 tablespoons of oil. Then add the tomatoes and cook about 2 minututes. Add the flaked smoked herring and hot pepper (optional) and allow it to cook for about 10 minutes.

Boil some rice, a squeeze of lime over the bhaji and dinner is ready. See that wasn’t too hard was it? So tell me what is your favourite easy to prepare Wednesday meal?




This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.

South African Casserole

Last slice.
I saved it just for you.

I am fairly certain that this dish isn’t actually South African but its an old family recipe that was introduced to us as such by a vegetarian friend and the name has since stuck. I remember Aunty Hélène bringing this over to a potluck Christmas lunch when I was a child. Naturally as a family of serious meat-arians we were suspicious of  vegetarian food. Back then I loathed this purple vegetable which my mother only ever served stewed with beef. So it was only under extreme pressure and outright threats from mom that I tasted this just to be polite. The fact that I am making this some 25 years later tells you that it's good. Vegetarians surprise your carnivore friends with this tasty side dish. Oh and by the way it's goes great with a roasted or stewed lamb! We had this last Sunday with stewed fish

Tante Hélène’s South African Casserole
Ingredients
• 2 ounces raisins
• 4 melongene (eggplants)
• Salt to taste ¼ tsp – ½ tsp
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 cups tomatoes, rough chopped (leave the seeds in as you need the moisture)
• ¼ cup unsalted peanuts, lightly roasted, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs or ¼ cup farine reconstituted in 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions
Put raisins to soak in some water so that they plump up.

Peel and cut eggplants in half. Slice length ways about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle with salt to to taste ( I only use ¼ tsp but we cook low salt around here.). Put the slices to bake at 350 degrees in the oven until cooked through. Alternately if you are worried about the oil you can steam your slices.

Meanwhile sauté garlic and onion on high heat. Cook until onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes more. Turn down the heat.

Drain the raisins of excess water before adding them to the garlic, onion mixture. Add the nuts and breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly. Remove from heat.

In a casserole dish layer the melongene, bread(or farine) mixture. Sprinkle with cheese, then another layer of melongene. Top with breadcrumbs and the rest of grated cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Cooks Notes
This is another of my recipes that has undergone a gluten free makeover. The original uses breadcrumbs. Both ways are nice. The breadcrumbs have the edge on appearance since they give a prettier crust. For some reason the farine (coarse cassava flour)  just doesn’t seem to brown.

Promise me one thing.  Do not use American cheddar to make this. An Irish or New Zealand cheddar is preferable. You need a sharp cheddar to offset the sweet from the peanuts.

Oven Roasted Ratatouille

This is a healthy and delicious version of a french classic. It makes a great side dish and is quick and easy. Leftovers can be stirred into pasta for another meal so that you can cook once but eat twice. The traditional method is a vegetable stew that is made on the stove top. It's not complicated but I prefer to make this in the oven. I like that I can prepare an accompanying dish at the same time that this is cooking. Also I prefer the use of olive oil instead of the butter in the traditional version.

Many recipes say that salting melongene (eggplant) before cooking makes it less bitter but I don't bother. Salt your melongene before hand or not, it's to your taste. I have never found eggplant to be a particularly bitter vegetable and the family never complains when I cook it. However I must warn you that I generally don't entertain complaints when I cook. If it's not charred beyond all recognition, it's considered edible. Furthermore, if you didn't stand around in a hot kitchen but sat in front of the television waiting for your dinner - you are not entitled to an opinion. Just kidding, everyone is entitled to an opinion. However, under the aforementioned set of circumstances you are better off keeping your opinion to yourself! Really.

This is one of those dishes where I don't use measured amounts of anything. I just toss stuff together until it looks to be enough. Feel free to use a little more or a little less - whatever. You can't go wrong with this dish and everyone will love it to the extent where they will be compelled not to keep their opinions to themselves and tell you how much they love it:-)

Oven Roasted Ratatouille (serves 6)

Ingredients

* 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
* 3/4 lb eggplant, cut in chunks
* 1/2 lb zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
* 1 lb plum tomato, seeded and cut into 4 wedges
* 1 sweet red pepper, cut in large strips
* 1 yellow sweet pepper, cut in large strips
* 1 red bell pepper, diced
* 1 green bell pepper, diced
* 1 yellow pepper, diced
* 2 red onions, quartered
* 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
* 1-2 teaspoon herbes de provence or Italian seasoning
* salt to taste

Place all vegetables and garlic in an oven proof dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning and salt. Mix well to coat vegetables.
Bake at 400.c for approx 45 mins until vegetables are tender, check after 1/2 hour and stir to ensure even browning and taste for salt. If your vegetables are particularly juicy you may need to drain a bit of liquid off half way through cooking.