The Lemon Zest Cake

As the academic part of this project draws to a close I thought what better way to end this project than with a dessert. 

I had recently been talking about my blog with my brother's fiance who is a dietician, who suggested I try to make a lemon zest cake which she heard about from the BBC's website 'Good Food'. The lemon zest cake is potato rather than flour based which is beneficial for those who suffer from celiac disease - or glutton intolerance.

Ingredients:

200g of softened butter

200g caster sugar

4x eggs

3x lemons

175g ground almonds

 250g mashed potatoes

2tbs of glutton free baking powder

Begin by heating your oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line a deep, 20cm round cake tin. Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, then gradually add the egg, beating after each addition.  Then fold in the almonds, cold mashed potato, lemon zest and baking powder.  

Tip into the tin, level the top, then bake for 40-45 mins. Place the cake onto a wire rack  and leave for 10 mins to cool. Mix the granulated sugar and the lemon juice together, then spoon over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.

Let the cake cool completely before slicing. I recommend some custard as a side.

BBC, (August 2008) Glutton-Free Lemon Zest Cake [Internet] http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5870/glutenfree-lemon-drizzle-cake April 20th 2012

Potato and Salmon Bake

Inspired by Elizabeth Woodland’s book: Best Ever 300 Potato Recipes (2011), I decided to make a potato salmon bake. Woodland not only gives potato recipes but she also talks about the goodness within the potato too! Describing her love for the potato I can only whole heartedly agree.

“Nutritious, versatile and comforting, the humble potato is one of the world's best-loved vegetables. Whether mashed, baked, chipped, cooked in a stew or topping a pie, the potato's seemingly endless adaptability makes it indispensable in every kitchen and an key ingredient in many of the world's cuisines. This book features 300 delicious potato recipes split into separate chapters for each course. Every kind of meal is covered from simple broths and salads to exotic curries, hearty stews, impressive dinner party dishes and even decadent desserts. Beautifully presented with 300 stunning photographs, and with cook's tips and handy variations throughout, this is the ultimate celebration of the potato, and an essential book for anyone who enjoys good, wholesome food.” (Woodland: 2011) I found this recipe book to be fantastic!

My Ingredients

Adding chopped onions to my salmon and chopped up Vivaldi potatoes.



        The finished pie! Dont forget to pour three beaten eggs over your pie to hold it together!               

Tuck in!!

Woodland, E. Best Ever 300 Potato Recipes, London: Southwater, 2011.

Saag Aloo

Inspired by the recipe of Anjali Pathak, a famous Anglo Indian cook I decided to make Saag Aloo.

Personally, I don’t eat a lot of spicy food such as curries and kormas but I would argue that Indian recipes are among the most creative around the world and the Saag Aloo allows the potato to shine as the dish’s main ingredient. Different from my preferable western ‘meat and two veg’ meal the Saag Aloo combines potatoes, spinach and some Indian spices to produce a delectable vegetarian meal.

You’ll need:

2x Large potates (I chose King Edwards)

1x Garlic Clove

Chiles

Cuman Powder

Spinnich

Pepper

Masala Spices

Begin by either boiling or steaming the potatoes and chopping them up into roughly ince thick pieces. Prepare a frying pan and add to it the garlic and spices as well as chopped chilli. To this add your potatoes.

Lastly, simply add the spinnich to the mix and cook for a few minutes. The longest part fo the process is waiting for the potatoes to boil; once on the pan it will take minutes!

 I even added a little sour cream and soft cheese to soften the blow from the spices.

Below is a video of Anjali Pathak making the dish for an online cookery show. Such skills she has!

PataksCurClub, (2012) How To Make Saag Aloo, Video With Anjali Pathak [Youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APoBVISfa18 April 20th 2012

Sweet Potato Quote

"A diet that consists predominantly of rice leads to the use of opium, just as a diet that consists predominantly of potatoes leads to the use of liquor."

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher

Hot Potato Fact

The worlds biggest potato weighed in at at 18 pounds, 4 ounces according to the Guinness book of world records. That’s enough for 73 medium fries at macdonalds!

Potato Dauphinoise

Whilst at home, I decided to take advantage of a fridge full of food and so invited my cousin Arlene around for dinner – the parentals didn’t mind of course.

Saturday night so as tradition goes in the Smyth household, steak’s on the menu! Garlic lovers, Arlene and I decided to make our own favourite accompaniments to our steak where I of course was in charge of potatoes. Cheesy, garlicky and so very creamy, there’s no better potato side dish to use than the luxurious potato dauphinoise. Arlene prepared her speciality: breaded garlic mushrooms.

To prepare potato dauphinoise you’ll need:

5 Large potatoes

1x tub of single cream

2x cloves of garlic

200g of grated cheese

Begin by peeling the potatoes and cut into halves. I decided to steam the potatoes as it allows the potatoes to keep hold of their nutrients much better than boiling them. Steam the potatoes for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes take the potatoes from the steamer and cut into equal horizontal slices then place them into a casserole dish. Add grated garlic cloves as well as the grated cheese before pouring evenly the cream onto the potatoes.

Place the potatoes into the prepared oven (200 degrees) for a further 10 minutes.

Whilst waiting I recommend you prepare the table before going to the wine rack and opening a bottle of red. Grapes are one of your five-a-day after all.

Spanish Omelette

Known to the Spanish as the ‘Tortilla de Patatas’, the dish is scrumptiously satisfying and one of the nation’s signature meals. The Spanish omelette has made its mark in English cookbooks and has been tweaked over the years with the addition of more ingredients along with the original eggs, potatoes and onions.

This omelette is a meal in itself and is a personal favourite of my mothers. It is incredulously easy to make. Not only does it allow you to put left over potatoes to good use but it also allows you to become more creative by adding different ingredients.

My mother and I decided to treat ourselves to the omelette (although this omelette provides for up to 4-5 people) for lunch the other day and I must say it was rather delicious.  Following no recipe, just years of experience we got stuck in to creating this all-time classic dish.

Bellow I’ve detailed how we got on and if you like our method you’ll need…

4-5x potatoes (preferably ones that have been left over from a recent meal)

4x eggs

Cooked ham

Scallions

Powdered garlic for seasoning

Black pepper

Paprika

Crushed chilli (to give it that little extra kick)

If you’re making the dish with freshly boiled potatoes make sure they’ve had time to cool and settle. Then simply cut the potatoes horizontally into slices of about 1cm thick and place on a warm frying pan.

Beat your four eggs with a teaspoon of chilli and garlic and add to the frying pan. If you’re using a large frying pan you can add a little milk to the beaten eggs.  

Chop up as much scallions as you wish to add, as well as slicing up your preferred amount of ham and scatter onto the pan.

When the omelette is cooked through to the centre, don’t fold it like a normal omelette, and place it under a hot grill for about 1-2 minutes so to cook the top.

When the omelette has been through, slide it off onto a plate and cut into triangles as you would with a pizza or quiche and Walla, it’s ready for you to tuck in!