Potato Recipes | Finding Feasts

Finding Feasts - Potato Fennel Gratin — Click image fro recipe

Potato & Caramelised Fennel Gratin – This is a really simple dish that has so much flavour from just a few ingredients. It’s a side dish that can effortlessly outshine your hero ingredient. Comfort food made with love.

As my favourite part of the gratin is the golden, crunchy edges and top, so for this, I like to use a large dish, which means there is more surface area. This way everyone gets a perfect piece.

If you are rushed for time then a fantastic tip is to place the sliced potatoes into a saucepan and cover with seasoned milk. Bring up to a gentle simmer and cook till tender, about 15 minutes. While they are cooking, caramalise the fennel. Alternate pouring some potatoes and scattering on some fennel and grated cheese into a prepared baking dish till all the components are in the baking dish. Season well, top with the remainder of the cheese and place under a grill till the top is golden and bubbly. What normally takes about an hour to cook will take a quarter of the time. This method is also great if you don’t want to use too much cheese. Just top the gratin with a light covering. The end result is still amazing.

Happy eating! – Blondie

Smokey Paprika Hasselback Potatoes in a hurry… One of my favourite things to do when I have spare time is to wander around charity stores. It’s always amazing what you can find in there, and it was during one of these spontaneous trips that I came across a gorgeous terracotta, pot bellied canister with a lid. On inspection I saw that it still had a note in it telling me that it was a Diable Potato Cooker. Well, enough said, it was going to come home with me.

If you do ever come across one of these I highly recommend adding it to your kitchen as it’s no fat, no liquid cooking and can be used in the oven, on the hob (with a diffuser) or in the microwave… and being cooked in terracotta imparts a subtle and unique flavour to the veggies. I cook most of my vegetables in it now and the fact I can have awesome whole potatoes ready within minutes is just such a bonus!

Anyway, enough about my cute potato cooker, this is about making hasselback potatoes quickly. Using the diable means your cooking time is considerably shorter but if you don’t have one you can wrap each potato in paper towel and place them in the microwave. Start with the same times as with the diable and just check with a skewer to see if the potatoes are ready – It’s very easy to overcook the potatoes so cook them in 1-2 minute increments after the initial cook time of 4 minutes

Happy cooking! Blondie