I have never made a Potato Peel Pie. Much of the time, I just scrub potatoes and bake them, or cut wedges and bake them, or if they're new, I boil them in their skins. But for mash, I do like them peeled. And I hate food waste, especially right now.
Last week, Meera Sodhal referred to one of her favourite comfort food recipes- No Waste Potato Masala Toasties.
The peel being in long thin strips, I served the crisps in a cheffy little glass. I had to pan fry my sandwiches, as we do not have a sandwich toaster. But they were very pleasant.
There was some leftover filling, and Bob made a couple of small potato cakes, binding the mix with egg and flour to go with our Saturday Full English.
Another success was Nigel Slater's Lentil, Sausage and Harissa Supper. I added pizza sauce instead of his suggested passata, to make a casserole. My only comment is that it was very generous- and on Saturday we only ate about 60% of it [recipe says serves 2] So on Sunday evening I made mashed potatoes, and served them with the remaining 40%. The oven was already on and hot, so again I made crisps.
Then I saved the water from the potatoes, and used that as a stock to form the basis of an impromptu tomato soup. Stock, some leftover pizza sauce, and two finely chopped carrots, plus a handful of red lentils. Simmered for a while, then liquidised till smooth. I have to say that the crisps begin to lose their crispness fairly quickly, even in an airtight box. But they were OK for Monday lunch. There is something so satisfying about using up leftovers, stretching meals to make them go a little further, and making a tasty snack with things which others would discard. Bob has vetoed anymore dandelion crisps though, and I'm not sure he will like Nettle Soup. I bought a little bottle of banana essence a while back, in a £shop. One of these days I may serve him Mock Banana Sandwiches for tea - using Marguerite Patten's Wartime Recipe, which uses parsnips. [here] He doesn't usually like parsnips ...
The thought of banana flavoured parsnips in a sandwich at 7.30 in the morning made me feel quite ill!
ReplyDeleteYou can go toooo far Ang! Parsnips are a definite NO for me too.
ReplyDeleteWell done for all the potato using ups.
No, no, the nettle soup is DELICIOUS!!!! The recipe I used was
ReplyDelete500ml of Vegetable stock (and I used the water from cooking cabbage the previous day for this. 1 large onion 2-3 potatoes chopped.
Start by frying the onion chopped small in butter. When it is cooked and starting to go translucent, add in the diced potato and then the 500ml of vegetable stock (more if you want) and add some salt and pepper. (I also added some chia seeds just because I had them and they are protein) Turn up the heat and put the lid on.). When the potatoes look like they are softer, then add in the nettles and turn the heat lower. Stir them in and leave them for a few minutes only. Then use your stick blender to make it smoother. It will be a lovely vibrant green colour if you haven't overlooked the nettles. Serve with some bread and butter. Honestly, it just tastes like a yummy potatoey, oniony soup with a lovely healthy green colour. I also served it another time with fried nettles on top which was also delicious!
I love to hear of your experiments! I usually keep the skins on for everything but I am keen to try making crisps- how long do you bake them for and with what? They'd be good with paprika on!
OK Sue & ElizabethD, I will spare Bob the parsnip bananas! But I'm reconsidering the nettle soup after reading Kezzie's comment...
ReplyDeleteWe were often served nettle soup in France, it was similar to spinach and a lovely colour.
DeleteWell, that was amazingly frugal! But have to agree with the others - while I do like parsnips, the idea of them mashed with imitation banana flavouring kind of makes me gag!
ReplyDeleteI love nettle soup in the spring when the nettles are young. Just pick the top four leaves or thereabouts. I find that I need to fill (well pressed down so it really is full) my 2 litre jug with nettle tops for four portions. My farming relatives always told me that the nettle soup is really good for you in the spring. I can remember the first time I had it as a very small child. I would not eat it and was told that I would sit there until I did eat it, as happened back in those days. The trouble is that nobody thought to mention that the nettles lost their sting when cooked...
ReplyDeleteWe watched that film the other night and it's the best film I've seen in a long time, I loved it.
ReplyDeleteI bought a big bag of potatoes, last week, so I shall try making some potato peel crisps! :)
ReplyDeleteSee my comments to Mags below
DeleteFor such a time as this are your talents, Ang! We have mostly been able to use absolutely everything to its last scrap, and I have been wondering about homemade crisps - we ran out of nice ones ages ago and the only ones we have this week are really rotten. Did you cook the potato peelings low and slow? And do you have ideas on seasonings? Hoping to watch the movie with the boys soon. We're working through lots of movie classics as part of this chaotic homeschool. And lastly kudos on the potato water as stock. Was it not too starchy? Love you always x
ReplyDeleteI put peelings in a bowl with 1tbsp oil. Massage them about a bit. Spread out on baking tray. Sprinkle with salt. Cook 220(200fan) for 10mins. Cool on tray. Eat promptly or store in Airtight box for no more than a day. These are weird shape thin crisps. Or you can take one whole potato, slice as thinly as possible into rounds, and cook as above. One spud = 2 baking trays. Sprinkle with salt, or paprika, herbs, garlic salt, onion salt, etc not all at once!) the potato water was OK, gave the soup a bit of heft, felt more like a proper "cream" soup than a thin broth.
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