Baked Potatoes - Patata fil Forn

On Sundays, families in Malta would take their Roast and Baked Potatoes to be cooked at the local bakery. Bakeries would operate entirely on wood fuel - often old doors and Windows that would have been painted....and no lead free paint at that time! Nevertheless, the food never tasted as good as it did cooked that way.

Ingredients

6 large baking potatoes(skin on or off as preferred)

Olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Sprig of fresh rosemary

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

Method
Preheat your oven to 475 degrees F
Chop potatoes into quarters.
Cut onions and garlic and put into a large ovenproof dish
Add the potatoes and spices
Add about 2 cups of water or until the water reaches half way up the potatoes.
Drizzle the oil over the potatoes - about 2-3 tablespoons will do
Sprinkle your spice mixture generously over the potatoes, making sure each side is generously covered in the mix.
Place on bottom rack of oven and bake for one hour or until done (turning over or stirring half way through
The potatoes will be a mixture of crispy and soft - delicious!

Vichyssoise

This cold soup has so few ingredients that you should only use the best. Try and use homemade broth and not a bouillon cube. With their mild, sweet, onion flavor, leeks make a wonderful addition to this cold soup. Because they're grown in sandy soil, leeks tend to trap grit between their multi layered leaves and must be washed thoroughly before cooking. Yukon Gold potatoes are the best here.

Ingredients

4 leeks

1 medium onion

2 tbs butter

2 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

4 cups chicken broth(home made if possible)

2 cups cream

4 tbs chives

Method

Gently sweat the chopped leeks and the chopped onion in the butter until soft, about 8 minutes. Do NOT let them brown.

Add potatoes and stock to the saucepan. Salt and pepper to taste

Bring to the boil, and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes or until done, adding more broth if necessary.

Puree in a blender or food processor until very smooth.

Cool.

Gently stir in the cream before serving and top with the chopped chives.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Yams

Sweet potatoes seem to be around all year long - at least here in Arizona. They are as versatile as ordinary potatoes but apparently are much better for you.

This is one of my Mum's recipes - she said she would disown me if i didn't give her credit!!

Ingredients:

6 yams or sweet potatoes - peeled and sliced into thick rounds

4 tbs olive oil

6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1/2 cup fresh thyme

1 tsp red pepper flakes

salt to taste

Serves about 8


Method:
Heat oven to about 450F
Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix, making sure the potatoes are well coated with the oil mixture.
Roast for about 40-50 mins or until done.

German Potato Salad

Although a German recipe, this comes form my friend Regula who lived in Basel, Switzerland. This was a dish often served at her home, together with some most excellent German sausage - a great meal for a cold day. Sauerkraut was also something else i learnt to enjoy!The main difference between German potato salad and American potato salad is that the former is made with HOT potatoes and is usually served warm.However it's also great cold.

Ingredients:

About 6 potatoes, boiled , peeled and sliced (not cubed)

For Dressing

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon of spicy brown mustard

1/2 - 3/4 cups of mayonnaise

3 rashers of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped (optional)

Mix the above (except the bacon and eggs)and pour over the potatoes.

Sprinkle the bacon and eggs over.

Serve warm. refrigerate any remaining salad as soon as possible. Can be eaten cold later!

Roesti

ROESTI

This is a Traditional Swiss dish, generally served as a side. You can either make one large portion or several individual ones.

I have come across several variations of this recipe, but this was the one shown to me when I lived in Switzerland, so I am pretty sure it is authentic.

Ingredients
1kilo/2.2lbs potatoes,boiled in their jacket, the day before (make sure they are not over cooked, in fact they should be under cooked)

2-3tblsp. Butter (NEVER use oil !!)

1-2medium onions, thinly sliced

1-2tblsp. salt

Method

Peel the potatoes and grate them through a coarse grater.

Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan,add onions and cook until they are opaque

Add the potatoes and salt and spread evenly about the pan
Roast for about 3-5 minutes, moving about with a spoon, then form a flat cake and fry on medium heat until there is a golden crust on the bottom.Place a plate on the pan and turn the pan upside down,so that the ROESTI falls on the platter with the crust on top.
If you are very good a cook then flip it like a pancake (something I can never do!) Cook it for a few more minutes.

There are variations to this dish depending on the canton it comes from
Bern - Add streaky bacon ,cut in small slices or cubes
Basle - Use half onions and half potatoes
Valais - cover at the end of cooking with sliced tomatoes and some Raclette cheese(or any other well melting salty cheese )let the cheese melt ,then serve with the crustiest part on the bottom.

Stuffed Marrows - Qarabaghli mimli

Very common in the Maltese household, these stuffed marrows are just as good cold. Other recipes use rikotta for the filling but I prefer the traditional way.

Ingredients
800 grms large marrows - not "zucchini" type but if only those are available use the largest possible.
1 large onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic minced
2 fresh bay leaves
3 large tomatoes, chopped
2 tbls tomato paste
600 grams minced beef (Traditionally, 300gms meat and 300gms corned beef - the type you get in a can- was used - frugal gourmet style!)
150 grams of bacon (vegetarians can use 700gms of ricotta mixed with some parsley and a bit of milk)
2 eggs beaten
4 tbls of grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Semolina
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
2. Cut the marrows lengthwise in half and scoop out the insides with a teaspoon. Reserve about half the pulp.
3. Fry the onion, garlic and bay in some olive oil until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for a further few minutes.
4. Place the bacon in a food processor and blend until finely minced.
5. Add the beef and bacon to the onion mix and cook until done. (vegetarians, add the ricotta mix)
6. Stir in the marrow pulp and then allow to cool.
7. Once cool add the eggs and cheese and season the mixture to taste.
8. Fill the marrow halves with the meat mixture and then lightly sprinkle with semolina. Place in a lightly oiled baking dish and then drizzle a little more olive oil over the filled marrows
9. Bake for about 45 minutes until the meat mixture is golden and crisp. Another alternative is to slice about 6 potatoes and an onion and place them on a dish, then add the stuffed marrows and cook the whole thing together. A great meal in one dish!

Baked Tuna - Maltese Style

Fish and seafood play a key role in the regular meals of the island of Malta. Until recently, fish was eaten on Fridays in observance of the catholic tradition of "no meat on a Friday".

This recipe, although called Baked Tuna is actually more of a briased dish as the liquid let out by the tomatoes lets the fish remain very moist.

This is a very different way of cooking tuna compared to the quick, high heat, "seared on the outside, rare on the inside" style. It is also almost impossible to botch it up as I have tried frozen tuna (not even bothering to defrost the steaks) and as long as you check that the water has not been completely absorbed you will be fine!

I would serve this with a salad and lots of crispy bread..ah yes..and a glass of vino!

Ingredients
About 2 lbs of tuna as steaks about half an inch thick ( 4 steaks aprox)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 chopped onions
1 lb potatoes coarsely sliced
1 lb tomatoes, halved
4 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Sea salt to taste (the coarse type) and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Brush the sides and bottom of a baking dish with some of the olive oil
Spread the onions on the bottom of the baking dish.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cover onions with the sliced potatoes
Put the tuna steaks on top, then cover with the tomato halves, cut side down.
Add the garlic cloves, then pour in the water.
Pour the remaining olive oil and wine over the tomatoes, then sprinkle the mint and parsley over the entire top.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cover the baking dish with foil
Bake until the potatoes are fork tender (usually around 45-60 minutes). Let rest for 10 minutes, serve hot.