Dinner

Hachis Parmentier (French Cottage Pie)

Next up in the potato week extravaganza: Hachis Parmentier! What the heck is Hachis Parmentier? Well, it’s cottage pie with a French accent. Seriously, I looked at 10 cottage pie recipes and 10 Hachis Parmentier recipes and I can’t find a lick of difference. Cottage Pies (and it’s cousins Shepard’s Pie (with lamb) and Shepherdess’ Pie (vegetarian)) are a filling on the bottom and then covered with mashed potatoes. This particular one also has a healthy dose of cheese — Gruyer in this case (maybe the Cottage Pie Version would have cheddar instead). Either way, delicious, easy to make (and can be done in stages over a few days, if needed) and perfect comfort food for a cold January weekend.

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20. January 2024
Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Meyer Lemon + Blue Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

It’s so very cold these days. Yes, it’s January, yes, it’s supposed to be cold and generally, I like the cold, so I am not really complaining. Arctic cold snaps are tolerable, but they do make me feel like turning on the oven more. My flat is so small that turning on the oven actually heats up the entire place somewhat. So I decided to make this Meyer Lemon + Blue Poppy Seed Bundt Cake before work this morning. The meyer lemons make it all sunshiney too, which is good for the winter-blahs.

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19. January 2024
Appetizers/Starters, Dinner, Lunch, Savory Snacks, Sides

Hasseltots
(aka Teeny Tiny Hasselback Potatoes)

These are Hasseltots…. teeny tiny potatoes, cut hasselback style. Contrary to the autocorrect on my phone, these are NOT Hasselhofs. As far as I know, The Hof is not involved with my lunchtime kitchen activities (shudder), but I’ve had to correct the autocorrect more than a few times.

Autocorrect is annoying. These Hasseltots are delicious. Hands down yummy.

Also, might be kid friendly (minus the greenery?) because they are “snackable” and taste a lot like french fries.

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18. January 2024
Appetizers/Starters, Breakfast/Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Savory Snacks, Sides

Potato Manchego + Caramelized Onion Tart

More spuds! And what’s not to like about putting carbs in carbs! Yea, a potato pie with carbs nestled in more carbs and nope, I don’t regret a thing. This is delicious. A little sweet from the caramelized onions, salty from the machego cheese, hearty from the potatoes. Can be served on it’s own as a brunch dish or an appetizer, or as your carbohydrate along with meat and a salad.

(PS: don’t have manchego cheese? Asiago or Parmesan will serve you just fine too!)

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16. January 2024
Appetizers/Starters, Dinner, Lunch, Savory Snacks

Sea Salt + Vinegar Smashed Potatoes

Kicking off “Potato Week” in my little attempt to create some January enthusiasm, here we have crispy and fluffy Sea Salt + Vinegar Smashed Potatoes. Yeah, sure — first you have to boil the mini-potatoes and then bake them and THEN finally, spritz them with a bit of malt vinegar, but OMG are these good. If you aren’t a malt vinegar type of person, you can skip that part, but don’t skimp on the sea salt. I didn’t make any dipping sauces (ketchup worked just fine), but I could see a sour-cream and chive, a curry ketchup or ranch-mayo deal. Find the smallest potatoes possible — these were a little smaller than a ping pong ball. Little red or yellows both work. Yum Yum!

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15. January 2024