All Entries in the "Potato" Category
Peruvian Cuisine: Potatoes Huancaina Style (Papas a La Huancaina)
The second dish which Erika shared with us is called Potatoes Huancaina Style (Papas a La Huancaina). It has a few similar ingredients as in the Chicken in Aji Sauce recipe. You can kill two birds with one stone for these dishes, i.e. prepare 2 dishes with common ingredients which helps to reduce preparation time.
The Potatoes Huancaina Style is relatively salty because we use feta cheese. You can reduce the saltiness by using a mixture of ricotta or cottage cheese with feta cheese.
Ingredients
- 2 to 5 aji amarillo fresco or fresh yellow aji peppers
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 3/4 cups (400g) farmers cheese (ricotta, cottage, or feta)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 hardboiled eggs
- 4 Spanish olives, pitted and cut in halves or quarters
- 2.2 lbs (1 kg) yellow flesh potatoes, boiled, peeled and sliced (use white potatoes if not available)
- lettuce for plating
- salt and pepper to taste
For this recipe, Erika used the Aji peppers in whole in a jar. Under normal circumstances, canned peppers tend to be hotter than fresh ones. Erika shared with us tips on how to reduce the heat of the peppers, especially if you are serving the dish for children. For those who cant find the aji peppers, you can replace it with sweet yellow peppers.
Peruvian Cuisine: Chicken in Aji Sauce (Aji De Gallina)
Erika Pereyra is a relatively new member of the South Arm Community Kitchen. We were glad that she’s sharing some of her favourite Peruvian dishes in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Erika shared with us that Peruvian cuisine has lots of influences from Spanish cuisine. One can also find a lot of Japanese and Chinese restaurants in Peru.
I bet you will never guess that Peruvian Cuisine has one of the most diverse in the world and is at the same level of cuisines of the Chinese, Indian, French and Spanish. Lima, the capital of Peru, is referred to as the “gastronomic capital of the Americas”.
The video above on Peruvian Cuisine is a bit long but I find it interesting that the country of Peru is so rich in gastronomic heritage. Did you know too that Peru is home to about 2000 types of potatoes? Peru accounts for 40% of all potato varieties in the world.
The first dish which Erika shared with us is called Chicken in Aji Sauce (Aji De Gallina). Aji is a kind of pepper, also known as Peruvian hot pepper.
The above are two types of Aji pepper which Erika introduced to us, one in the form of paste while another is whole. Erika told us that we can find Peruvian groceries in Killarney Market at 49th Ave East Vancouver. For the Chicken in Aji Sauce, we used Aji paste. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Wrinkled Potatoes (Papas Arrugadas)
This is another potato recipe from the Culinaria Spain book. I found the name quite interesting and decided to give it a try. It is also the season of nugget potatoes and it’s just the right potato for this recipe.
As the name suggests, the potatoes turned out looking wrinkled. It has a slightly salty taste on the skin and creamy soft inside. Arkensen enjoyed this and asked me to make it again for him. This is an easy and fast side dish to make, ready in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 lbs/1 kg small quick-cooking potatoes
- 1-2 tbsp coarse sea salt
Potato Omelet (Tortilla De Patatas)
Potato Omelet (Tortilla De Patatas) is a common savoury breakfast in Spain. It is usually eaten as a second breakfast around 10 to 11 am. We had this in BraCafe while we were in Barcelona.
I made this Potato Omelet for Ben’s lunch as he is a light eater while he is at work. This is great as it can be eaten warm or cold. This will be a great lunch box item when the kids are back to school next week.
I got this recipe from the Culinaria Spain book as mentioned in this post.
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup/150 ml olive oil
- 2 1/4 lbs/1 kg large potatoes (about 4 large russet potatoes), peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 tsp salt (I used 1.5 tsp only)
- 6 eggs
The hardest part in this recipe is to turn over the omelet. Chick on more for the instructions. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Mash Potatoes
Minoo made Mash Potatoes as a side to go along with the Cheesy Fish and Spinach Casserole. Everyone has their own way of flavouring Mash Potatoes and Minoo’s recipe is flavoured with shallots and garlic.
Minoo’s Mash Potatoes is creamy and fragrant and a little garlicky. It is garnished with green onions. You may substitute the garnish with chives instead. This recipe serves 6.
Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes
- 4 medium shallots, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- green onion or chives, chopped for garnishing
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons butter or oil
- pinch of nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- milk
Samosa Style Potatoes and Peas
Christina and Stella prepared this side dish for the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. Stella helped out Christina as one of the senior (Lorna) did not turn up the last minute as she was still recovering from her eye surgery. We wished Lorna to have a speedy recovery.
The Samosa style Potatoes and Peas is flavoured with spices like turmeric, mango powder, cumin seeds and chili powder. The peas add sweetness to this dish. This recipe is from Satta Lal.
Ingredients
- 1 lb russet potatoes (about 3 medium)
- 1 cup frozen peas, rinsed under running water
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon amchur (mango powder)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon oil
- salt to taste
Here is an excerpt from ‘The Spice of Life’ on ginger shared by Stella:
Ginger is native of China and India, the creeping stems of this perennial plant have been used in Chinese medicines for many countries. Ginger has been used in a wide variety of different products including pickles, chutneys, curries, and, of course, ginger ale.
Ginger is believed to be effective in relieving symptoms of nausea and inflammation. Preliminary studies at the American Association of Cancer Research have shown that gingerol, an active ingredient in ginger, may halt the growth of colon cancer, and it is effective in promoting positive eicosanoids and killing yeast and microbes.
Potato Chicken Stew
We were all very surprise and glad to Vanessa back in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Vanessa was the ex-leader of the South Arm Community Kitchen for several years until last June. Vanessa has involve in some volunteer job which clash with the South Arm Community Kitchen schedule. She came back today to demonstrate a very homey Chinese dish. Welcome back, Vanessa.
The Potato Chicken Stew is best served with steamed rice. The sauce goes so well with rice that kids can just eat the rice with the sauce and potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs chicken pieces (we used chicken drummets)
- 3 large potatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 to 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon cooking wine
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 whole bulb garlic, minced
- 8 small shallots, sliced and rough chopped
- 3″ ginger, cut in chunks and smashed
- 2 to 3 tablespoons oil for frying
