Crispy Potatoes Aga Style

 

Some variation on this potato has been around for decades. These are made for the Aga. They will be crispier and creamier than any conventional oven can imagine. I prefer Yukon Gold but really anyone will do. They make a perfect base for protein to rest upon. We had them with my Roast Chicken Stuffed with 40 Wild Leeks, some natural juices from the bird and nice fresh zucchini and squash. Simple, light and healthy.

They can be steamed ahead of time and refrigerated for 3 days before the final cooking. Plan ahead, have a little time, steam some potatoes.

Preheat your oven to 450, just kidding. These use the Roasting Oven but I have had success in the Baking Oven. They just took longer.

Let's see how this went down in the Aga Kitchen

Crispy Potatoes Aga Style

Gather up these tools and ingredients, don't forget your timer

• sheet pan with bak-o-glide and a 3 liter pot with a nice fitting lid
• 4 washed Yukon Gold Potatoes skin on
• sea salt & bay leaf
• herbs or spices of your choice, I used a spicy Cajun blend
• olive oil or any vegetable oil

In an appropriate sized pot cover potatoes with cold salted water.

Bring to a boil over the Boil Plate

Drain almost all the water off, cover and into the Baking Oven for about 40 minutes with the rack on the floor. This is for a fist sized potato, smaller ones quicker, bigger ones longer. A sharp tipped knife should slide in easily with little resistance. Better to be over cooked then under.

On the large sheet pan put down a generous amount of oil, sprinkle with sea salt and spice.

Put the potato on the sheet pan and flatten down with your hand.

Sprinkle with oil, more salt and spice

On the floor of the Roasting Oven for 15 minutes. no rack

Slide into the top rung of the Roasting Oven and brown the tops another 10 minutes or so.

Easy breezy and great for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Fingerling Potatoes with Aioli

Are you lucky enough to have a excellent potato gardener for a friend? I am and believe me it's worth putting up with his bad jokes, pack of vicious dogs and lack of cold beer when I stop for a visit. This year his potato harvest was particularly impressive. Green Mountain Whites, Red Bliss and creamy Fingerlings all had banner seasons. I managed to score about five pounds of the fingerlings from one of his hills. I sorted them and kept the smallest for this classic tapas dish.

Your Aga already makes the world's best baked potato. Time to turn it up a notch, maybe two notches. If you can't score freshy fresh fingerlings from your neighbor don't worry. Hit the farmers' market or a good grocer and pick out the smallest you can find. The ones in the photo are between two and four inches in length.

Baked Fingerlings

• 6 to 8 small fingerlings per serving, be sure to scrub them well
• fine sea salt
• olive oil

Toss the washed fingerlings ina  bowl with a good pinch of sea salt. Add a splash of olive oil and toss to coat.

Bake on a sheet pan lined with bak-o-glide if you have any. Into the Roasting Oven for twenty minutes shaking the pan half way thru the cooking. They should give a little when you squeeze them.

Serve immediately with a side of aioli.

Aioli

 aka homemade garlic and olive oil mayo

• 2 eggs, use only yolks if you want it thicker, room temp
• 1 teaspoon good mustard, no yellow hot dog mustard, I mix whole grain and Dijon
• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, germ removed and crushed, smashed and chopped
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 cup olive oil
• sea salt to taste, and it will need a little don't be shy

In a food processor add the eggs and mustard and start in running

Slowly add the oil then the lemon juice and vinegar. If it's too thick add a teaspoon at a time of hot water.

sprinkle the garlic with a little salt and drag that knife across it to make a smooth paste

Easy Gnocchi "Choux Style"

I come home from a quick trip to our nation's capital and what's in the fridge? Nothing. Just like everybody else's fridge after vacation. What do you make out of nothing? Gnocchi. Not the one made with the potatoes and the kneading and the rolling and the cutting. That's way too much work today, save that for company. These are tender nuggets based on pate a choux, a basic building block for pastry chefs and savory cooks alike. Pate choux is harder to pronounce than make. You should have everything you need on hand. Water, butter, flour, eggs and some seasonings. I like whole grain mustard, nutmeg and parmesan. These will freeze well and it's worth making more than you need just to keep the freezer happy.  

I made a quick one pan dish with wild leeks, fiddleheads and red pepper seasoned with wine, lemon and parsley. You can bake them with a little cream and tomato sauce or toss with wild mushrooms, fennel and broth or even go all Sandra Lee (don't forget the cocktails and tablescapes) and bake them with canned  lentil soup and frozen green beans, yummoo!

Confession: Our fridge wasn't exactly empty. The dog sitter who watches our place while we are out of town left a fridge full of wild leeks and fiddleheads. No you cannot have his name.

 

 Easy Gnocchi  serves 4 as a main course

• 6 oz water
• 1 stick unsalted butter (4oz)
• 1 cup flour
• 4 large eggs
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
• 1 oz parmesean grated fresh is better and cheaper
• good pinch of nutmeg

Get a good sized pot of salted water boiling to cook the gnocchi

In a small heavy bottomed pan heat up the water with a good pinch of sea salt and butter over medium heat.

When the water / butter mixture is just beginning to boil add the flour all at once and stir with a heavy wooden spoon. Reduce heat to low and keep stirring for a couple minutes. You should see a light film on the bottom of pan.

Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, or by hand, add the eggs one at a time. Be sure the egg is fully incorporated before you add the next one. It will look all loose and slippery in the beginning then it will stiffen up as the egg gets absorbed. Repeat two more times. Before you add the last egg toss in the mustard, cheese and nutmeg. 

Using a pastry bag  (pastry bag tips at the end of post) with a plain tip about 3/4" diameter pipe the dough into the simmering water cutting at 1" intervals. This is easier than it sounds.

Simmer for 3 minutes and rest on a sheetpan. They will swell up and almost double in size when they are done. If the water is boiling too rapidly they may fall apart.  Cover pasta with a kitchen towel to keep from drying out. Repeat until all the dough is used. Easy.

 Pastry Bag Tips

• you can use a ziplock bag, just snip the corner
• fold the bag way over over your left hand and fill with your right. This will keep the bag clean and less product sticking to the bag
• no need to use a pastry tip for this
• squeeze all the product down to the bottom before you start
• hold the bag in your left hand and gently squeeze while you cut the gnocchi with a paring knife
• disposable bags are handy for this type of stuff

Cook like you mean it, G