Tried and tested: Potato omelet

This makes a full meal for one or a light meal for 2.

1 baking potato (about 200 g), thinly sliced (only peel it if the peel looks ugly)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 to 1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 tbs cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste
A dash of Aromat (or Accent)
Other herbs/spices you like with eggs or potatoes

Lightly beat the eggs with the seasonings and chopped onion.

Heat the oil in an omelet pan and fry the potato slices over medium heat until cooked through but not browned. When the edges begin to brown, pour the egg mixture over the potatoes. Let cook for about 30 seconds, and then, using a spatula, lift the potato slices and cooked edges of the omelet from the pan to let the raw egg mix flow under the potato slices. When the surface of the omelet is no longer runny, slide the omelet onto a plate. If you like omelets to be lightly cooked, eat as it is.
Otherwise, turn the pan upside down, lay on top of the plate and turn over quickly and return to the heat to cook the other side of the omelet (it can also be finished in the oven if the pan has a metal handle).

I sometimes make this with cubed, cooked potatoes that go directly into the egg mixture prior to frying.

Sample recipe from Salads: Potato salad with mayonnaise and cream

This looks like a simple and easy potato salad of the side-dish type.

Serves 1-2.

2-4 cooked potatoes
1 tsp capers
1-2 tsp chopped onion

Dressing:
2 tbs whipping cream
2 tbs mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Garnish:
3-4 radishes

Cube the potatoes and mix with onion and capers. Mix together cream and mayonnaise and adjust taste with salt and pepper. Put the potato mixture into the sauce and stir to coat. Cool until ready to serve.
Sprinkle sliced radishes on top for a flavourful garnish.

Meal of the week from Quick Dishes: Beef patties with onions served with Saffron mashed potatoes

When I was growing up my family went camping together every summer. Mine and my brother's favourite camping treat was canned beef patties in brown sauce with instant mashed potatoes. My mother could do magic with these humble dishes, or so it seemed, because after I moved away from home I once bought the same brand of beef patties in brown sauce and heated them for dinner, but they didn't taste the same. Some questioning on my behalf revealed that she would add some spices and other ingredients to the sauce to make it better. I already knew she completely disregarded the instructions on the instant mashed potato package and did it her way, which included using milk or cream instead of water, and some other little touches that improved it immensely.

In memory of many evenings sitting outside a tent, eating beef patties with mashed potatoes, I decided to choose the two dishes below. While the patties, which Icelanders call hakkabuff, are made from scratch, the mashed potatoes are supposed to be instant.


Just look at all those onions!

While I have included the serving suggestions from the book, I of course served the two together, with the addition of this fresh tomato and cucumber salad which my mother sometimes serves with fried fish and crumbed fried lamb cutlets:

1 medium tomato
1/4 cucumber
mayonnaise, to taste

Cut the tomato into thin slices, cut slices into strips and halve the strips. Do the same with the cucumber. Stir into the mayonnaise and chill for 20 minutes or so. Serve with fried meat or fish.

I have fleshed out the instructions a bit. As usual, any recipe alterations are shown below the recipes.

Beef patties with onions

Prep time: 30 minutes
1-2 servings

2 onions
225 g minced beef
1 egg
75 ml water or cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tbs butter
Water

Slice the onions into rings and fry over low heat until they are soft and golden. Remove from pan.

Mix together the minced beef, egg, water or cream, salt and pepper. Form into 2 large, flat, oblong patties. Melt the butter and fry the patties for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and keep warm. Deglaze the pan with a little water and pour the gravy over the patties. Finally, warm up the onion rings in the pan and top the patties with them.

Serve with poached potatoes and corncobs or a fresh salad.
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Saffron mashed potatoes

Prep time: 10 minutes
1-2 servings

2 portions dry mashed potato flakes
As needed, water or milk
As needed, butter or margarine
1/2 sachet saffron (0,25 g)

Make the mashed potatoes according to the instructions on the packaging and add saffron. Serve warm with cooked vegetables, e.g. broccoli or peas, fried meat, and fried or poached fish.



Alterations to the recipes:
I made the beef patties pretty much according to the recipe, except I only used one onion and added a bit of garlic. I also fried the patties a bit longer than what the recipe calls for, to get them cooked all the way through. While I prefer my steak still pink in the middle, the only mince I will ever eat raw or pink is mince I have made myself, especially if eggs are also involved as in this case. Although there has not been a public case of food poisoning caused by either eggs or minced meat here for as long as can remember, I'm not taking any risks. Having once had serious food poisoning, I do not relish getting it again.

To make the mashed potatoes, I started by heating up some milk in a saucepan, took it off the heat and added a healthy pinch of saffron strands, which I let soak in the milk for about 10 minutes. Then I added the fragrant, bright yellow milk to the mashed potatoes.

As to those, I could not bring myself to use instant mashed potatoes when I had the fixings to make some from scratch, so I made mashed potatoes with fresh potatoes instead of flakes. At least that was the plan. Actually, what happened was that when I started mashing the potatoes it turned out they were too gummy to make good mash, meaning the mash would be dense and heavy and stick to the roof of my mouth. Therefore I used an old trick I have used before when I needed to stretch mashed potatoes and had no time to run to the supermarket for more: I took some dry potato flakes (a kitchen staple useful for other things beside making mash) and added them to the mash (sorry, no measurements are available, as only experience can tell you how much to use), along with some more milk, and whisked the two gently together, adding more milk as the flakes expanded and soaked it up. I ended up with mashed potatoes that were lighter than what I would have got had I used the potatoes alone, but which still had the flavour of the made-from-scratch product. The saffron turned the mashed potatoes a bright, lovely yellow and they smelled heavenly.

Verdict:
This was a good, very greasy and extremely oniony everyday sort of meal. In fact, my whole apartment smells like fried onions, and it's lucky I haven't got a date tonight, because I ate every morsel of that onion. The beef was juicy and I got the spices just right, and the saffron mashed potatoes were delicious, although another time I would use only half the saffron. In the original recipe the saffron strands are meant to be added straight to the mashed potatoes and would not have time to release as much flavour as they do when they are soaked first, so to save on saffron, use less and soak it first. You will also get stronger colour that way.

250 g. of beef is enough for two regular eaters or one big eater. I finished one patty and half the mashed potatoes. The rest I will have for dinner, along with half an onion I plan to fry up to eat with it.

Aloo gobi: Indian potatoes and cauliflower – mild version

I arrived at this recipe after some experimentation with different recipes for this classic Indian dish. In reality, I never measure for it, but this is close enough to the aloo gobi that I make. I generally don't put chilli peppers in it unless I have a cold, chilli being an excellent way of unclogging a stuffed nose.

Serves one as a main dish, two as a starter, three to four as a side dish.

2 medium potatoes, cubed
equal amount of cauliflower, divided into florets
1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 cm piece of ginger root, grated or very finely chopped
1 tsp yellow mustard seed
1 tsp cummin (or to taste)
2 tsp coriander (or to taste)
1 tsp turmeric
garlic to taste
salt
1/2 cup water
1 tbs cooking oil (2 tbs if you are not using a non-stick pan)

For hot version, add as much fresh, chopped chili pepper as you can stand and remember to serve the raita – it's cooling.

Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds and put a lid on the pan. Allow seeds to pop for about 20 seconds, lower the heat and add cummin, coriander, turmeric, garlic, ginger and onion, mix well and fry gently until the onion begins to turn transparent. Take care not to burn. Add the cauliflower and potato pieces and mix to coat with spices. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the water and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the potato pieces are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Serve as a side dish with meat, or as a main course with chappatis or naan and a raita (yogurt salad).

Raita:
1/2 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk
1/2 tsp cummin seeds
1/2 tsp ground cummin
1/2 cucumber, finely chopped
dash of salt

Stir salt, spices and cucumber into yogurt and serve chilled. Very good with spicy dishes.