Potatoes take centre stage
Stop neglecting that versatile vegetable and make it the star of your next dish
THERE’S more to the humble potato than just a filling side dish to meat or fish. In fact it can become the star of the dish, with a little effort. “Potatoes can be prepared in many different ways. In addition to roasting, steaming, boiling and deepfrying, they can also be made into sweet or salty doughs,” says Dominik Klier, who with Theo Lindinger sells potatoes and potato dishes at Munich’s Viktualienmarkt food market.
An attractive alternative to French fries are tornado potatoes, in which thin slices of potatoes are wrapped around a skewer – ideally as one long spiral. Each tornado
consists of a medium-sized, waxy potato on a shish kebab skewer.
With wooden skewers, a mixture of strength and dexterity is required to prevent them from snapping in two. Alternatively, says cookbook author Inga Pfannebecker, you can use metal skewers or pre-drill the holes – for example with a clean, sharp screwdriver or a knitting needle.
Making potato spirals with a fruit knife
She uses a small, sharp fruit knife to cut the spiral – starting at one end of the potato and twisting around the skewer. “With a larger knife you have less feeling and flexibility.”
There are also spiralisers available in stores. “The cheaper ones usually don’t work well, and real professional tools, such as those used by fast food stalls, are expensive. You have to be a real fan of tornado potatoes to make it worth the expense,” says Pfannebecker.
In her opinion, patience is the only thing that will help ensure the spiral is long and evenly thin.
“Always cut the potatoes slowly and carefully, turning them slowly – that’s the best way to do it. If you start to get impatient and try to do it faster, the spiral will tear or you’ll cut slices that are too wide.”
To make the tornado potatoes crispy in the oven, the thin slices should be pulled apart and completely smeared with butter at the beginning and halfway through the cooking time. It’s very important to balance the skewers on the edges of the casserole dish so that the slices hang freely – this way the heat gets to all the sides of the potatoes, says Pfannebecker.
Avoid cooking potato in its own juice
“If something is laid down flat it partially cooks in its own juices and doesn’t get as crunchy,” she says.
The potato spirals can be seasoned with salt, pepper, parmesan, paprika, chili, curry powder or the sweet and hot spice mixture Ras el Hanout.
“Herbs are less suitable, they burn too much when roasted.”
Fanned potatoes are easier to prepare. The unpeeled vegetables are cut crosswise with a fruit knife, but not completely through.
For a perfect result, the slices should be between two and three millimetres thin. They can then be brushed with garlic butter and baked in the oven.
If you like, halfway through the baking, you can put torn bits of bacon between the pieces and brush them with a bit more butter. “The bacon provides a hearty aroma and makes the potatoes even crispier,” the
the
cookbook author says.
Doughs with potatoes become nice and juicy
Potatoes don’t have to be confined to savoury dishes, but can also be an ingredient in sweet ones. They are particularly popular in Lower Bavarian and Austrian cuisine as an ingredient for gingerbread, strudel, cakes and buffers, says Dominik Klier. “The potato gives most doughs a pleasant juiciness.” He recommends making potato strudel – filled with poppy seeds, plums or other fruit.
For the dough, floury potatoes that have been boiled and allowed to cool are kneaded together with an egg, salt, sour cream and flour.
The dough is then rolled out into a rectangle and brushed with melted butter. The filling of fruit, cinnamon, coriander and sugar is spread in a line on the bottom of the dough and it’s then rolled up.
The strudel is baked for about an hour in a large baking or casserole dish filled with melted clarified butter.
It should be brushed with butter at intervals to make it crispy. The dish is best served warm, with a scoop of ice cream on top. –
dpa