The Currabinny Cooks: getting creative with comforting potatoes
Potato farls: a simple but satisfying flatbread Photo: Bríd O'Donovan
It has been an interesting September, starting off grey and muggy, chilly nights and warm seas, Then a week of blissful ‘Indian summer’ giving us one last chance at some real heat.
At this time of year I start to naturally get up earlier, maybe the vestiges of that back to school reflex. Early in the morning you start to notice the dew clad lawns, cloaked in cobwebs. Rivers, give off a mist in the cool mornings and the hedges and fruit trees are heavy with fruit and still full of leaf. It is definitely the season of gathering crops and cooking for friends.
The Autumn equinox is another turning point of the year. Late in September is the start of the long nights of Winter. The oncoming darkness can feel foreboding, changing our moods and energy levels. There is still much to celebrate though.
From now until Halloween, we have the richness of Autumn with all the beautiful colours and produce. Fires will be lit, warm jumpers will be pulled over heads and above all else, we crave for comfort in the foods we eat.
Potatoes encapsulate the change of seasons perfectly. They work all year round, but how you use them in Spring and Summer might differ dramatically to how you use them in Autumn and Winter.
They have an undeniably comforting way about them. They feature well in most cuisines, but they seem to be at their most pure and soothing in the traditions of Irish cooking.
We are not shy about our love of potatoes, nor do we see them merely as a side dish or useful filler. They are arguably more important than the meat they often share a plate with.
A potato rich diet is not unhealthy. They may be three-quarters water but they also contain vitamins, fibre and protein in a naturally packaged starch that does not raise cholesterol levels and is easily digested.
One potato averages 90 calories and there is almost no fat, so enough potatoes, a little milk and the occasional addition of fish and meat, gives a balanced enough diet.
The recipes we have included this week all feature the potato in some of our favourite ways of eating them at this time of year.
Farls are potato flatbreads made extremely simply with just mashed potato, flour, salt and a little baking powder. They take no time to make, especially if you already have leftover mashed potato.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with these, you could add cheddar cheese, you could use leftover champ or colcannon, some parsley or just fry an egg alongside them in the pan.
- 225g potatoes, cooked and mashed with 25g butter
- 40g butter
- 70g cream flour
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
To make a quick mash, peel and cube the potatoes.
In a medium saucepan, boil the potatoes in water, reducing the heat to a simmer for the last 8 - 10 minutes.
The potatoes should be fork tender. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a bowl.
Add 25g butter and mash well until no lumps remain. Allow to cool.
To make the farls, stir the flour, salt and baking powder along with the mashed potato together in a large bowl until you have a dough.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to around 1/4 inch thickness.
Using a large knife, cut the dough into roughly 8 triangle shapes.
In a medium frying pan, melt some butter over a medium high heat. Cook the wedges in batches until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Serve warm.
A good vegetable broth is a necessary feature at this time of year.
I usually batch cook this veg broth and keep what I don’t inhale straight away in the freezer where it will keep very well indeed.
I rather controversially use tomatoes as in September, my mother's greenhouse is giving us the last big fat tomatoes of the year and they seem so appropriate in this comforting broth along with the more traditional elements like potatoes, carrots and celeriac.
There is much room for experimentation here. You could add chickpeas, pearl barley or even something like orzo.
- 1 large leek, trimmed a cut into thick slices
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly diced
- 1 small celeriac, peeled, roughly cut into small chunks
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
- 3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1.2 litres of vegetable stock
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 40g chopped flat leaf parsley
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Olive oil
- Butter
Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large pot or casserole dish over a medium high heat.
Add the leek, garlic, pinch of sea salt, pepper and cook gently for 5-10 minutes.
Add the carrots, celeriac, potatoes, tomatoes and bay leaf, cooking for a further 5 minutes.
Add the stock and bring up to a simmer, cooking for 30 - 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Do this with the lid off so the liquid reduces slightly and the flavours become more concentrated.
Remove from the heat, add lemon juice and parsley.
Check the seasoning it will probably need a good pinch of sea salt and some black pepper.
I am addicted to those cured, Italian sausages that you find at the cheese/charcuterie counter.
They are usually fennel and chilli but come in all sorts of flavour combinations.
If you can’t source them, use chorizo, pepperoni, salami, or even polish kielbasa would work.
This is great for a quick lunch when you have some leftover potatoes.
- 600g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks.
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 medium Italian sausage (fennel & chilli) or Chorizo
- Handful of parsley leaves, chopped
- Small handful of pine nuts
- 150g hard sheeps' cheese like Cais na Tire
- 50g butter
- Olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper
Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender but definitely not overdone.
Drain and leave aside. Slice the sausage into rounds or chunks depending on your particular preference.
Pan fry the sausage for 5 minutes, they should release their own fats or oils, add the pine nuts, cooking for a further 2-3 minutes.
Add the potatoes and red onion to the pan cooking until the red onion softens and the potatoes begin to stick to the pan.
Peel the cheese into the pan in slivers with a peeler.
Move the ingredients around the pan for a further few minutes until the cheese is nice and melted.
Scatter over the parsley and serve.
