Potato Cake--From Three Potatoes

Spring came to Washington DC for a brief moment and left again. It seems like it is going to stay with us forever and a snowy rain has been falling from the sky today. I had no choice but to apologize to the potatoes in my refrigerator with whom I was so arrogant the other day. This cold weather makes me still want to eat warm comfort warm food rather than cold crispy salads. And I know that if by any chance warm days will arrive this spring, I will never have an opportunity to use these huge baking potatoes I bought some time ago.

I decided to use all of them and make a potato cake. This is one of those dishes that can unite my whole family at the table. Everyone likes it without any reservations as it is totally vegetarian and very satisfying as many potato dishes are. I am sure it could be delicious as well with some fried bacon inside, but my son would not participate in such a feast. There is a similar dish in Polish cuisine, and we serve it with a meat sauce, Hungarian style.

The beauty of that dish is that it can be made whenever we open a refrigerator asking ourselves "What do we have here? Oh, nothing, just three potatoes". But despite that sad discovery an hour later we can enjoy a nice dinner.

This cake can be made on a frying pan, but that would require more experience, especially when it comes to flipping it upside down. Baking it in an oven could be less messy. Another reason for using an oven would be the smell. I noticed that, no matter how hard my kitchen hood vent is working, the smell of any oil-fried dishes, especially potatoes, beef, and fish is always felt even in the most remote corners of my house. Somehow this is much less of a problem when I prepare these meals in an oven.

As you will see it is a very plain recipe but what makes this dish taste great is a ground nutmeg added to the cake and the spicy yogurt sauce that is put on top. I also like to serve it with with a lettuce salad, drizzled with vinegar dressing.

Potato Cake
(Serves four; should be made in a 10" form)

Ingredients:
3 large baking potatoes(about 2 pounds,)
1 medium onion, chopped,
2 eggs, beaten,
2 tbsp flour,
1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black ground pepper,
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg,
1 tbsp olive oil.

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Peel off potatoes and grate them on a large hole grater. Put potatoes in a medium bowl squeezing excess juice.
3. Add onion, eggs, flour, and spices, and mix well.
4. Pour oil in a baking pan and spread it all over it. Transfer the potato mixture to a pan and spread it evenly.

5. Bake for an hour or until the top of the cake becomes dark gold.

Cut into four pieces and serve with yogurt sauce on top.

Yogurt sauce:
1 cup Greek yogurt,
2 garlic cloves minced,
1/4 cup chopped chives,
salt and pepper to taste.
Mix all the ingredients and serve in a separate bowl to accompany the potato cake.

Butter Chicken--My Quintessential Indian Dish

I was standing in the line to the register at an Asian grocery store, which I visit frequently to get some less common vegetables and spices. There was an Indian man just behind me standing with his daughter who looked about six years old. As the customer ahead of me was taking a long time to check out his groceries, I started to inspect the items that the man behind me had in his cart. I peaked with curiosity at the exotic Asian vegetables he chose--small eggplants, hot peppers, mangoes, fresh coriander. And also chicken breasts, garlic, potatoes, and rice. I could only imagine what a delicious Indian dinner will his family have tonight. Maybe dal, maybe spicy eggplants, some samosas, biryani meat? I was imagining some thick and creamy Indian dishes, I almost felt the aroma of the basmati rice, covered with a spicy curdled yogurt sauce, and a piece of freshly baked naan with that.

I was almost drooling as I thought about all the lovely and fragrant possibilities and the aromas of coriander, curry, and cumin when the man's phone rang. He answered and after exchanging with somebody on the other end a couple of sentences in his native tongue, he switched to English and turned toward his daughter: "Mommy asks what you want for dinner--pasta or chicken nuggets?".

That was the best example of what a united world we live in today. There is neither rice nor potatoes on every table, but pizza, hot dogs, or pasta, no matter, if we are Asians, Arabs, Americans, or Europeans.

Nevertheless, my senses were still inspired by his shopping list. When I got home I have decided to cook an Indian dinner to satisfy my craving for all these spices. Butter chicken is almost always my first choice, as my sons both like it as much as I do.

I know that there are many butter chicken recipes with individual influences deriving from various family traditions. Mine is just another one, coming from an Indian friend, and it is a version that my family happens to love.

Butter Chicken
(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
2 lb chicken breast tenderloins, or chicken breasts,
3/4 cup natural whole yogurt,
1/2 tsp chili powder (if you like it more spicy),
3 bay leaves,
1/4 tsp ground cloves,
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon,
1 tsp garam masala,
4 green cardamom pods,
1 tsp ginger pulp,
1 tsp garlic pulp,
1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce,
1 1/4 tsp salt.
6 tbsp butter,
1 tbsp oil,
2 medium onions sliced,
3 tbsp fresh chopped coriander,
4 tbsp cream--heavy whipping cream tastes better but single cream can be used as well.

Preparation:
1. In a large bowl place the yogurt, ground almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, and salt. Blend all the ingredients thoroughly to make a homogeneous yogurt sauce.
2. Put the chicken into the yogurt sauce and set aside.
3. Melt together butter and oil in a frying pan.
4. Add onion to the pan and fry for about 3 min.
5. Add chicken to the mixture and fry for about 7-10 minutes.
6. Stir in a half of coriander and mix well.
7. Pour over the cream and stir in well. Bring to the boil and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Garnish with the remaining chopped coriander and serve.

I like to serve it with the plain basmati rice, naan bread, accompany by the Indian carrot salad or cucumber salad.

Yogurt and Mint Cucumber Salad

A cucumber salad called "mizeria" is one of the oldest and most popular summer salads in Poland. It is served with a sour cream dressing and often also with dill. It is just another version of a Greek "tzatziki" salad which is made with cucumbers, yogurt, and garlic. Recently, a simple Afghan yogurt, mint, and cucumbers salad became very popular in my home. It is a wonderful accompaniment to many Afghan dishes. A refreshing taste of dried mint makes it even more desirable during a hot DC summer. But after all, this is yet another version of a cucumber salad, so popular in many cuisines.



Yogurt and Mint Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:
1 English cucumber or 3 Japanese cucumbers,
1 clove garlic,
1 tsp dried mint,
1 cup of European, Greek, or Turkish yogurt,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. Cut cucumbers into thin slices,
2. Mix yogurt with mint, spices and garlic.
3. Pour the yogurt dressing over cucumbers, mix, and serve.

Dinner with Neighbors--Delicious Eggplants

Full of energy after having spent a week at the sea shore I invited my neighbors for a long overdue dinner. We had this tradition to meet at least once a year at our place around Christmas when my family was visiting from Poland. My neighbors are vegetarian and the time before Christmas, including the Christmas Eve, is a perfect time to have them over for the seasonal Polish food, which is traditionally vegetarian. Unfortunately, this past year I took upon an obligation to do prepare desserts for several large parties at one of DC restaurants. I had to make desserts for several hundred people in my home kitchen and it became impossible to invite my neighbors at the same time for a dinner that would be worthy of their sophisticated palate. Meanwhile they managed to invite us over to their house at least a couple of times.

I made an all vegetarian dinner including a variety of dishes and a mocca mousse for dessert. Eggplants with yogurt sauce were the biggest hit. I got this recipe from my Afghan friend and I use it now, especially in the summer, more often than the several Italian recipes for eggplants that I got to know earlier. The Afghan dish is much lighter because it is served without cheese. It tastes best with any oriental bread.



Eggplants with Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:
3 large eggplants,
3 heirloom tomatoes,
4 large cloves of garlic,
2 hot peppers,
1 tsp ground coriander,

Yogurt sauce:
1 cup of plain Greek or any European-style yogurt,
1 tsp dried mint,
2 cloves of garlic,
salt and pepper to taste,
light olive oil for frying.

Preparation:
1. Wash and dry the whole eggplants.
2. Cut them in 1/2 inch thick slices.
3. Salt them and set aside until they "sweat" (i.e., juice drops will appear on the surface); this should take about 20 minutes.
4. Dry excess juice with a paper towel dry and
5. Fry eggplant slices in a big frying pan, until gold on both sides.
6. Preheat oven to 375F.
7. Cut tomatoes and garlic cloves into slices.
8. Arrange one third of the tomato slices and half of the garlic at the bottom of a large oven-proof dish and cover them with about one half of the eggplant slices.
9. Season them with salt, pepper, and dried coriander, and cover with a second layer of tomato slices and garlic.
10. Arrange the remaining eggplants slices on top and cover with another layer of tomato slices.
11. Add salt and pepper, cover with aluminium foil and put the whole dish in the oven.
12. Bake for about 30 minutes.
13. When tomatoes release juice and the whole dish is bubbling at the bottom, take off the foil and let some of the juice evaporate for about 10-15 minutes.
14. Meanwhile, to make yogurt sauce, mix yogurt with mint, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
15. Take eggplants out of the oven, arrange on a plate, dress up with a spoon of yogurt sauce and serve with bread.