Festive Potato Wedges--Thanksgiving Snacks and More

I know that this time of the year I should try to do something with sweet potatoes, but I have not yet found my way of preparing them. But since Thanksgiving cooking is all about hearty, traditional food, I felt that instead of trying harder than I should to figure out what to do with sweet potatoes, I could offer you a snack made of ordinary white potatoes, which could be easily incorporated into this holiday's menu.

Ordinary potatoes are a staple food to many people all over the world. They are also a great basis for many versatile dishes and I intend to post recipes for potato dumplings and noodles, which are a specialty of several national cuisines in Eastern Europe. Some of them require a bit of effort and time to make. Today, however, I chose to post something easy enough to serve it as an impromptu party snack.

I think that this recipe makes ordinary potatoes look attractive, and gives them a festive seasonal flavor. If you like potatoes anyway, you will certainly like this simple snack as well, if you don't like potatos, please give it a try and maybe you will discover their hidden valor.

Potato Wedges

Ingredients:
4 medium white potatoes,
2 brunches of fresh sage,
about half a pack of lean bacon.

Preparation:
1. Cut potatoes in wedges about 1/2-3/4 inch thick.
2. Boil potatoes in salted water until soft, but just a notch short of being perfectly soft, drain them and cool down a little bit.
3. Heat oven to 400 F.
4. Cut bacon stripes in halves.
5. Place a leaf of sage on each potato wedge and wrap around with a piece of bacon. Secure the wraps with wooden toothpicks.
6. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until potatoes turn a little bit gold and bacon becomes fried.
7. Serve as starter or party snacks with a glass of beer or wine.

Spicy Pecan Cookies--Something out of Nothing

Last Friday I attended an exhibition of South African bead jewelery and met several South African ladies. Talking to them brought back to me the memory of the friend whom I met in Switzerland. She was born in Portugal, but spent most of her life in South Africa. I must admit that she had a huge influence on my culinary education to the point that I could call her my culinary mentor. Some of the best dishes I still cook today come from her personal cookbook. Many of them come from Portugal, where she spent her summers, others come from several other countries she lived in.

I watched and admired her when, with a little bit of touch and nice presentation, she was able to arrange a tea event, or a nice lunch, often out of nothing. She taught me many good host's do's and don'ts that I try to follow every time I have any guest in my house. On top of all that she was also the one who introduced me to a wonderful South African wines, especially from Stellenbosch or Nederburg. I still like to serve it to my guests if I can only buy it here.

Unfortunately, I have lost touch with her, but I hope to reconnect again one day. I am sure she would be very proud of me writing this blog (especially in English). Thinking about one of the Romy's golden rules not to waste any food, I came with an idea of making spicy cookies, from an old and dry piece of blue cheese that got lost in my refrigerator. The inspiration came from the well known nut cookies. I used some pecans that I always associate with Thanksgiving pies, and I just added cheese, salt, and a little bit of rosemary to turn them into wine accompaniments. Here is my experiment.

Spicy Pecan Cookies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter,
1 cup flour,
1 tsp salt,
1 cup minced pecan nuts.
coarse sea salt,
a brunch of rosemary.
about 4 oz of blue cheese, but I am sure that any will do, for example, Parmesan or Cheddar.

Preparation:
1. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and working with hands make first crumbs which as you work will turn into a dough.
2. Form a dough into a log, wrap in the food foil, and chill for half an hour.
3. Heat oven to 375 F.
3. Cut a cold dough into a quarter inch thick slices and arrange on a baking tin greased with butter.

4. Spread salt and rosemary on top and bake for about 20 minutes.

Serve cold on small plates, as they are very short. They taste particularly well with a glass of red wine (especially a good Nederburg).

Afghan Spinach with Coriander--or the Other Way Around

Until last year I was seeing my Afghan friend every week. We got together on Fridays at the stables, where our sons had therapeutic horseback riding classes. But she recently moved out and she stopped coming to the stables because of the heavy traffic. I miss her very much. We used to have very interesting and passionate conversations about our lives, kids, fashion, and cuisine, while our sons enjoyed the horseback riding and our younger children were also having great time playing together. Sometimes, especially on the traditional Muslim holidays, she cooked one of her national dishes and I was getting a portion of it to try with a detailed instruction on how to serve it. This way I have become acquainted with Afghan cooking.

Afghan cuisine is similar to the traditional Polish cuisine in that they are both very seasonal, probably because of harsh winters and limited access to fresh vegetables. Among my favorite Afghan dishes are leek dumplings and orange rice with carrot, and I would like to post them one day. What I like about Afghan cuisine is the spices it uses, like coriander, mint, or turmeric.

Last week for the first time I cooked an Afghan spinach dish, based on the recipe I got from my friend. According to this recipe, spinach can be combined with meat (beef, veal, or lamb) or can be prepared as a vegetarian dish, and this is the way I made it. The ample use of coriander makes this dish truly special. I love coriander, and always add it generously when a recipe calls for it, but using two bunches of coriander makes me think that perhaps coriander, rather than spinach, is this dish's primary ingredient.

Coriander and spinach are nowadays available all year round, but somehow this recipe seems very autumnal to me. Both vegetables need to be cooked slowly in a generous amount of oil until they turn dark green, almost brown, like autumn leaves.

Afghan Spinach with Coriander

Ingredients:
2 bags spinach, chopped,
2 bunches fresh coriander, chopped,
3 bundles spring onion--green parts only, chopped,
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves crushed garlic,
1 chili pepper,
1 tsp dry ground coriander,
1 tsp turmeric,
1/4 cup canola oil,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. In a heavy duty pot heat oil and fry onion and garlic.
2. When onion becomes transparent add the dry ground coriander and turmeric. Mix well and cook for about 2-3 minutes together.
3. Add to the pot chopped spinach, mix with the spices, and cook until all the water evaporates and the spinach becomes soft.
4. Add to the spinach spring onion, fresh coriander, chili pepper, salt and pepper, and some extra oil, if spinach is too dry.
5. Simmer all the greens on a low heat for about 40 minutes. Serve with rice.

If you wish to put meat in that dish, it should be added to the mix of onion and dry spices. Cooking spinach with meat takes 1.5-2 hours, and it should be cooked on a very low heat.