Gratin dauphinoise

Recipe by the insanely inspiring Keith Floyd (RIP)
This is in the French Provencal recipes on his site, sorry, he never gives quantities, we just experiment until it feels right and we did it in a 9 x 9 pan and bake at 325 F.
Emily LOVES it.

Gratin dauphinoise

(Sliced potatoes baked with cream and garlic) Do not try this recipe if you are already having a hard time fitting into your pants.



Ingredients

Slightly waxy potatoes

Crushed garlic (we put 7 or 8 large cloves!!!)

Double cream (this would be whipping cream)

Salt/Pepper

Butter


Method

* Finely slice the potatoes on a mandolin or food processor
* Rinse well about 3 times to remove much of the starch
* Pat dry thoroughly and place a layer in a shallow, well buttered dish
* On top of that layer, sprinkle finely chopped garlic and dot with butter
* Season with salt and pepper
* Add another layer of potato, garlic, salt and pepper and dot with butter
* Repeat the process until the dish is full; the final layer is just potato
* Pour over some double cream – be generous
* Leave to stand for about 15 minutes
* Cover with tin foil, place in the oven at about 160 Celsius/325 Fahrenheit for about an hour
* Remove the foil from the dish and allow to brown

Nettles in the Kettle

For anyone still mulling over what to do with those nettles, a simple and tasty solution is to pop them in your teapot. We've been treating ourselves to a nice cup of nettle tea in the morning. This suggestion was listed in last year's newsletter, but I thought I would just put out a little reminder in case you had not found your way there. I do recommend that soup recipe Patricia provided. I just put it in the blender as opposed to straining the leaves and it turned out great.

Batman enjoyed his steaming cup to recharge his super powers. It just might do the same for you!

Parsnips

I used my parsnips 2 delicious ways this week. I apologize as I cook without measuring & go by taste & looks. FYI I use a cast iron frying pan, which in my opinion makes every recipe better.

Parsnip & Bean Curry

heat Olive Oil - a good glug on med/high stove
when oil is hot add several Parsnips (mine were cut up quite small to please certain people I live with) along with several portobella mushrooms (sliced)
and a bit of crushed garlic, salt, pepper and some red pepper flakes to taste
this should be stirred to ensure even browning of the veggies, for around 5 minutes or until the veg are close to cooked
then add 1 cup pre-cooked Aduki Beans and a heaping spoon of curry powder
stir to blend flavours, then once the curry starts to smell really warm add about a cup of water or broth, lower heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes,
the longer you simmer the better the flavour,
continue to add small amounts of water as the beans tend to absorb a fair bit.


Parsnip Kale Galette

Stir Fry in olive oil several parsnips cut up fine with about 1 cup of kale cut in strips, a few mushrooms & crushed garlic for about 5 minutes - remove from pan & set aside to cool slightly
toast gently over med heat half a cup of walnuts with a handful of fresh sage leaves
meanwhile - beat 2-3 eggs with 1 Tbsp flour, some salt & a handful of grated cheese
add some more oil or better - butter, to your pan
mix nuts with veggies then quickly add egg mix and put the whole mess back in the frying pan over med. heat but don't stir
cook for 3/4 minutes then flip the entire contents of the pan onto a plate then slide it back into the pan to brown the other side
when cooked through turn out onto a serving plate, cool slightly and slice into wedges

Dandelion greens idea

Mary Beth's Rapini with pine nuts and garlic should work really well with dandelion greens too. They have the nice clean bitter that rapini has.
I am looking forward to the recipe!

Mashed Turnip

Hey Patricia, Just wanted to share tonight's mashed turnip from last week's box with you. I think my turnip trick is worth sharing: steam them instead of boiling, then purée with butter or cream. This will avoid the watery fibrous mash we so often end up with. Hope this excites you half as much as it excites me!

Parsnip Pecan Cake & Parsnip Pie

Parsnip-Pecan Cake
http://www.justvegetablerecipes.com/veg-0093444.html

1 1/4 c Salad oil
1 1/4 c Sugar
2 c Flour
1 tb Baking powder
1 tb Baking soda
2 ts Cinnamon
1/4 ts Salt
4 Eggs
3 c Grated raw parsnips
1 1/2 c Finely chopped pecans

1 10" Tube pan/Preheat oven to 325 degrees F



Thoroughly combine oil and sugar. Sift together dry ingredients and add to oil and sugar, alternating with eggs. Beat well after each addition. Mix in parsnips and then pecans. Pour into buttered tube pan. Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing.

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I also found this recipe on the same website, but didn't yet get a chance to try it:


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Parsnip Pie
http://www.justvegetablerecipes.com/veg-0016948.html

1 c Cooked parsnips
1 c Milk
2 Eggs
2 tb Butter
1/2 ts Nutmeg
3/4 c Sugar
1/4 ts Salt


Cook parsnips mashed fine and strain. While still warm, add the butter and salt. Beat the eggs, add sugar and nutmeg. Add milk and the parsnip mixture and mix well. Line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry and pour in the mixture. Sprinkle with nutmeg and bake in 400 degrees oven about 30 minutes or until the custard is thick and nicely browned.
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Nettle Filo pastry

Nettle Filo pastry

Nettles aren’t the first thing to come to mind when I think of “food” – I encountered them in England when I was nine and my classmates told me they felt really soft if I just brushed my hand over them gently. I was surprised when they showed up in the box last year - I didn’t even know they grew in Canada! But I managed to get over my painful memories and re-create a dish I had eaten in Ireland under the impression that it was spinach.

Make sure you clean the nettles well by dumping them out of a bag into a strainer or collander, rinsing them thoroughly and dumping the strainer into the pot without ever touching the raw nettles!

(serves 4-6)

4 cups or so of nettles

2 eggs

¾ cup of feta cheese

2 T Parmesan

Melted butter

¼ tsp pepper

10 sheets of filo pastry

Boil the nettles in a large pot of water for 10 minutes; drain. (You can save the nettle water for an apparently-really-healthy soup stock.) Beat the eggs; mix with the feta and parmesan. Chop the nettles and mix into the feta; add pepper. Coat the inside of a small oven-proof dish with butter, and line with ½ of the filo sheets. Brush with butter. Spoon in the cheese mixture and cover with the rest of the filo. Seal the edges and brush the top with butter. Make a few slits in the top of the package for the steam to escape. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until filo is golden and crispy.

This would also work with ricotta.