Who loves Chips?

We do !!

Hey Harriet, chuck a chip our way would you, sweetie?
(blame the caption on me, not Tracy or the seagull)

I just had to share this wonderful photograph with you!!

It is from Tracy at Hey Harriet, who describes herself as being obsessed by photography.  Well if that means doing a brilliant job of taking and presenting photos then I would certainly agree! 
I was looking at one of my favourite blogs, tractorgirl, where Julie shares, as she puts it "the beautiful things that connect people".  Julie is a maker of lovely home wares and accessories herself, and a Mum and farmer besides.
Anyway, Julie featured Tracy's beautiful photography,including this fabulous photo of peering seagulls. 

When I read the comments at the end, Tasha Chawner,creative jeweller, blogger and avid photographer herself, asked Tracy from Hey Harriet how she managed to photograph these seagulls, and she replied that she bribed them with, yes, of course you guessed it, CHIPS ! 

So you can understand why I had to share it with you today! 

Thank you so much  to Julie, Tracy and Tasha for allowing me to share.

Well it seems that we all love chips so I have found a recipe 

from taste.com.au which says it is for the

Best-ever deep-fried chips

  

tasty looking chips from taste.com.au

Crisp and golden on the outside, soft andfluffy on the inside, these really are the best ever chips!!

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1kg Sebago potatoes (see note)
• 1.5 to 2 litres vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Method

1. Peel potatoes. Cut into long chips about 1.5cm thick. Use a clean tea towel or large piece of paper towel to pat potatoes dry.
2. Pour vegetable oil into a large saucepan, wok or deep-fryer until it is half-full. Heat over medium-high heat until a small piece of potato skin sizzles when dropped into oil.
3. Place a wire rack over a large oven tray lined with paper towels. Divide chips into 3 batches. Cook chips, 1 batch at a time, for 5 minutes or until they just start to colour. Use a slotted spoon to remove to rack. Repeat with remaining 2 batches, allowing oil to reheat in between batches. Preheat oven to 180°C.
4. When all chips have been cooked, allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Reheat oil. Cook chips in batches again, for 7 to 10 minutes each batch or until crisp and golden. Keep warm on rack in oven while cooking remaining chips. Season with salt. Serve immediately.

Notes

• Russet Burbank, Spunta, King Edward, Bintje or Sebago are the best potatoes to use for this recipe. Tip: Chips can be cooked in a metal chip basket (look for these in kitchenware shops). Dip the basket into the hot oil before adding potatoes - this prevents them from sticking to the basket.

Do give this recipe a try, and I would really like to know

what you think, and also how you cook your chips!!  

Dentist appointment! Do you dread it as much as I do?

That's right, I had to go to the dentist on Tuesday. Oh, poor me!  Well, yes and no.  You see my dentist happens to be in Coffs Harbour, a beautiful town on the East Coast of Australia, halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, and about an hour from my home. Though I wasn't looking forward to the appointment much, (well not at all actually!) there are some perks as you will see below. Main one being that we had lunch down at the Marina, fish and chips from the Fisherman's Co-op. 

Take a look and decide if you still feel sorry for me! 

Chips!

      

 Oh and by the way, it really didn't hurt at all!

Next week keep your eyes peeled (pun intended) for 
Monday's Potato Recipe
 which is going to keep the  CHIPS  theme well and truly alive and
 I think you will be more than a little amused!

Weekly Potato Recipe No. 6, Courtesy of The New Potato!

Well friends, I couldn't believe my eyes when I stumbled upon
The New Potato! 

Restaurant Kelly Liken in Colorado, Signature Dish
 Potato Crusted Trout Filets 
with caramelised brussels sprouts,plump golden raisins, and toasted pecans

What luck,and what a delight to read about sisters Danielle and Laura Kosann who have founded a food and lifestyle website with a difference, called appropriately for us The New Potato.  They talk in depth to chefs, restaurateurs and foodies (like our own Aussie Curtis Stone) and ask all sorts of fascinating questions, one recurring one being.......do you like new potatoes?!

Well here are just a few answers to that question:

Curtis Stone foodie

I love them – are you kidding. Especially this time of year. You can peel them and boil them with parsley and butter with fish. Or you can keep the skin on and roast them. There’s also a dish called a Colcannon – it’s an Irish dish with milk, leeks, shallots and spring onions – you crush the potatoes with the milk and they’re deliciously creamy and buttery! 

Tom Colicchio restaurateur

I dig new potatoes. There are three things – mushrooms, potatoes and beets – they’re closest to the earth. It’s the closest to eating as natural as you can, those three ingredients. Because, in a sense, we all want to eat the earth.

Robert Newton chef

When I was young, my mom and dad would can green beans and new potatoes each summer so we could enjoy them all year long. In the winter, they would open a can and heat it up with a slice of bacon or some fat back and serve it with cornbread. It was a simple meal, but one I really loved.

Kelly Liken chef

"love them!!"

Take a look at Kelly's recipe for Potato Crusted Trout Filets with caramelised brussels sprouts,plump golden raisins, and toasted pecans  featured above, by clicking on this link to thenewpotato.com and why not give it a go, it looks absolutely delicious!  Kelly's Restaurant Kelly Liken is in Vail, Colorado,(where incidentally my son worked as a ski instructor to littlies for a season and loved it !)

Thank you to Danielle and Laura for allowing me to share these ideas

 with you and we may take a look at some more further down the track.

The Ultimate Wonder Food - Guess What?!!

Took this photo this morning on a walk below our house.  There was a light frost and the
 mist was rising from the valley.  I put it into this post because I like it!  No other reason.

Anyway back to the reason for the post..........................

I thought you would enjoy reading this article from the Daily Mail in the UK.

It tells us what we potato lovers already know.

  That potatoes are good for us!  Hooray!! 

Potatoes have more nutrients, 

vitamins and minerals than traditional 'superfoods'

By ROB COOPER              

Ignored by dieters because they are 'fattening', few would class the potato as a 'wonder food' packed full of vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

But the spud is actually better for the body than traditional superfoods - such as bananas, broccoli, beetroot, nuts and avocado, a study has found.

The researchers said people are wrong to shun it in favour of modern and more expensive alternatives.

Superfood: The potato has been disregarded as 'fattening' and shunned in favour of alternatives such as bananas, broccoli and avocado

A jacket potato has five-and-a-half times as much fibre as the average banana - and is packed with more vitamin C than is found in three avocados, the Daily Express reported.

Last year a separate study discovered that eating spuds twice a day can lower blood pressure - and contrary to popular perceptions it won't make you put on weight.

The study was completed by the independent nutritionist Sigrid Gibson on behalf of the Potato Council.The new research also found that the potato contains more of the mineral selenium than the average child gets from all the seeds and nuts they consume.

They have produced a mobile phone app which compares how good potatoes are with the traditional superfoods.

Sian Porter, the Potato Council's consultant dietitian, told the Daily Express: 'It is important to have a wide variety of foods in your diet but sometimes our heads are turned by new things and we underestimate old favourites like potatoes and how they compare to other, often more expensive "superfoods".'

The researchers analysed the food intake of 876 children and 948 adults for the study.

Sigrid Gibson added: ' We think of bananas as being a good source of potassium, and they are, but potatoes make a more significant contribution to the diet.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2142256/The-ultimate-wonder-food-The-humble-potato-nutrients-vitamins-minerals-traditional-superfoods.html#ixzz1v5s7xqn8

So there you have it!

I bet you can hardly wait for next week's Potato Recipe,

 and you will enjoy it, guilt free!!

Weekly Potato Recipe No. 5 from Kayotic Kitchen

Well I have got a delicious recipe here from 

 Kay,the cooking Dutch girl,(as she calls herself !), from Kayotic Kitchen 

 for Steamed Cod and Champ with Mustard Sauce. 

To say it looks delicious is an understatement! 

So these are the ingredients you will need:

1 1/2 pound fresh cod
1 pound potatoes (little over)
1/2 a cup milk
1/3 vegetable bouillon cube
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 big spring-onions
3 tbsp butter
1/2 to 1 cup water
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard
pepper and salt

As Kay says, 

This recipe is more like a mix & match of some of my favourite recipes. Here’s how it’s built up:

I like to steam fish. It’s one of the lightest and healthiest ways of cooking fish, but that’s not why it’s my preferred method: the fish holds its natural flavor when cooked like this. That’s a big plus to me.

The mash is an Irish recipe called Champ. Mashed potatoes with butter and scallions that are lightly boiled in milk so the milk takes on the flavor. Crazy simple but so tasty.

You could opt for Hollandaise or a light white sauce if you like. I’m going for a cream-based white sauce spiked with Dijon mustard. The mustard gives the sauce a wonderful edge.

This is pure comfort food. A robust meal that fills you up and warms your soul. What more could you ask for?

But the best thing about Kay's recipes is her photographs.  She explains every step of the recipe visually with her brilliant photos as you see below .

Peel the potatoes and boil them in lightly salted water until tender. This will take roughly 25 minutes.



I suggest you visit Kays blog here to follow exactly how she makes this fantastic recipe.
And when you've had a go, let me know what you think!

Thank you so much Kay for allowing me to copy your recipe

 and share it here today.

Weekly Potato Recipe No 4 Just in time for Mothers Day

That's right, Mothers Day is coming up this Sunday 13 th May, (not in the UK I know but here in Australia. and in the U.S.)

So this gives you time to gather the ingredients to make this delicious

German Potato and Cabbage Soup on Mothers Day

Why potato and cabbage soup you may well ask?


Well let me explain.

I found lots of recipes for Mothers Day, but this one stopped me in my tracks.  As I read the words written by Tami Hardeman in her blog, Running with Tweezers, and in a letter to heirloomed. blogger,  Ashley Leckey Schoenithe I couldn't help but feel drawn to this recipe like no other.  I urge you to click on the links above to read the full posts and see why I felt that this was such a heart warming meal for us on Mothers Day.

This recipe was passed down from Tami's grandmother to her mother and so it became a favourite of Tami's.

As she wrote in her letter to Ashley

"Just smelling the ingredients simmering on the stove brought me back to smelling it in our kitchen growing up. I hadn’t had this soup since before my mother passed away…and I have to tell you: tears welled up in my eyes when I tasted the first spoonful. It’s exactly how I remember it – thick, creamy (but it had no dairy in it), pungent from the cabbage but in the best possible way. Making this today – and finally recording the recipe for myself and others to see – felt like my mom’s hand on my shoulder. As hard as it’s been to talk about, the process of cooking in my life the way I was taught – even when I didn’t realize I was being shown – is one of the saving graces in my life now. For the longest time, I’ve lamented not paying more attention to my mom in the kitchen – you never think that one day, she’s not going to be around to teach you how to cook something. I guess that’s the power and the purpose of family recipes and passing them down. The process, the learning – it’s happening to you whether you realize it or not".

 German Potato and Cabbage Soup – serves 6 to 8

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 3 large russet potatoes – peeled and chopped into even pieces
• 1 small head green cabbage – cut into evenly sized pieces
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock – you can substitute 1/2 stock and 1/2 water, as well
• crisp prosciutto, chopped herbs or sour cream for garnish – my mom always topped it with a dollop of sour cream and crumbled bacon…but I think the herbs are a nice touch & keep it lighter

- Melt the butter in a large, heavy- bottomed stockpot. When the butter is melted and starts to get foamy (not brown), add the onions and potatoes. Stir thoroughly, cover, and allow to simmer for about 10-12 minutes. Add the chicken stock (and/or water) and simmer the onions and potatoes until the potatoes are almost fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for another 10-12 minutes until the cabbage is also tender. Allow to cool and then puree in a blender until smooth. Pour the soup back into the pot and warm through again before serving, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Thank you so much Tami for so kindly allowing me to share with my readers this touching story and we will all be sending kind thoughts to you as we enjoy the recipe you and your Mum have made so special.

A Borrowed Lens - Such a Weekend Treat!

The Green Green Grass of Home!

My daughter has lent me her handy little camera (i.e. one that you hold out in front of you, not one that you hold up to your eye !) and I have been having a go with it.  The photos I am sharing are taken where I am and, because of this,they inspire my potato jewellery. 

Morning condensation takes over the window

Misty Morning

Snail trail

Clouds Reflected

Dogwood Day

Persimmon and Dogwood Rendezvous 

Grass in the early morning when I should be laying in,
but I think  it was worth it !

This Girl Knows Where She's Going!

I have so enjoyed sharing these photos with you, 
and now it is time to check on my beautiful, sleeping grand-daughter
 who we are taking care of while her Mum and Dad are at a Wedding.  
How lucky we are:).

I hope you are enjoying your weekend as much as I am!

This is just the cutest!!

Don't you just love it?

I had to share this beautiful photo with you. 

See what I mean? It's not just me that loves potatoes!

This photo was obtained from The Design Inspiration via Natalia Ngui on Pinterest  .

(After making enquiries, this was as far as I could get with crediting the source.
Please let me know if it belongs to you. )

Sharing My Excitement!!

Two exciting things  happened to me yesterday,  which I need to share!

• Firstly, I heard from Dyani, from  Little Deer Creations, that she had chosen my pendant "Purple Harmony" as a Sellers pick on Madeit this week.

• Well if that wasn't exciting enough, I received an email from Dagmar at Agrarwelt, to say that the article she had been talking to me about had been printed in their  newsletter,  /Schmucke Erdäpfel/ Page 12 .
• It's extremely exciting, but the problem is my German is non-existent, and I would really love to know what she has written.  So if anyone speaks German, please get in touch!

Anyway, I thought I would share the Purple Harmony Potato Pendant which Little Deer Creations picked for her Eco friendly recommendation on Madeit.
And here it is.

It is a slice of potato, lovingly wrapped in purple and hand printed with a sage leaf for decoration.

And though I hadn't planned on doing another recipe hot on the heels of the last one, I just had to include this potato and sage recipe from Taste.com.au

Individual potato and sage bakes

Preparation Time

Cooking Time

Ingredients (serves 10)

• 30g butter, melted

• 750g desiree potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced

• 125ml (1/2 cup) double cream

• 1 tbs finely chopped fresh sage

• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Fresh sage leaves, to garnish

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Drizzle melted butter evenly among ten 80ml (1/3-cup) capacity muffin pans.

Combine the potato, garlic, cream and sage in a glass bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture among muffin pans. Smooth the surface slightly.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and tender. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Turn onto a clean chopping board.

Arrange the potato bakes on a serving platter. Sprinkle with sage and serve immediately.

Photography by Ian Wallace

Wow, it looks delicious, and the sage in me says that it must be delicious! 

Enjoy, and catch you again very soon!