In this particular case, the answer is not 42. But what is the question to begin with? Well, one of the most frequent questions I get is about my favorite kind of food. The super generic “What’s your all-time favorite dish?” as well as “What kind of comfort food do you turn to?” or “What would your last supper be?”, seem to rank high on the question charts. And they’re tough ones to answer.
How could I possibly claim – right then and there – that for instance homemade pizza is my favorite soul food, when tomorrow all I’d be craving is a spicy pasta dish, a huge bowl of summer salads or apple pancakes? My fancies change depending on season, weather, daily schedule and especially mood. I might sell you Oliver’s Kaiserschmarrn today, next week it might as well be Käsespätzle. Besides, I always get the feeling, that people are somewhat waiting for the extravagant creation to be revealed and that usually won’t happen on my end – almost all of my favorites are down-to-earth and fairly simple.
Over the last week it dawned on me, that I never wrote about one of my favorite quick meals. It requires less than 10 minutes of kitchen work, never fails to lift my mood and doesn’t hurt your purse either. Flavorful potatoes are a must (Moos-Sieglinde, Grenailles, Bamberger Hörnchen or even La Ratte) and so is a bunch of fresh herbs, turning your homemade herbed curd into a delicious side and putting any readily available ones on supermarket shelves to shame.
But what really sets this typical weekday dinner apart is the linseed oil. You are supposed to drown the hot, peeled potatoes – seasoned only with some flakes of Fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt – in this golden liquid and mash them until you just can’t help yourself and simply eat it all up. If you’ve never tried linseed oil, be prepared for a delicate nutty flavor, sometimes even hay-like, and keep your oil bottle in the fridge, as it tends to get rancid very easily. Oh and if you are worried about your better half still being hungry after this, why not serve a poached egg on top? It blends wonderfully with the mess you created on your plate, taste-wise and visually!
Wash and scrub your potatoes (don’t peel!), then boil or steam them for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on size and quality. Prick with a knife to see if they are tender (=done). I prefer to steam mine, it increases flavor and prevents them from getting soggy.
Meanwhile prepare the curd: Wash, pad dry and finely cut the fresh chives, then cut the cress with kitchen scissors. Add the herbs to a bowl and combine with the curd, then season to taste with minced garlic, sea salt, black pepper and a drizzle of linseed oil. Chill until ready to serve.
Peel one potato at a time, sprinkle with either Fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt and linseed oil and enjoy with the chilled herbed curd.
Any leftovers taste great the following day: Fry the peeled and sliced potatoes in some clarified butter and serve with herbed curd.
Potatoes with herbed curd and linseed oil
Recipe source: own creation
Required time: ~30 minutes
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Ingredients (for 2-3):
600-750 g similar sized potatoes (like Moos-Sieglinde, Grenailles,...)
500 g curd cheese, 20-40 %
fresh chives, amount to taste
fresh cress, amount to taste
1 garlic clove
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
linseed oil
Fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt
optional: serve with freshly poached eggs
Aug 3rd,
2010
How fun... we seem to have the same favorite dish. I like to eat my potatoes exactly the same way, though sometimes I add a piece of chilled butter, sprinkled with sea salt. Just the taste of linseed oil always brings me back to childhood, when my grandfather would prepare this exact dish for me.
The only thing that can top this recipe is using potatoes you grew yourself - in your backyard or even in a bucket on your balcony... very easy to do (find instructions here: http://www.savorychicks.com/2009/09/tidbits-worlds-best-potatoes.html)