Witchy Kitchen

Tag: potatoes

  • Once, Twice, Thrice Baked Garlic and Lemon Potatoes

    Once, Twice, Thrice Baked Garlic and Lemon Potatoes

    Timecrimes is a twisty, turny, time-traveling thriller written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo (who also costars in the film as the young scientist). The Spanish film stars Karra Elejalde as Hector, a loving yet somewhat bumbling husband who becomes entangled in a time loop. As time progresses, and then repeats, he desperately tries to both force the outcome and evade mounting misfortune.

    Often time travel films are both intriguing yet infuriating in that they leave questions, paradoxes and holes, yet this one manages to keep the story focused and neat. It’s satisfying both as a narrative that conscientiously wraps up all its loose ends, but also as a character study of how Hector evolves as a person, paradoxically (it’s time travel, of course) in the matter of a few hours. And a few hours. And a few hours.

    A note, whilst cooking I realized that this recipe itself has some light spoilers…though not overt, eat at your own risk!

    When thinking up a recipe, I started philosophizing about my oven as a time machine. Materials go in, and emerge transformed. Playing with the input and settings can change the outcome. Countless weeknights I have thrown in veggies to roast, how many times, one or a hundred, time is a flat circle, it’s all the same. And oh how I wish I could go back in time when I forget things a little too long (Who among us has not burnt things to a crisp? Who?). This recipe puts raw materials into the machine three times, and they emerge the same, yet changed – and delicious!

    Twice-baked potatoes are the standard, but please consider thrice baked potatoes. The extra step yields extra crispy potato skins beyond what you can achieve through two trips through the time machine, and they perfectly complement the texture of the rich, creamy filling. As for the filling, I always love to incorporate local flavor to reference a film, and this one is no different. It’s a Spanish profile, flavored with lemon, parsley, and a full head of luscious roasted garlic. Though Spain has no shortage of iconic potato dishes (patatas bravas, Spanish tortilla, and world-famous roasted potatoes), this is a fun spin.

    Additionally the garnishes add some time traveling flair. Potato 1 is unadulterated. Potato 2 is draped in roasted carrot bandages. And Potato 3, sprinkled with smoked paprika, looks a little worse for the wear but is probably the best of all.

    Garlic and Lemon Thrice Baked Potatoes

    • 3 large russet potatoes
    • 1 large carrot
    • 1 head garlic
    • 1 shallot
    • olive oil
    • sea salt
    • large handful Italian parsley, finely chopped
    • zest of 1 lemon
    • 5 tablespoons sour cream
    • smoked paprika

    Roast the potatoes by your desired method – since you are going to crisp up the skin, either oven or microwave is fine. Cool and set aside.

    Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400°;. Thinly slice the carrot into long strips with a mandolin. Toss with olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer. Cut the top third off the head of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in aluminum foil. Cut the shallot into chunks, toss with olive oil and sea salt, and place in a small oven safe dish (I used a pie plate).

    Put all vegetables in the oven and bake until golden (stir the shallot occasionally). The carrots will be done first (15 minutes or so), the shallot next (20-25 minutes), and the garlic last (45 minutes or so). Set the carrot aside, finely chop the shallot, and when the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze it out of the papers. Cut the roasted potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the insides into a large bowl. Arrange the skins skin-side up on a baking rack on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt. Return to the 400°; oven and cook until golden.

    While the skins are cooking, mash the potato with shallot, garlic, parsley, lemon zest, sour cream and salt to taste. Mix well, but don’t overmix. Take the skins out of the oven, flip, and fill them evenly with filling. Return to the oven and bake until golden brown. Leave two of the potatoes plain, drape two of the potatoes with roasted carrot strips, and garnish the remaining two with smoked paprika.

    First published on Nightmare on Film Street.

  • Snow White Roasted Vegetables and Sausage with Red Wine Reduction

    Snow White Roasted Vegetables and Sausage with Red Wine Reduction

    In the same way folklore transforms over time, 2018’s Suspiria is a thorough retelling of the classic 1977 Dario Argento Giallo horror. Though both films tell the twisted fairy tale of a beautiful, talented and determined American ballerina coming to an elite, witch-inhabited dance school in Germany, the space between the plot points is distorted and the tone completely shifted. The original is drenched in a vibrant, almost garish color palette and an intense, powerful Goblin soundtrack, while the reimagining directed by Luca Guadagnino is soft and de-saturated with the dreamy, droney sounds of Thom Yorke. More in the Nightmare on Filmstreet review.

    Much like the films, this dish is heavily inspired by Snow White. Indeed our heroine, Susie Bannion (played in 1977 by Jessica Harper and in 2018 by Dakota Johnson), is a modern Snow White, who wanders into an enchanted world and has to fight attempts on her life from a jealous crone. As the Grimm brother’s Snow White tale comes from Germany and Suspiria takes place in Berlin, I definitely wanted the dish to have a German leaning, so chose a mixture of vegetables to roast with sausage.

    Color is so symbolic in both films, with the sweet ingenues often dressed in white, and red used in violent, jarring ways. The veggies used here are all white: darling little creamer potatoes, fennel, turnips and garlic. To accompany them I made a rich red wine reduction, also reminiscent of the wine Susie’s doctor gives her to drug her when she becomes too suspicious….it’s suspiciously delicious.

    Snow White Roasted Vegetables and Sausage with Red Wine Reduction

    For the veggies and sausage
    • 1 1/2 pounds yellow creamer potatoes, halved or quartered
    • 2 large bulbs fennel, trimmed and chopped into large chunks
    • 2 medium turnips, peeled and chopped into large chunks
    • 7 large cloves garlic, gently crushed and peeled
    • olive oil
    • 2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
    • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
    • 1 pound peppery or sweet German or Eastern European-style sausage (we made this vegetarian by using Polish-style soy sausages), thickly sliced

    Heat oven to 425°. Divide potatoes, fennel, turnips and garlic into two large baking dishes. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and white pepper, toss with your hands and spread into a single even layer. Bake for 20 minutes, then stir/flip, making sure to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the dish, spread evenly again and bake for 20 minutes more.

    Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a pan and brown the sausage in batches, removing to a plate. After the first 40 minutes of roasting, reduce oven heat to 350° and divide sausage between the dishes. Bake for another 20 minutes. Check the veggies at this point; they should be very soft, some gently caramelized, and the potatoes and turnips not mushy but easily pierced with a fork. Bake another 10-20 minutes until they reach desired doneness. Transfer to a serving dish.

    For red wine reduction
    • 2 tablespoons butter, divided
    • 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
    • 1 cup vegetable broth
    • 1 cup red wine

    In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and cook shallot until golden. Add vegetable broth and red wine and stir. Bring to a low simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has reduced to about a third of its volume. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining tablespoon butter.

    To serve, spoon vegetables onto a plate and drizzle with the red wine reduction. Serve with warm, crusty bread.

    Suspiria is now playing in theatres.

    First published on Nightmare on Film Street.

  • Cazuela Blanca

    Cazuela Blanca

    The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende is a poignant and whimsical story of a family, told in beautiful rolling prose. The story unfolds across generations and across Chile, from Santiago to the countryside at the family’s estate, the Trés Marias, where they spend their summers and the daughter, Blanca, feels most at home.

    Their traditional first night dinner is cazuela de ave, consequently the national dish of Chile. It’s a soupy stew, very unfussy with the chicken still on the bone and the corn still on the cob. It’s lightly seasoned and intensely homey and comforting. This version is vegetarian, using cannellini beans in place of chicken. With the white beans, white sweet corn, and potatoes, it’s light and bright, and named for the character that loves it most. Cazuela feels as warm and familiar as curling up with the book.

    Cazuela Blanca

    • olive oil
    • 1 white onion, sliced (halve first, then cut the halves into thirds so the slices aren’t crazy long)
    • salt and white pepper (black pepper is fine)
    • 3 cloves garlic, grated
    • 8 cups vegetable broth (optional, I create more umami by simmering a piece of kombu with the broth and removing at the end)
    • 2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed
    • 4 ears white corn, peeled, cleaned, and cut into thirds
    • 1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed
    • 1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cubed
    • garnish: hot sauce, cilantro, parsley

    Heat a couple tablespoons olive oil, and cook onion with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper until translucent and just starting to color. Add garlic and cook for a minute or so, then add vegetable broth, stirring to make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom. Add beans and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add corn, potatoes and butternut squash and check seasoning, adding more salt if necessary. Simmer until potatoes and butternut squash are very soft but not falling apart.

    Serve hot over rice or with crusty bread, sprinkled with herbs and with a dash of hot sauce.

    Recipe for Fiction Kitchen Episode 59: THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS & MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER in which Carrie and Diana discuss pastries, country food, bland translations, pretty edible flowers, and elaborate picnics!

  • Roasted Red Pepper and Pomegranate Patatas Bravas

    Roasted Red Pepper and Pomegranate Patatas Bravas

    This month’s Food ‘n Flix movie, hosted by Katharina at Pretty Cake Machine, is both one of my favorite films of all time as well as somewhat eerily timed. Pan’s Labyrinth is a dark, dreamy fairytale layered over a bleak period of fascism. It’s heartbreaking and beautiful, an invitation to retreat into fantasy when the world becomes too cruel, but also a reminder to return to reality and fight for those weaker than us, no matter the cost.

    My dish is a version of the Spanish classic Patatas Bravas, inspired by the potatoes we see the servant Mercedes slicing multiple times in the movie (and the subsequent cleaning of Chekhov’s knife on her skirt). Instead of the traditional tomato sauce, I made a spicy red pepper sauce, as we see red peppers at one point during the film. A small shadow of the fantasy world makes it’s way into the dish with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses from the iconic Pale Man’s feast.

    Roasted Red Pepper and Pomegranate Patatas Bravas

    For the potatoes

    • 1.5 pounds potatoes (I used red), peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
    • olive oil and sea salt for roasting

    Heat oven to 400° and place potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and sea salt and bake for 25-30 minutes, turning every 10, until potatoes are golden and easily pierced with a fork. You can turn off the oven and leave them inside to warm while you finish the sauce. When ready, move to a dish.

    For the spicy red pepper sauce

    • 3 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 onion, diced
    • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
    • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
    • 1/2 – 1 teaspoon cayenne
    • 1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds
    • 1/4 cup white wine
    • 1/4 cup water
    • 2 red peppers, roasted (broil, turning, until blackened, cover in a bowl to steam, then peel and deseed)

    Meanwhile, heat olive oil on medium high and saute onion until translucent. Add chopped garlic and saute for a minute or so. Add salt, paprika, ground coriander, cayenne, and almonds, and cook, stirring, until spices are fragrant and almonds are slightly toasted. Add white wine and cook until liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and puree with the water and the red peppers. Return to heat and gently heat through.

    Pour over warm potatoes.

    For the garnish

    • pomegranate molasses (storebought, or made by reducing pomegranate juice to about 1/3 of the beginning volume)
    • mayonnaise
    • chopped parsley

    Drizzle pomegranate molasses and mayonnaise over potatoes, sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve hot.

    Previous Pan’s Labyrinth-inspired dish: Sugared Grapes

    Also, you can hear me and my cohost Diana discuss Pan’s Labyrinth at length on our podcast, Fiction Kitchen.

  • Mushroom Potato Scotch Eggs | David the Gnome

    Mushroom Potato Scotch Eggs | David the Gnome

    I loved David the Gnome when I was a kid; fantastic creatures in general interested me, but gnomes in particular seemed so sweet and cozy. Affectionate, nice to animals, and with the cutest little houses; I was obsessed with their pretty Nordic carvings and their little beds built straight into the wall.

    mushroom-potato-scotch-eggs-david-the-gnome

    I had all but forgotten the show (based on a book I am now interested to read) until Diana from Fiction-Food Café and Catherine from The Gluttonous Geek started talking about it on Twitter, inspiring a watch-and-cook from all of us!

    Rewatching the show was like snuggling up in a warm blanket of nostalgia. It is exposition heavy in the most charming way: each episode starts with a snippet about the lives of gnomes – the clothes they wear, their houses, and of course the food they eat. Gnomes are very kind, and very environmentally conscious, so all their food is plant-based or else gifted by their animal friends.

    I think we all chose to use mushrooms, which seemed natural as they are forageable in the forest and form magical fairy rings. Mine I used to make scotch eggs – vegetarian of course! In the very first episode the gnomes eat skylark eggs (having no skylark eggs available I used completely mundane chicken eggs) and David, a doctor, helps an ailing goat, so I thought it might be reasonable he was repaid in goat cheese. I also have it on good authority that gnomes are partial to root vegetables, so potato seemed like a good ingredient to tie it all together.

    Mushroom Potato Scotch Eggs

    • 8 hardboiled eggs, peeled
    • 1 large russet potato, peeled and medium diced
    • 6 ounces goat cheese
    • olive oil & butter
    • 1 medium shallot, diced
    • 3 cloves garlic, grated
    • 11-12 ounces mushrooms (I used 8 ounces cremini and 3.2 ounces fresh shitake), finely chopped
    • 1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence (or a mix of herbs such as thyme, basil, or parsley)
    • salt & pepper
    • 1/2 cup flour
    • 1 egg, beaten
    • breadcrumbs (optional, I did some with, some without. I seasoned the breadcrumbs with a little salt and fresh thyme)
    • oil to fry

    Put potato in a small saucepan, just cover with water and a good pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Boil until the potato is very soft, then drain and mix with goat cheese and a tablespoon of butter.

    On medium-high heat, warm a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon (or two) butter. Cook shallot and garlic until shallot just starts to turn golden, then add the mushrooms and herbs. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms have released their water and the mixture is mostly dry. Stir into the potato mixture, season to taste, and allow to cool to room temperature.

    On medium to medium high, heat 3/4 inch of oil in a frying pan. Take a palm-sized portions of the potato mixture and form it around each of the eggs (it should be malleable and spread easily). In batches of two, roll each egg in the flour, dusting off any excess, then dip in the egg and coat with breadcrumbs if using. Fry, rolling gently, until they are golden all over, and remove to a paper towel-lined plate. (Any leftover potato mixture you can just form into little disks and fry on each side until golden).

    Serve on a bed of greens or asparagus.

    For more David the Gnome recipes, visit:

    And if you’re inspired to revisit your childhood, the entire series is on YouTube.

  • Olive Oil Braised Veggies

    I am a prolific veggie roaster. After sweeping in from work, before I’ve even taken off my heels I’ve got the oven heated and chopped veggies with little more than olive oil, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper on their way in. It’s hard to beat from a time standpoint, and there’s something to be said for keeping it simple and just letting your veggies do the talking.

    But to elevate my veggie game just a little bit, there’s this braising method – still refreshingly simple, just dressed up a little bit. There’s something so nice about the fresh cleanness of the veggies, gently cooked to maintain their shape and color, with the richness of the immensely flavorful olive oil. It makes for a pretty side dish, perfect to be mopped up with crusty bread, or even a light meal over rice or quinoa.

    It works for all kinds of vegetables, you just add them in the order of cooking time. I used baby red potatoes, carrots, and asparagus, but you can swap them out for whatever you like, just add the longer-cooking ones first. I love this combination of aromatics but you can play around with them as well depending on taste and what you have around in the kitchen.

    Olive Oil Braised Veggies

    • 1/2 cup olive oil
    • 1 lemon, cut into thin wedges (divided)
    • 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, cut into strips
    • 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
    • good pinch red chili flakes
    • sprig of rosemary
    • salt & pepper
    • 1 pound baby red potatoes (cut the larger ones in half)
    • 2-3 shallots, quartered
    • 2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into medium sized sticks
    • 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

    Heat olive oil on medium high. Add a quarter of the lemon wedges (save the rest for serving), and allow them to slightly brown. Add sundried tomatoes, garlic cloves, red pepper flakes and rosemary, and stir for just a minute. Lower heat to medium low and add the new potatoes, shallots, and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Stir to coat with the oil and cook for about 20 minutes. Add carrots, stir gently to coat, and cook covered for another 20 minutes. Check to see that veggies are fork-tender but not falling apart. Add asparagus, again stir gently to coat, and cook covered for 7-10 minutes until asparagus is just done.

    Remove from heat and serve with lemon wedges, a sprinkle of parsley or basil if you want, and either with crusty bread or over rice or quinoa. Make sure to get some of the yummy olive oil on top!

  • Mash o’ Nine Sorts

    Mash o’ Nine Sorts

    This month I’ve made a couple of traditional recipes associated with Samhain (namely Irish Boxty and Barm Brack), so here’s an English one for the mix. It has nine ingredients – hence the name – and is also played as a fortunetelling game, with a ring (symbol of marital happiness) hidden inside to be served to a lucky guest.

    For the record, I got the ring, but Zoeya got upset so I re-hid it and she totally by chance got it and was really excited about it. Which is to say, usually in these situations I just tell her to get over it, but I think it’s ok to spoil your kids a little once in awhile to see them smile.

    Mash o’ Nine Sorts

    Slightly adapted from Food.com

    • 2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
    • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
    • 1 small turnip, peeled and diced
    • 1 large parsnip, peeled and diced
    • 1 tbsp butter
    • 2 leeks, cleaned and chopped into thin slices, including some of the green tops
    • 6 ounces farmhouse cheddar cheese, grated
    • salt & pepper
    • 2 tablespoons cream (or half & half, which I always have around)

    Heat oven to 350°.

    In a big pot of salted water, bring the potatoes, carrots, turnip and parsnip together to a boil, and cook until soft. Mash them thoroughly (I think it’s supposed to be more uniform but I left it a little lumpy) and season with salt and pepper to taste.

    Heat the butter and saute the leeks for a few minutes until soft. Add to the potato mixture along with the cream and mix. Stir in the grated cheese – and the ring! – and spread in a baking dish. Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 45 minutes.

    We ate this on Friday movie night while watching Frankenweenie.