The 12 Potato Days of Christmas

[CelticRambler]

Given that pasta has more than doubled in price lately while potatoes are free, and given that I am unapologetically Irish but now tainted by nearly 20 years of living among the French, I've set myself the challenge of having a different potato dish for each of the 12 Days of Christmas this year. You lot can stick with the traditional 12 Turkey Days of Christmas.

Day 1 (Christmas Eve) - keeping it traditional: good ol' mashed potato, boiled till "just right" then mashed by hand, and flavoured with butter, salt and onion. Accompanied by pan-fried duck breast and haricots verts, with a pepper sauce.

[CelticRambler]

Day 2 (Christmas Day) - still keeping it relatively traditional: bite-sized potatoes roasted in duck fat, after par-boiling and seasoning with salt and white onion. Space on the plate filled with a few slices of slow-roasted beef (basted in mustard, smelly Münster* cheese, thyme, rosemary, smoked paprika, salt+pepper) and a pile of lamb's lettuce & beetroot.

* that's Münster, Alsace, not Munster, Ireland

[CelticRambler]

On the 3rd Day of Christmas, my garden gave to me ... baby new potatoes. Served dripping with butter, plus a scattering of freshly picked and chopped parsely and chives. A blast of Spring to go with the stretch in the evenings!

[CelticRambler]

'Twas far from India I was raised, but on the 4th Day of Christmas, it was house-recipe "Bombay" potatoes in the spotlight. Too many second helpings means there are none left over, which is a Good Thing, as the fridge is beginning to fill up with leftovers.

The potatoes were balanced by an indiscriminately "Asian-ish" stir fry, sufficiently spicy to clear all the sinuses and blitz any covidicules in the area Also provided justification for second and third helpings of lemon cheesecake.

[CelticRambler]

Are hash-browns the same thing as potato cakes? Well, the "five gooooooooooolden rings" were represented symbolically by potato cakes on Day 5.

So as to avoid being too stereotypical, all other "Irish Breakfast" ingredients were replaced with a (shop-bought) tuna and (home-grown) sweetcorn sauce, flavoured with (home-grown) garlic, onion, thyme, oregano and rosemary.

[isha]

Are you going to try hasselback potatoes? I have never made them yet, but I keep meaning to. Baked potatoes are my favourite.

[CelticRambler]

I've never heard of them ... until now! As a rule, baked potatoes are my least favourite variation on the theme, but I'd planned on including some form of baked spud to complete the spectrum.

Slight tangent, for those who might be interested: in French, baked potatoes are, these days, described as being "... en robe de champs" which is a 20th century corruption of "... en robe de chambre" - i.e. "potatoes in their dressing gowns." Quite appropriate for holiday seasonal delinquency!

[Del.Monte]

I used to like baked potatoes back in the day - topped with cheese - and prepared by someone other than myself. These days I don't bother with them and don't trust what they might have been sprayed with. I only eat organic potatoes now and they come washed with microscopic skins so unsuitable for baking.

[isha]

Baked potatoes are just so handy when the stove is on anyway. Just wash, tinfoil and pop in the oven and that's a good bit of dinner sorted. I have my own potatoes at the moment, but so far I haven't a problem with the bought organic ones for baking.

[Cobham]

A jacket potato was the second thing we did in a microwave many yrs ago. Pierce a few times and wrap in kitchen paper, turn around at half way point. A couple of minutes per potato depending on size. Wrap in tin foil after and maybe sling in oven for another bit if it is 'on'

[CelticRambler]

On the 6th Day of Christmas, weather and miscellaneous "technical issues" disrupted the rhythm of the day, so the evening menu was reformulated as quick-and-easy comfort food: chips! Home-made, fat-cut. Served with a roasted chicken quarter.

[CelticRambler]

Well, Day 7 does not equal Heaven Tried a previously untested/experimental gratin topping to a bolognese/shepherd's pie type sauce/filling and ... edible, but not at all festive, and no desire for second helpings. Which is unfortunate, as there are two portions left.

I can't quite work out whether it was the wrong kind of potato or the wrong kind of cheese, or it was all just plain wrong. First time I've ever had a signficant failure with a variation on the theme of mashed potato. Also the first time this holiday season when the recipe has been less delicious than usual.

[isha]

Possible explanation - I notice butter has a weird taste at this time of the year. Probably different foods given to the animals, not grass fed etc. In fact I'm finding butter a bit disgusting at the minute... which is not me at all! Maybe you used butter in your mash?

[CelticRambler]

I did, but only a slice of the same block of butter I've used for all my baking/cooking over the last week, and that's all been fine.

Slight tangent: when I picked up a couple of blocks of my "eating" butter last week (as opposed to "cooking" butter) I saw that this French supermarket's own-brand product was newly labelled "Lait origine Irlande"

[CelticRambler]

On the 8th Day of Christmas ... party time! Hot and cold finger food required (small) portions of hot rissolé potatoes and cold potato salad. Two different varieties of spud for best results, and the results were good. Back to "second helpings, yes please" standard.

[CelticRambler]

Mission failure on Day 9 ...

Had a very messy day yesterday, mainly on account of these frikkin gales that just won't let up as well as an "ah, feck: shoulda done that differently" moment that had me creatively thinking till late into the evening ... at which point I realised that I shoulda also been thinking about dinner.

By then it was too late to start thinking about main courses, so I went straight from pre-dinner nibbles to dessert (and second dessert, and third dessert ... ) and no potatoes were consumed in the process ...

[isha]

Don't worry CR, I stepped in and on your behalf ate a few ordinary boiled potatoes just dug out of the cold wet northern clay. Sea salt, butter and cashew nutroast plus leftover harissa-flavoured vegetable stew to accompany.

[KHD]

The 8 potato days of Christmas.

[CelticRambler]

The 8 potato days of Christmas.

Might have to invoke the principle of "injury time" when I get to the end of the 12th Day ...

In the meantime, the Tenth Day seemed like a good day to try those hasselhoff (no, that's a photographer ) ... hasselblad (nope, that's a camera ) ... hasselwotiz potatoes Isha spoke about.

Meh. Far too much messing about for a potato that ends up tasting like a baked potato. Guess that's where the hassle- prefix comes in; won't be doing them again.

[KHD]

Did you try boxty yet ? Never had it mysel just a suggestion.

[isha]

Might have to invoke the principle of "injury time" when I get to the end of the 12th Day ...

In the meantime, the Tenth Day seemed like a good day to try those hasselhoff (no, that's a photographer ) ... hasselblad (nope, that's a camera ) ... hasselwotiz potatoes Isha spoke about.

Meh. Far too much messing about for a potato that ends up tasting like a baked potato. Guess that's where the hassle- prefix comes in; won't be doing them again.

I did also try them myself after mentioning them. Made up me own recipe too, with orange and honey and rosemary and olive oil and butter. But I think I didn't have the courage to cut the potatoes deeply enough or thinly enough, and like yours mine were just hassle filled roasties. I won't be bothering again either. Shoulda told you I guess, but hardship suits you

[CelticRambler]

Did you try boxty yet ? Never had it mysel just a suggestion.

Those "potato cakes" I made the other day were essentially a variation on the theme of boxty, and boxty is essentially just a slightly fancier version of "fried mashed potato" that I do all the time. Like with the hasselwotzit potatoes, it's getting fancy that causes problems.

Tonight I'm playing it safe and doing a Rambler house recipe known as "speck-n-spuds" - speck being the German for bacon - which is of spuds sautéd with lardons which is the French for what my Irish relatives call pancetta which is Italian for bacon bits. And onions and herbs, of course.

[CelticRambler]

Shoulda told you I guess, but hardship suits you

Yeah, ya shoulda.

[CelticRambler]

One seems to have lost track of time ...

... or started counting too soon?

In any case, what might have been the Twelfth Day (even if it wasn't Twelfth Night) saw a return to one of the previous menu items, the Old Reliable: mashed potatoes (with diced shallots); and this Thirteen Day will see a plate of chips provide all the carbs a lad might need. Yep, chips also featured on an earlier plate.

If I'm going to do this again, I'll need to spend more time cautiously testing the weird and wonderful recipes between holiday dinners. I've realised that there's nothing quite like cooking with leftovers at Christmas!

[Del.Monte]