Recipes

Welcome to the recipe page! Since this Blog is an homage to the potato, we will start with some historical background about this remarkable tuber in order to give you an understanding and appreciation for the recipes that follow.

Doña Rosa, a potato vendor in the Sucre market, shows off the many different varieties of her wares.

The potato supposedly originated in the altiplano region of the Andes mountains of South America, somewhere between southern Peru and northeast Bolivia. It was domesticated around 3000 BC by the Peruvians, but scientists believe that it had been growing wild in that region for several thousand years prior. Through its colonial conquests in South America, Spain first introduced the potato to Europe in 1536, where it took over 2 centuries to attain widespread popularity as a hardy food staple. By 1800, however, the potato was widely accepted all throughout Europe and contributed greatly to population booms in countries such as Ireland, where the population doubled between 1780 and 1841 mostly as a result of more widespread potato cultivation! Ireland's subsequent dependence on the potato would have serious consequences during the Irish potato famine of 1845-1849, which caused over 1 million deaths and led to massive waves of Irish emigration to Great Britain, the U.S., and Canada. 

And now for some POTATO TRIVIA...      

Q: Which country currently has the highest potato consumption per capita?

A: Belarus, with each person consuming approximately 381 kg of potatoes per year ( or 2 pounds per 

     person per day!).

Q: Which country is currently the largest potato producer in the world?

A: China, which produced 70 million metric tons of potatoes in 2006.

The word "potato" comes from the Spanish word "patata," which derives from the South American Taino Indian word "batata" for sweet potato and the Quechua Indian word "papa" for potato (hence the title of this blog). 

Now that you have some appreciation for what you are about to eat, go crazy with recipes below! Again, I welcome any comments and recipe contributions that any of you have.

Sources: www.wikipedia.com, www.history-magazine.com/potato.html

Potato Leek Soup à la Julie

This recipe is a tribute to my good friend Julie Kang, who seems to have claimed and patented the color lavender for herself since our early college days. I wanted to put a fun spin on a traditional potato leek soup by using a purple-hued potato, hoping that it would blend with the cream in order to form a pleasing lavender color. In practice, however, the color turned out to be more of a brownish/ mauve, but the curious thing is that it turned more indigo when chilled. Regardless, it was delicious, and I hope you will enjoy it too. 

Q'oyo potato

The potato I ended up using is called the  Q'oyo--apparently, it is a Quechua word that refers to "the color that your cheek turns after someone hits you in the face," according to a cultural potato expert that I met in Sucre. It is one of the most beautiful vegetables I've ever seen, with its inky blue outside and soft stripes of white and purple inside. Certain varieties of purple potatoes are available in the United States; I've seen them at farmer's markets and Trader Joe's.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound leeks, cleaned and dark green sections removed, approximately 4 to 5 medium
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt to taste
• 1 pound of purple potatoes (such as q'oyo), peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon snipped chives or green onions 

Directions:

1. Chop the leeks into small pieces.

2. In large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the potatoes and stock, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with a blender until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream, milk/buttermilk, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately, or chill and serve cold.

Serves 4

Adapted from a recipe by Alton Brown on www.foodtv.com

Curried Chicken with Potatoes

Curried Chicken with Potatoes

This is a favorite family recipe dating back to my grandmother's days in Jamaica. Due to the motley origins of the island's various inhabitants, Jamaican cuisine draws from many influences, including African, Chinese, East Indian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Yellow curry is very popular in Jamaican cooking and can be traced back to the large number of East Indian immigrants that settled in this former British colony. In fact, I've also seen this dish wrapped up inside a roti--a soft, flexible Indian flatbread--which allows for a delicious, portable option. Thyme is probably the most ubiquitous spice in Jamaican cooking and gives this dish a distinctive flavor. 

Imilla potatoes

For this dish, I used a type of potato called an imilla (Quechua for "young girl"), also known as allqa ñawi (Quechua for "two-colored eyes"). The skin is thin and has distinctive red and gold splotches, hence its "two-colored eye" nickname. The flesh is smooth, buttery, and disintegrates readily in a sauce. For this reason, it is more suitable for mashed or stewed potatoes and less suitable for dishes where you need the potato to retain its shape--such as roasted or baked. For those of you at home, you can use Russet potatoes if you prefer a firmer, starchy potato, or red potatoes would be ok if you don't mind a little more disintegration of the potato. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken thighs, skinned
• 1 lb potatoes (such as Russet), peeled and cut into 3-inch chunks
• 1 small onion, cut in small wedges
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2  tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
• 1-2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 stalks green onion, chopped finely, tips cut off both ends
• 5 stalks fresh cilantro, stems removed, chopped finely
• Salt to taste
• Cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a stain-proof casserole dish,* combine chicken (patted dry), curry powder, thyme, onion, and garlic. Stir chicken around until each piece is coated in curry. Let sit in dry marinade for at least 5-10 minutes.

2. In a heavy saucepan with at least 3-inch sides, heat oil over medium-high heat until it glistens and slides easily over saucepan surface. Add chicken pieces one by one, searing each side for approximately 2-5 min each or until brown. The onion, garlic, and excess curry/ thyme should stay behind in the casserole dish for now. 

3. Remove seared chicken and set aside. Turn heat down to medium and add remaining onion, garlic, curry, and thyme to oil, sautéing for 5 min until onion is translucent and spices become aromatic. 

4. Add back chicken to saucepan and combine with marinade ingredients, including any natural juices that may have exuded from the chicken. Add approx 1/2 cup of water to saucepan, bring to a boil, then turn down to low heat and simmer for approx 15 minutes in order to release some of the brown crust from the bottom of the pan. Water should NOT submerge the chicken. 

5. Add potatoes to chicken, and level them out to make an even layer in the saucepan. Then add just enough water (approximately 2 cups) to come up to the level of the potatoes. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn down to medium-low heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft. 

6. Once potatoes are soft, taste the sauce and add salt and cayenne pepper to your liking. Then, using a large spoon, crush up approximately 1/3 of the potatoes in the sauce in order to thicken it. Stir well and then simmer for 10 more minutes. 

7. Taste the sauce again and season it to your liking. Stir in chopped green onion and cilantro and allow to mix in with the sauce for about 1 minute.

8. Serve with white rice on the side. Serves 4


*The curry stains everything except porcelain, treated glass, and metal bright yellow, so beware!


Recipe courtesy of Phyllis Chin

Roasted Oca

Ocas

Of all the new types of potato I have discovered in Bolivia, the oca is one of my favorites. They are long and slender, like gnarly, pointed fingers. Their mild, sweet flavor is enhanced if you leave them out in the sun for a few days before cooking them. Curiously, leaving them out in the sun also causes the normally pale yellow hue of the flesh to turn more purplish. Bolivians usually boil the ocas and eat them plain or in dessert, but I found that roasting them with butter and salt beautifully offset their natural sweetness to form a wonderful side dish. This recipe can be applied to virtually any type of potato at home, including sweet potatoes.

Roasted Oca

     Ingredients:

• 1 pound (1/2 kilo) oca potatoes
• Approximately 4 tbs butter
• 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp dried rosemary

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Wash, dry, and peel the ocas. Cut them into 2-cm chunks and place in a single layer in a baking dish.

3. Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl or cup for approx. 30-60 seconds. 

4. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary to melted butter and stir.

5. Pour butter/olive oil mixture over ocas and stir them around until ocas are coated on all sides.

6. Bake at 450 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown on all sides. Check potatoes and turn them over every 15-20 minutes to avoid burning. 

Serves 4

Papas Rellenas

Stuffed Potatoes

These guys are a Cochabamban specialty and sold ubiquitously on street corners as snack food. There are many options for the filling, including meat, cheese, or egg. I chose to include a vegetarian recipe to make it more user-friendly. 

Igrendients:

• 1 pound potatoes (red, new, or imilla are best)
• ½ pound semi-hard, salty white cheese (queso menonita, queso fresco), grated
• 6 eggs
• 1 tomato, julienned
• 1 bell pepper, julienned
• 2 medium onions, julienned
• ½ tsp ají colorada powder (non-picante)*
• salt and pepper to taste
• oregano to taste
• ½ cup flour
• 1 tbs olive or sunflower oil
• 1 cup vegetable oil for frying

*Can substitute paprika for ají powder if you can't find it in the specialty store

Filling the papa

Putting the flour coating on the rellena

Directions:

1. Rinse potatoes and put on to boil for approx 30 min, or until soft.
2. In the meantime, boil 4 of the eggs for 15-20 min. Remove shell from eggs and cut each

   egg into 8 pieces
3. Soak cooked potatoes in cold water for 5-10 minutes to loosen potato skins.  Peel skins 

    off potatoes and put potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Mash potatoes with fingers or

    fork, adding salt to taste.
4. In the meantime, sauté tomatoes, bell pepper, onions in oil and add oregano to taste. 

   Turn down and simmer for 10 min, until vegetables are soft.
5. Take a tangerine-sized handful of mashed potatoes and flatten it in your hand until 1 

    cm thick.  Sprinkle with oregano, 1-2 tsp of cheese, and add a couple of pieces of hard-

    boiled egg. Cover filling with another potato patty and seal off sides so that the papa 

    rellena resembles a slightly flattened tennis ball.
6. Mix flour with 1 cup water, ají/paprika powder, and 2 raw eggs to make a runny batter.
7. Heat oil on high until swirls form at bottom of pan.
8. Dip and coat each papa rellena in flour mixture using a slotted spoon.
9. Place papa rellena in hot oil and deep fry until golden brown on all sides.
10. Drain excess oil on a paper towel. Serve each papa rellena with portion of vegetable 

     ragout on the side. Makes approximately 6 papas rellenas.

Recipe courtesy of Ubaldina Contreras

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