Parmentier Potatoes

I've been brought up on home cooked meals, so I've not always been huge on shop-bought ready meals. However, I always enjoyed buying pre-made parmentier potatoes from the supermarket and I alwys thought them to be more hassle to make than enough, One day, however, one day I decided to bite the bullet and have a go at making my own version. The result was seven kinds of awesome and I've never looked back. Shop bought are nice, but these, for me, are on another level. Subsequently, this has become one of my favourite potato recipes, and I thought I'd share it with you.

Ingredients: 8 Medium Sized Potatoes 4-6 Slices Bacon Butter Olive Oil 20cm Sprig of Fresh Rosemary (Chopped) 1 1/2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Thyme Salt Pepper Grated Parmesan Cheese

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes, and cut them into 1cm cubes and place in a bowl of water to remove a little of the starch. Chop the Bacon into small chunks.
2. Melt a little butter and oil in a large, deep-sided saucepan and fry the bacon until cooked but not crispy. Remove from the pan and set to one side.
3. Melt some more butter (around about a 5-10 gram chunk) in the same saucepan with a little more oil for about five minutes.
4. Mix in the chopped herbs and season with a little salt (not too much as the butter and bacon will add a certain amount of salt content) and plenty of ground black pepper. Continue to fry the potatoes until they're softened and have begun to brown.
5. Next add in about 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese and return the bacon to the man. Mix thoroughly and remove from the heat.
6. Line a baking tray with some baking parchment and spread the potatoes across the pan in a single layer. Sprinkle with some more parmesan cheese to give an extra crisp.
7. Bake in the oven at about 180C for 20-30 minutes or until nicely browned and crispy. Make sure to shuffle the potatoes on the tray every now and again to ensure that they cook evenly and don't stick to the paper or burn.

Wasabi Potatoes

Back with a quick and simple recipe. Potatoes are awesome. They may be pretty bland on their own but they are so versatile that you can do pretty much anything with them. This recipe is one that came from a passing thought and works really nicely. I tend to use this as an accompaniment to certain Japanese dishes, in particular it goes really nicely with Teriyaki Salmon and Salmon Miso Mayo. There are no specific measurements for this, as it all depends on how many potatoes you want.

Ingredients: Baby New Potatoes Butter Wasabi Chives (Chopped)

Method:

1. Cut your potatoes to the desired size and place in a saucepan. Cover with water and add in a pinch of salt. Put the lid on and boil until nicely tender - you can test this by pricking them with a knife, if there's little to no resistance, they're done. This should take about 20 minutes depending on the size of your spuds.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, take some butter, put it into a bowl and microwave for a few seconds until soft. Now take your wasabi and squirt it onto the butter and mix with a spoon. Add the wasabi to your own taste. From experience, I've found that it takes a large amount to get the flavour, but you don't get much of the spice as the butter dilutes it a bit.
3. When the potatoes are cooked, strain and place them in a bowl. Dot with the wasabi butter - as much as it to your taste, then sprinkle the chopped chives over the top. Mix thoroughly, and serve.