Recipe: Dressed-up mashed potatoes are easy to make
|
St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. is basically a celebration of all things green. If you’d like to serve something more authentically Irish than green beer, potato champ is the ideal recipe.
Champ is mashed potatoes with green onions in it, but the cooking method makes this a dish that’s even better than the ingredients list sounds. The chopped onions, including tops, are steeped in hot milk, which turns the milk and then the mashed potatoes a lovely light green. This is a good way to use those thinned-out onions from your garden, and not just on St. Patrick’s Day.
I slightly adapted this recipe, which is from “Irish Traditional Cooking” by Darina Allen, via the Epicurious website. It also can be make with other garden ingredients: parsley, chives or fresh green peas.
|
Potato champ
Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 large russet potatoes, about 1 ½ pounds
¾ cup milk (or ¼ cup milk per ½ pound of potatoes)
1 bunch green onions
2 to 4 tablespoons butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place in a pot with enough cold water to cover them, and boil until tender.
While the potatoes are cooking, finely chop the green onions, including the green tops. Place them in a small saucepan and add the cold milk. Bring the milk to a boil, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the onions steep in the milk.
When the potatoes are cooked, drain them, then return them to the empty pot. Mash them a bit and, while they’re still hot, pour in the milk and green onion mixture. Mash a bit more, adding in about half the butter, but don’t let them get gluey.
Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve in a warmed bowl with the rest of the butter in a pat on the top.
Variations: Substitute 2 to 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley or chives to the milk, boiling for only 2 to 3 minutes. For peas, shell them, then cook them in the milk with just a pinch of sugar, until tender. Proceed as above.
Comments
0 comments have been posted.Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Local News
Thanks to our sponsor!
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
Powered by California Local
