“What’s your favorite spring food?” I asked Hanna one afternoon. She thought for a minute or two then surprised me by saying “potatoes — potato salad makes me think of spring.”
“Goggie’s potato salad?” (a family tradition) — “No not particularly — any potato salad, creamy or herby, doesn’t matter.”
While I was chewing on this, she asked if I had heard about English jacket potatoes — all the rage on TikTok and Instagram — “No! What are they?” – I was pretty excited to learn about something new in potatoville.
Jacket potatoes
English jacket potatoes are a new way of baking a potato that results in a crisp outer skin and a fluffy luscious interior. It’s all about time and “The Cut”.
Here’s the scoop from Cup of Jo: “When we were visiting our family in England last week, we ate our weight in jacket potatoes. They’re different from the baked potatoes we make because they have super crispy skin and a fluffy melty inside. So amazingly good. They’re all over the place in England. Every pub and restaurant we went to devoted a section of the menu to them, along with a choice of toppings: grated cheddar, baked beans, tuna, coleslaw or plain with butter, salt and pepper.”
“My aunt Janey often made them for our dinners in Cornwall — as a side to roast chicken or sausages — and we all loved them so much, so she agreed to share the basic recipe. …
“Preheat oven to 200 (degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit). Cut a cross on the potatoes. Put the potatoes at the top of the oven — straight on the rack, not a baking tray. Cook 1-2 hours (usually closer to 2). When they feel crunchy on the outside, pull the rack out, cut the potatoes open again to release the steam, then put them back into the oven. The major important thing is not to turn the oven down as they go soggy and lose their crunch. After ten minutes, serve immediately with shedloads of butter, salt and pepper. Perfect.”
Funeral potatoes
Recipe by Young Sun Huh is also called Utah potato casserole.
Potato talk turned to Molly who revealed that my son-in-law Eric’s absolutely favorite potato dish was funeral potatoes. Have you heard of them? Yes. Have you eaten any? No.
They are a Midwestern favorite, so named because they reliably turn up at potluck gatherings like funerals. They have all the markers of Midwestern tastiness — canned cream of chicken soup and lots of cheese with the surprise snap of corn flakes. Hard to imagine for a California girl, but Molly says they are so delicious two people can polish off a pan — so we gave it a try and here’s the recipe for you.
As author Young Sun Huh notes,” It’s pretty much impossible to dislike a dish of onions, garlic and cream topped with melted cheese and abundant crunchy cooked cornflakes. Even the biggest naysayers in our kitchen were seduced by this dish’s addictive creamy flavor and crispy topping.”
Ingredients:
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• One 30-ounce bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, lightly thawed
• One 10.5-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups shredded sharp yellow Cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups lightly crushed corn flake cereal
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat in a skillet. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant and softened, an additional 2 minutes.
In a bowl, toss together the cooked onions and garlic, hash brown potatoes, condensed soup, sour cream, Parmesan, salt, pepper and 1 1/2 cups Cheddar. Spread the mixture in a 9-by-13 inch casserole dish. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Top the casserole with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, corn flake cereal and melted butter.
Bake in the oven until it bubbles around the sides, about 1 hour.
Asparagus and potato gratin
Try these out – they will mysteriously disappear so fast you’ll swear the dog was on the counter. They may well be the potato version of Mississippi Pot Roast. There is a New York Times version called Updated Funeral Potatoes adapted by Julia Moskin for those opposed to canned soup and frozen hash browns.
My nomination for best side dish to rival an Easter ham is this asparagus and potato gratin. It’s pretty, it’s got texture — and it includes a vegetable! Asparagus is spring fare and what’s not to like about prosciutto, goat cheese, pecorino and potatoes?
Recipe by Martha Stewart.
Ingredients:
• 2 cups coarse freshly torn bread crumbs (from 3 large slices of good rustic bread)
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 small bunch asparagus (about 12 ounces), trimmed
• 4 medium white- or red-skinned potatoes (about 1 ½ pounds), peeled and cut into ½-inch slices
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ cups whole milk
• 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
• ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano (1 ounce), plus more for serving
• 6 thin slices prosciutto
• Chive blossoms, or chives for serving (optional)
Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss bread-crumbs with oil; season with salt and pepper. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until crisp and just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Increase oven temperature to 475 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add asparagus. Return to a boil and cook until crisp-tender, 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer to a plate. Add potatoes to pot; cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain. Arrange potatoes in the bottom of an 8 1/2-by-11 1/2 inch or 2-quart baking dish (about 1 1/2 inches deep).
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour; cook until it has a slightly nutty aroma, about 30 seconds. Gradually (to avoid lumps) whisk in milk. Bring mixture to a boil and cook, whisking, until thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; add both cheeses and whisk until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour half of sauce over potatoes. Arrange prosciutto and half of asparagus on top. Drizzle with remaining sauce. Top with remaining asparagus, then bread-crumbs. (Dish can be made to this point and refrigerated in a covered container up to 1 day; add 10 minutes to baking time.) Bake until bubbling around edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly; serve, sprinkled with more Pecorino and chive blossoms.
Easter Sunday looks like it will be one of those spring days in Chico that will break your heart it’s so beautiful. Wildflowers, a gentle breeze, maybe a few puffy white clouds. Dye those eggs, take your pup for a walk and set out a lasagna pan full of Funeral Potatoes to divert attention from the quite good Asparagus and Potato Gratin accompanying your Easter ham.
