Potato Galette & Sweetcorn Succotash

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

I bought some frozen ready-marinated Mahi-Mahi (similar to swordfish) from the supermarket so all I had to do was pop it in the oven to cook. This meant I could turn all my attention to the side dishes.

I knew I wanted to serve potatoes with the fish but I wanted to try something new. I knew I would already have the oven on to cook the fish so that narrowed down my cooking method and I knew I wanted to achieve something with a crispy texture to counter-balance the fish. Somehow the idea of a Potato Galette came into my head even though I've never made it before. After a quick search on Google I discovered there are a variety of ways to make this dish, so I went with what sounded best.

I've been wanting to make Sweetcorn Succotash ever since we went to The Cheesecake Factory (TCF) and I tried it for the first time. To be honest, before that meal I didn't know Succotash was an actual dish, I just thought it was part of a catchphrase by Sylvester The Cat! I couldn't find a definitive recipe on Google, it seems to be one of those dishes which is open to interpretation, so I made up my own recipe based on what I remembered of my TCF experience.

POTATO GALETTE

• Serves 2
• Oven Temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C
• Cooking Time: 25 minutes
• You will need: A mandolin or a box grater, small baking pan

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 white potatoes (Russet or Maris Piper are good for this), peeled
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Some Italian seasoning or other type of mixed seasoning (optional)
• 2 handfuls of grated cheese (I used a bag of Quattro Formaggio which had Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina and Mild Provolone)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.
2. Slice your potatoes as thinly as possible, preferably with a mandolin. But if you haven't got one then I found that the wide slicing blade on a box grater works really well. To make it easier, lay the grater flat on a board with the slicing blade facing upwards and then push the potato away from you as you slice them.
3. Put the tablespoon of olive oil in a large bowl and add salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Add the sliced potatoes and toss in the olive oil until evenly coated.
4. Starting from the middle, arrange your potatoes in the dish so that they are overlapping and the bottom is completely covered.
5. Sprinkle on half of the cheese.
6. Arrange another layer of potatoes on top and then sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the potatoes feel tender when you insert a fork.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes (perfect timing for me to cook the fish which takes 12 minutes!)

For convenience I used the 9" round silicone pan that I use to bake cakes. It gave a good result and was very easy to clean afterwards, however next time I would put a disc of foil at the bottom to give it a crispier bottom. Alternatively you could use a metal cake tin or simply arrange your potatoes in a circle shape on a metal baking sheet.
Of course you can use a much smaller dish but you will have more layers and your Galette is going to be much thicker, therefore it may take twice as long to cook.

SWEETCORN SUCCOTASH

• Serves 2
• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking Time: 15 minutes
• You will need: A medium saucepan

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed, grated or finely chopped
• 1/2 red pepper (bell pepper), diced
• Approx. 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
• 1 432g/15.25oz tin whole kernel sweetcorn, drained
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup chicken stock

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in your saucepan, add the onion and gently saute until softened and slightly golden.
2. Add the garlic and cook gently for another minute.
3. Add the red pepper and cook until softened.
4. Add the chilli flakes and then stir in the sweetcorn.
5. Add the chicken stock and simmer until it has reduced and evaporated away.
6. It is now ready to serve.

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

I think it's great to share recipes, which is one of the main reasons I do this blog. Another reason is so I can take photos of my food and hopefully improve my photography skills.

I have a Nikon digital SLR and two lenses handed down to me from Steve (18-55mm) and my Dad (18-135mm) as they've upgraded theirs. I also sometimes use my old Sony Cybershot DSC-P150 if I want to take a quick snapshot, but it's not very good at close-ups and getting good depth of field.

It is actually quite difficult to photograph food and make it look appetizing. My biggest enemy is the lack of natural light. This is especially true when trying to photograph evening meals or during the winter months when it gets dark so early. So I hope to get a portable soft lighting studio and I've read that the Lowel Ego Light is brilliant. I'd also like to get a tripod as neither of my lenses have VR (Vibration Reduction) which helps to stabilize images so you don't get blurry pictures. But even without all this extra equipment I am still quite pleased with my efforts so far. It has made me look at the photographs in magazines with even more interest and makes me appreciate the effort the food stylists and photographers make to produce such tantalising images! Afterall, we eat with our eyes so it is making me think more about the presentation of my food.

The other problem I have with food photography is my impatience to eat the food! There are a few recipes on my blog which don't have photos because I just couldn't wait to eat my dinner! I also hate lukewarm food so whilst I'm fiddling around with the settings on my camera until I can get a decent shot, my dinner is getting cold! That's why I like baking because you have to let them cool down first! Maybe I should make more salads...

Hoi-sin Pork

The marinade for the pork is based on a dish by Ching He-Huang that Steve cooked for me for Valentine's Day. Her recipe uses duck breast but I thought it would go well with pork as hoisin is the main ingredient for char-siu (chinese roast pork).

I had some leftover jasmine rice which I told Steve I was going to serve with the pork. However, I wanted to try something new with the rice so I did a twist on the italian arancini risotto balls. Steve was pleasantly surprised when he cut open the rice balls to find them filled with cheese and he really liked them, however I don't think they were 100% success so I will tweak them and then put up the recipe.

For now here's the Hoi-sin Pork recipe:

To serve 2

Ingredients:
1 large boneless pork chop (or 2 smaller ones)
Marinade:
3 tbsp hoi-sin sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp (dark) soy sauce
1 tbsp oil (preferably sesame for the flavour)
Ching's recipe calls for ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder but I didn't have any, however the pork still has lots of flavour.

Directions:

1. Put the pork in a plastic zip-lock freezer bag and then add all the marinade ingredients. Seal the bag and massage the meat so that it is fully and evenly coated. Pop it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes but preferably for a few hours.
2. Take the meat out of fridge about 30 minutes before you're ready to cook to bring it to room temperature.
3. Heat a large frying/saute pan to medium-high and then put the pork into the pan, reserving the rest of the marinade (if you have a non-stick pan you won't need to add any oil).
4. Fry the pork for a few minutes on each side until it is fully cooked and no longer pink in the middle. The cooking time will depend on thickness of your meat but you can generally tell when it is done when you press on the meat and it feels firm.
5. Remove the pork from the pan, keep warm and allow to rest for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the rest of the marinade to the pan and simmer gently for a few minutes until heated through and slightly thickened.
7. Slice the pork and drizzle the sauce on top.