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June 12, 2009
My Kitchen, My World: Switzerland (and CSA!)
Okay, I got to do some double-duty with this meal, using up the rest of the potatoes from our CSA box a few weeks ago. I've made Swiss fondue numerous times, so I wanted to try something a little different for the MKMW challenge--so I made rosti. I found a recipe on Epicurious, and modified it a bit. Here's the original,with my modifications in brackets, and some notes at the end.
Rosti with ham, green onions, and cheese
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter [I used much less, about two tablespoons total, and combined it with a little oil so it wouldn't burn]
3/4 cup chopped onion [I used a bit more, one large onion]
1 1/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, coarsely grated [I used about 2 lbs.]
1/2 cup 1/4-inch cubes Black Forest ham or other smoked ham [I diced up some hickory-smoked ham lunchmeat we had]
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives [I used 4-5 green onions instead]
[I also added fresh thyme, pulling the leaves off a couple of sprigs, and I grated some really good Swiss cheese that we had leftover from something to top the rosti]
2 large eggs [I omitted these, but they would have been good!]
Preheat oven to 425 F. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion; saute 5 minutes. Place 2 1/2 cups grated potatoes in medium bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to blend (reserve any remaining potatoes for another use) [I made a smaller one with the leftover potato mixture]. Stir onion mixture, ham, and chives into potatoes.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in same skillet over high heat. Add potato mixture. Using spatula, press mixture to even thickness, covering skillet bottom completely. Cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high. Cook until potato cake is golden on bottom, about 7 minutes. Loosen cake; slide out onto large plate or rimless baking sheet. Turn skillet upside down atop cake. Invert skillet and plate, dropping cake back into skillet. Cook cake until golden on bottom, about 7 minutes. Place skillet in oven. Bake until Rosti is crisp, about 7 minutes [at this point, I sprinkled the rosti with shredded Swiss cheese, which melted in the oven].
Meanwhile, melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Crack each egg and drop into skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Partially cover skillet; cook until egg whites are set, about 3 minutes [I omitted the eggs].
Cut Rosti into 4 wedges. Overlap 2 wedges of Rosti on each of 2 plates; top Rosti wedges on each plate with 1 egg.
Notes:
*Don't try this without a non-stick pan. Don't even try it with a used-to-be-nonstick-until-we-put-it-in-the-dishwasher pan. Especially if you're cutting down the butter content. That pan turned into sticky hashbrowns which were fed to the kids.
*The huge rosti was pretty and dramatic, but I think that making smaller ones would be much easier, and risk fewer burns to hands, cutting boards, and other kitchen equipment. The whole flipping it out of the pan thing was difficult, especially with such a hot pan.
*The fresh thyme was so good, it added a green, floral note that made the meal feel fancier. The melty cheese on top was really nice as well.
CSA , My Kitchen, My World , cooking stuff | By Tim and Jo | 1:58 PM
Comments
mmmm. That looks good. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am pretty sure that your blog was the thing that helped me realize that I could make the baby food. I don't know if I realized that people made their own until you blogged about it. Then, true to form, I researched it like a mad(wo)man, even before I had a child;-)
Posted by: Lisa Roerdink at June 13, 2009 8:45 AM
Hi Joanna,
The rosti looks delicious! I agree with all your notes about using a good non-stick pan and making the rosti into smaller portions for easier flipping. Fresh thyme adds a nice twist to the dish.
I haven't completed mine yet but I intend to get it done this week.
Take care,
Rosa
Posted by: Rosa at June 14, 2009 4:13 AM
