By Sidonie Maroon , The Food Co-op’s Culinary Educator , abluedotkitchen

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Find Sidonie in The Leader every other week in Kitchen-to-Kitchen, an article sponsored by The Food Co-op.

Recipes included:

Potato Scones

Kharcho Cottage Pie

Potato and Caraway Bread

Tortila de Patata

It’s Sunday morning 7:00 a.m. the kitchen’s quiet except for the faint hum of frog song from the meadow. I’m counting out level teaspoons of Irish breakfast tea, it’s robust and a favorite with milk. Soon, I peel a russet potato to boil, and fry four pieces of Applegate fatty bacon snipped into thin strips. As soon as the bacon’s crisp, I strain the bits and save the drippings for the potato scones I’m testing in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish potato scones transport me to a farmhouse kitchen, a wooden table and a pot of tae. They’re related to Irish Soda Bread. The acid in the buttermilk reacts with baking soda as a leaven. You can tell a buttermilk scone, as opposed to a cream by the big open crumb. Traditionally potato scones are called farls. Farls are triangular shaped scones and they’re often cooked in bacon fat on a griddle. That image inspired the bacon drippings in my recipe.

Opening the kitchen door, birdsong now joins the frogs, while the smell of bacon wafts outside. I cross the garden to snip parsley that’s still green. Squatting down to herb level allows me to notice the chickweed and nettles poking their heads up.

Now, while my tea is still hot, I look over the recipe. A scone must have the proper ratios of liquids to solids. Bakery scones are often crumbly and dry. They should be moist, with an open light interior. I mastered scones years ago with help from a Marion Cunningham recipe in “Baking with Julia”. I made them frequently to the delight of my family, especially with strawberry jam. Later I adapted them to a gluten-free version which you can find on the Food Coop’s blog. It’s an article all about strawberries and scones.

I love to bake, yet for the past 3 years, I’ve challenged myself to diversify my ingredients. I call my alternative approach Nouveau Baking, and it works for new recipes and old favorites.

Rules for Nouveau Baking — welcome diversity into our diets

Use ingredients unrelated to the grass family, not because they’re bad, but to open the playing field.

Create recipes without processed starches like corn, potato, tapioca or arrowroot

Eliminate or reduce processed sugars

Must be absolutely delicious

Nouveau Ingredients

buckwheat groats, amaranth seeds, quinoa, red lentils, chickpeas, adzuki beans, black beans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, coconut, flaxseed, and psyllium seed husk powder.

What’s possible

Cakes, cookies, quick breads, pizza, muffins, sourdough loaves, crackers, buns, scones... and most people would never guess what they’re made from.

Equipment

The key to Nouveau Baking is using a high-powered mixer, like a Vitamix, to grind the dry ingredients into flour. I can easily make my own flours in seconds.

We don’t need white flour, processed starches, or added sugar to make delicious baked goods. The essential ingredient is an open mind. It’s our greatest challenge — to step outside our comfort zones and give new foods a try. You never know when it’ll come in handy to approach life from a different angle.

Potato Scones

Makes a 7 inch round, cut into eight farls

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

1/3 cup pre-washed raw quinoa

1/3 cup raw chickpeas

2 tablespoons flaxseed

OR replace the above with 1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

2 tablespoons onion flakes

Wet ingredients

1/4 cup bacon drippings from four slices of fatty bacon. Use olive oil to make up the ¼ cup if needed.

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup sour cream or yogurt

⅓ cup whole milk

1/2 cup mashed potatoes from a medium sized peeled russet potato

Additions

Crumbled bacon from four slices about 1/4 cup

1 tbsp minced parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425° f. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a high-powered blender or Vitamix, grind all dry ingredients into a flour and sift into a mixing bowl.

Peel a medium russet potato cut into chunks and boil until soft.

With scissors, thinly slice 4 pieces of fatty bacon and fry over a medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon and measure the lard, using 1/4 cup for the scones.

Whisk the wet ingredients together thoroughly mashing the potato. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry and add the bacon and parsley until a wet batter forms.

Gently pat the batter, with damp hands, into a 7-in circle and score with a knife into eight even pieces.

Bake for 15 minutes. Cool slightly before eating.

Note: for a vegetarian alternative, replace the bacon drippings with olive oil and leave out the bacon.

Kharcho Cottage Pie

Pronounced harcho

Makes 4 - 6 Servings

Like the Georgian beef kharcho stew— this layered cottage pie combines spicy with sour, and a hint of sweet with plenty of fresh herbs. It’s got a rich flavor and exotic flair, but still remains the ultimate comfort food—- cottage pie.

Kharcho Spice Mix

½ teaspoon celery seed

3 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons whole coriander

1 tablespoon winter savory

2 teaspoons whole caraway seed

1 tablespoon dried garlic flakes

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoons red chili flakes

1 teaspoon whole toasted fenugreek seeds

Grind into a powder

Beef filling

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion chopped into a medium dice

2 carrots chopped into a small dice

2 celery stalks chopped into a small dice

1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

1 lb organic ground beef

1 tablespoon kharcho spice mix (or to taste)

¾ cup chopped canned tomatoes with juices

4 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons tamarind paste

1 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

1 teaspoon sugar (if needed to round the flavors out)

Saute the onions on a medium heat until sweet about 10 minutes.

Add the carrots and celery continue to saute 5 minutes or longer.

Add the ground beef, spices and salt; cook until browned.

Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley and tamarind paste, and continue cooking on low to let the sauce reduce and flavors meld.

Taste, and add sugar, salt or more spice if desired.

Mashed potatoes and cheese topping

2 large russet potatoes peeled and roughly chopped

¼ cup milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh dill

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

3 cups grated colby cheese

sea salt as needed

In a pot, cover potatoes with water; boil until fork tender, strain and mash. Add salt, milk, butter, 1 cup of the cheese; chopped dill and cilantro.

Baking

Preheat oven to 350 F

Spoon ½ of the meat sauce into the bottom of an oiled casserole, top it with ½ of the mashed potatoes spreading them smoothly and completely over the sauce, and top with 1 cup of the cheese. Repeat the layers once more ending with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the pie is heated through.

Potato Caraway Bread

Makes a 9-inch round cake-bread

Dry ingredients

½ cup prewashed quinoa

¼ cup amaranth seed

¼ cup raw chickpeas

¼ cup flax meal

2 tablespoons psyllium seed husk powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon dill seed

¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Additions

¼ cup dehydrated onion flakes

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Wet Ingredients

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 cup milk

1 ¼ cup mashed potato, without skins

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Using a Vitamix, grind the dry ingredients, for 1 minute, into a flour and sift into a large mixing bowl. Add onion flakes and caraway seeds.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with a removable bottom with parchment paper and grease.

Mix wet ingredients together and stir into dry. Smooth into the cake pan.

Bake for 25 minutes. Turn out onto a cake stand or plate. Cool before slicing. Waiting for the bread to cool is important, because it firms as it cools.

Tortilla de patata

Serves 4

1 hour excluding potato soaking time. It is a labor of love recipe

Potatoes, onions, oil, eggs and salt, such simple ingredients for so much flavor. This recipe will give you an authentic tasting Spanish omelette, but uses some innovative techniques to increase flavor and streamline the traditional version, but it’s still a labor of love.

Changes I made

I cut back on the frying oil, and eliminated straining it, so there’s no worry about how to store or use it again. The onions are caramelized first, before adding the potatoes. This increasing the flavor. The potatoes soak in water and are rinsed to remove some of their starches, making them tender inside and crisp on the outside. Putting a lid on, while reducing the heat for the first 5 minutes of frying the potatoes, helps give them a jump start. Allowing the eggs and onion-potato mix to sit and pre-cook with residual heat keeps the eggs moist without being too runny.

Ingredients

⅓ cup olive oil

3 medium Yukon gold or other waxy potatoes, cut in half lengthwise, cut into ¼-inch slices, and then cut into randomly shaped triangular chips.

1 medium onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

Flaked Maldon sea salt to taste

Directions

Prepping the potatoes

Wash and slice ¼ inch thick, unpeeled, waxy potatoes. Cut them lengthwise, then lay a potato half down on its flat side, and thinly slice along the half, keeping the potato shape together. Once sliced, holding the potato together, chop it, at random angles into small chips. Put the potato chips into a bowl of water, swishing them around to release the starches. I let them sit in the water, changing it several times for at least an hour. You can do this step ahead and even let them soak overnight. Removing the starches helps to make a soft interior with a crispy crust. This is also a good trick for making potato salad that tastes like you’re using new potatoes. After the potatoes have soaked, blot them dry with a towel, or send them through a salad spinner.

Caramelizing the onions

Preheat a 10-inch heavy-bottomed skillet, I use cast iron, for 10 minutes, at a medium heat. Bring the heat to medium high. Pour the oil in, bringing it up to heat and add the onions. Pan fry the onions for 10 to 15 minutes, caramelizing them. You’ll want them to be sweet and dark but not burnt.

Cooking the potatoes

Add the potatoes, stirring them into the onions. Salt, and turn the heat down to medium about 300 F. Put a lid on the skillet and let the potatoes and onions cook for 4-5 minutes. You’ll want the potatoes to soften but not burn the onions. Take the lid off, stir and turn the heat to medium high, about 400 F. Continue to pan fry until the potatoes are tender and somewhat crisped.

Incorporating the eggs

While the potatoes and onions are cooking, break 6 eggs into a bowl and stir with a fork just enough to scramble them. Don’t whisk or over-mix. They don’t need to puff. Add a pinch of salt for each egg and stir in. Let the eggs sit while you continue frying the potatoes.

Add the hot potatoes and onions into the eggs and fold together, so that the eggs coat everything. Cover the bowl with a plate and let the mix sit for 15 minutes. This allows the flavors of the onions and eggs to penetrate the eggs, and the residual heat begins to cook and thicken the eggs so they’re creamy in the tortilla.

Cooking the tortilla

The skillet should still have some oil from pan frying. Bring it up to a medium high heat, add the egg and potato mixture and cook for 1 minute, allowing the tortilla to set. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for another 2 minutes. Look under the tortilla and see if it’s golden. Then, flip it by inverting it onto a plate, larger than the skillet. Turn the heat back up, slide the flipped tortilla back in and cook for 1 minute, reducing the heat and cooking for another 2 minutes. Flip it back onto a plate. The tortilla will continue to cook on the plate, so wait 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

The insides should be moist and slightly runny in the center.