Potato Cutlet Recipe (Indian Snack)

Aloo cutlets are pancake-shaped snacks made of potato (aloo means "potato" in Urdu). Indian cooking rarely uses eggs as a binder so to make sure the patties don't break, soaked bread is added to the potato mixture. It's an easy vegetarian snack that satisfies my family's cravings. To make the cutlets a more complete meal, I added protein-packed chana dal (garbanzo lentils). I flavored these appetizers with a little ginger, turmeric and amchur (mango powder) to balance the flavor of the cutlets.

We often make a huge batch of cutlets on Saturday mornings with the girls. They’ve gotten so good that they pretty much do it on their own. Once they’re done cooking, we usually just serve them with a bowl of sour cream. Yum!

Potato Leek Pie Recipe

The concept of tarte salée ("savory pie" in French) is pretty simple. The flaky dough is made with puff pastry and the filling is usually made from vegetables with a cheese topping. This time around, I made a potato pie. The first inside layer is very similar to the leek quiches I made a few months ago. I topped the pie with gorgonzola cheese for added flavor.

It's easy to assemble once the potato slices are pan-fried. Just pair the pie with a healthy green salad. Enjoy!

Stuffed Potato Appetizers (Bolognese Potatoes)

Our family loves potatoes, any kind of potatoes. They're filling and delicious, especially when they're baked. Personally, I love the crunchy exterior and creamy inside. Today, I played with white-fleshed sweet potatoes (Japanese sweet potatoes), purple-fleshed potatoes (Okinawan sweet potatoes) and regular Yukon Gold potatoes, respectively from the sweetest to the least sweet variety.

I wanted to make sure that the entire family could enjoy the trio of bite-sized potato appetizers I made, so I filled them with soy chorizo. If you're a meat lover, you could replace it with ground beef. I topped the potato bites with a cheesy crust. They took some time to assemble, but it literally took half a second for our family to inhale them all!

Broccoli Puree (Mashed Broccoli)

Mashed potatoes are my guilty pleasure. I've flavored them in the past with garlic, pesto, plaintains, olives and purple sweet potatoes, just to name a few. This time, I used broccoli. It complements the flavor and gives a beautiful color to the purée.

My favorite way to make this dish is to simply mash them using a potato masher, then add milk, cream and lots of butter. It might not be the healthiest approach, but it's certainly the most delicious for creamy mashed potatoes! 

Olive Mashed Potatoes

I came up with the idea of making olive-flavored mashed potatoes (purée de pomme de terre aux olives) while strolling through Parisian open-air markets. Most of them carry the most delicious varieties of olives that are not overly salty. After tasting many varieties, I bought delicious bright green olives that are large, meaty and slightly sweet with a nutty taste to the palate.

Parisian kitchens in general are tiny and contain the bare minimum when it comes to cooking. I mashed the potatoes using the back of a fork, pitted and coarsely chopped the olives and finally mixed them into the purée, adding a little crème fleurette (cream). My husband Lulu loved it and was totally impressed that I was able to pull it off in our tiny kitchen!

Besides visiting museums and monuments in Paris with Lulu, I have to admit that perusing the Parisian open-air markets was my favorite activity! Tasting and seeing the wonderful colors and produce gave me so many ideas and inspirations for new flavor pairings. I’ll be sharing them soon.