Sunday 22 August 2010

Friday night dinner for two: deviled eggs & hasselback potatoes

First of all, here's wishing everyone a Happy Onam. Strange as it sounds...I am now coming to terms with the fact that I will not be able to celebrate certain festivals here with family, miss weddings and get togethers and instead of fretting about it, I have learned to let go. Onam is one such occasion and I am shamelessly pleased to announce that I would be heading to an over priced, pretty mediocre mallu restaurant to have what they call 'authentic sadya' tomorrow. So what if its served in plastic plantain leaves and so what if i order a side dish of beef fry to go with it, I am sure it would bring that wee element of Onam to my mind. On a side note...I am completely J of all you creative women who are preparing awesome full fledged sadya's at home and have people over..sigh! Have fun, nonetheless.
So coming back to the recipe, I am always in the mood to experiment on Friday nights and most of what I try comes out pretty decent (maybe cos its the beginning of two days of not cooking). This Friday was no exception. We had deviled eggs, hasselback potatoes and a fish roast for dinner. Strange combo, you'd think. It was excellent, especially the potatoes which I think had made it to the 'top 10 list of things I'd like to eat every other day.'

Basil Pesto Deviled Eggs
Eggs- 3, boiled and sliced in halves
Ricotta cheese- 1 tbsp
Garlic mayonnaise- 1 tbsp
Basil pesto- 1/2 tsp
Dry Mustard- a pinch (optional)
Paprika- to taste
Salt and pepper- to taste
Remove the egg yolk from the eggs and mash it up with the rest of the ingredients in another bowl. You should get a paste like consistency.
Now the ideal thing to do would be to scoop this mixture into a pastry bag and pipe your way through on to the egg whites, in which ever pattern you like.
Otherwise, if you are lazy like me, just scoop this mixture with a spoon and shabbily place on the egg white. It tastes the same whatsoever :)
Garnish with dried thyme.
Just be careful while adding salt, because the mayo and pesto might already have some.

Hasselback potatoes (recipe adapted from here)
Foodgawked

Potatoes- 2 large, washed and scrubbed well. Skin intact
Garlic cloves- about 2 to 3 per potato, depending on the size of the cloves, peeled and sliced lengthwise.
Butter- a tsp each per potato
Thyme- to taste
Salt and pepper- to taste
Olive oil- to brush
Slice each potato breadth wise, carefully, making sure you don't slice it all the way through to the bottom.
Slide the thin cut garlic slices into each groove, again carefully, making sure the potato doesn't snap in between.
Place the potatoes on a pan lined with silver foil and generously grease brush with olive oil.
Sprinkle salt, pepper and thyme, place a tsp butter on each potato and bake in an oven preheated at 180C for an hour or till the potato is cooked through.


Notes: My potatoes took about 1.30hrs to bake and i kept taking it out every 20 to 25 minutes and brushing with more olive oil. Towards the end, the last 20 minutes, I turned the potato and cooked it that way for a while, just to even it out
You can use any herb of your choice for the seasoning.

27 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear both the dishes are sinfully spoiling...If I get this kind of spread for dinner I would be on the top of the world....lovely snaps and presentation....

Suji said...

Happy Onam Nisha...

Wow potato looks super da...

GB said...

I love the idea of using pesto in the deviled eggs (I've only ever used mayo+mustard) this souds so tempting. And the potatoes looks soooo fancy, with all the flavors (and butter!) you've got going in there, I'm sure they were super yum! (I think I can try both these recipes at home!)

Satrupa said...

Lovely Clicks and a simple yet delicous recipe. Happy Onam !!

Cheers n Happy Cooking,
Satrupa
http://satrupa-foodforthought.blogspot.com

Monet said...

Such stunning presentation. I love those eggs balanced on their spoons and the potatoes are equally as beautiful. I'm sorry you aren't able to celebrate with your family...I know how isolating it can feel to be in a place different from home!

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Wow looks soo good and really tempting, with great pictures... Beautiful potatoes.

Pavithra
www.dishesfrommykitchen.com

Tanvi said...

hey that looks like a supper fast & yummy meal.
the pics are gorgeous!

the blogger formerly known as sansmerci said...

i always wanted to try deviled eggs had no clue how to do it! sure gonna try this hope it comes as good as that!

Happy Onam Nish! have a nice sadya :)

TREAT AND TRICK said...

Happy Onam to you, your experiment turns out great, especially that sliced potato looks beautiful perfect with devilled eggs...

Priya Suresh said...

Wwowww wat a fabulous dishes...irresistible!

Pavithra Srihari said...

that was a beautiful click as always :) ... loved the potatoes .. happy onam ..

Unknown said...

very happy Onam, I agree with the fact that we got to live with what we have.....Gorgeous pic Nisha, those cutie eggs and omg Hasselback potato is so new for lovely ..thanks for the share :)

Suja Manoj said...

Happy Onam Nisha..
Both dishes looks awesome..irresistible..
tried that potato recipe once..it was a total disaster:(...your version sounds perfect..will give it a try:)

Foodie Ann said...

Happy Onam ...:)

Your Hasselback potatoes looks perfect....:)...There is one in my draft....:)
Loved the first picture of deviled eggs....:)

Satya said...

both the dishes looks awesome ...yummy

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Torviewtoronto said...

favourite dishes
these look beautiful

Ria Mathew said...

Hey Nisha, wish you the same! I was super lazy to cook anything special for Onam even though it was our first one together :-) We had our share of Sadya at our friend's place :)But we had it on real banana leaves (defrosted though ;-)

I love devilled eggs as I am a huge fan of hard boiled eggs. And potato is another weakness of mine, so I am sure that would go down very well with me! :)

Namitha said...

Lovely dishes..It's been a while since I've been thinking to make hasselback potatoes...:-)

Happy Onam !!!

Suman Singh said...

Incredible dishes and very tempting pics.

Happy Onam!

aipi said...

Happy Onam Nisha :)
the potatoes look incredible..book marking it!!

Sweet Artichoke said...

Both dishes are very tempting and look delicious!
Your pictures are simply beautiful!

Unknown said...

Hi,

lovely recipes and marvellous presentation!!!!!!!!!!!

Sameena@http://www.myeasytocookrecpes.blogspot.com

Srivalli said...

wow that potato looks awesome!..

Sunitha said...

Aren't you on a roll churning out all these beautiful pictures! WAy to go.

Reshmi Ahmed said...

Hi Nisha, first time here. Hasselback potatoes are gorgeous looking...looks very tempting to try it soon...
saw ur space, ur photography is stunning !
love to catch up ur beautiful looking posts from now on :)

Joni said...

Those potatoes really were great, weren't they! I knew that when I saw the recipe I had to try them too. Thanks for linking to the Three Cheeses food blog! :)

Ann said...

Hasselback is on the menu chez nous tonight! I've only recently started seeing these beauts show up in the blog world. Can't wait!