Potato cakes revisited

I must confess to being a little behind in my posts. I have a few meals I definitely want to write about that I just haven’t gotten too. Rather than back track, I’ve decided to just pick up with what I cooked today. I would agree with Anthony Bourdain, that cooking is a craft and not an art, but there’s no denying that dishes evolve as you cook them and learn them inside out. As a result, I have a tendency to cook new dishes several times and, over the course of time, they normally transform from something I stole to something that’s part of my own repertoire. The stuffed potato cake from a few weeks ago is a good example. The recipe was influenced (ie, stolen) from the incredible Casa Moro cookbook, but even, the first time I made it, I made some significant modifications (ground chicken instead of ground lamb; one large cake as opposed to several smaller ones).

Because I normally read recipes and then cook my own versions, as opposed to cooking it exactly like the recipe in the book, most of the dishes I cook evolve from ideas I see elsewhere. Each time I cook the dish it becomes something slightly different until it morphs into something that I keep in my permanent repertoire. In a sense it’s become my dish by that point, but I normally am honest enough to say where I got the base idea or recipe that I used. Like most cooks, I absorb these influences and put my own twists on them, but, like most cooks, I also will say what books, cooks and restaurants have influenced me along the way.

My wife has been sick with a cold, and I normally try to make her comfort foods because we all appreciate a comfort meal when we’re sick. One of her favorite foods is potatoes, so the potato cake seemed like a good idea. We had part of a roasted chicken left over (because you really should roast a chicken every week or so) and I decided to use the last of it for the stuffing. We had two thighs and a leg, which are good parts to use for something that will be heated again since they don’t get as tough as the breast when they’re reheated. Unfortunately, we had run out of onions (which does beg the question “How does a serious cook run out of onions?”), so I needed to modify the stuffing. I opted to use the left over chicken coarsely chopped, garlic, piquillo peppers, almonds, parsley, tomato paste, all moistened with sherry. I sautéed the garlic in olive oil, then added everything else, except the sherry. I spiced it with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, sumac, Aleppo pepper, ginger, and pimenton. When it had heated through, I added a good splash of sherry to moisten it and then let that cook down for a minute or two.

The potato crust was the same: boiled red potatoes and a little bit of flour. On the side I decided to cook a few baby zucchini with some cherry tomatoes and basil (because we have all of it in the garden). The last time around, I opted to go with wine, but this time I really wanted to go with beer, and in some ways it is a better match for a few reasons. As a general rule, sweeter spices, like cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and ginger can really kill a wine. Beer has some residual sugar and tends to work with sweeter spices and also with chilies (Aleppo pepper isn’t that hot but if you use enough, it does add a nice kick). I didn’t really have any commercial beer on hand so I opted to go with my homebrewed Belgian Dubbel. Dubbel is fairly malty and has some sweetness, but like most Belgian beers, isn’t not overly sweet. It would have enough malt sweetness to match the spices and chili, but would also be dry enough to be refreshing. The smoky undertones from the roasted chicken (which I had cooked on the grill) plus the pimenton, would match with the slightly smoky, chocolate and cocoa qualities of the Dubbel. It would be a little big for the sautéed zuchs, but I was hoping that the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes and the sharpness of the garlic might pull it together enough to make it all work. Besides, I could live with a great meal and a great beer even if the match wasn’t 100% perfect. A good cook should be able to work with what he has and still turn out a good meal that will satisfy people. It’s easy to over-intellectualize food and concentrate on why the side dish didn’t match the beer, but ultimately food is about eating and how it makes you feel. A well cooked meal and a good beer or glass of wine is satisfying and it makes you feel good. Shouldn’t that be enough?

As it turned out the Dubbel was fine with the zuchs and tomatoes. The garlic and sweetness did pull it all together. The potato cake was very good, and the stuffing reminded me of B’Stilla which is not surprising since many of the spices are the same. I had fought the urge to add raisins to the stuffing, but it may be a good addition particularly if the stuffing were lamb or beef. Clearly this recipe isn’t done evolving, but this version was good and in the comfort food zone that my wife’s cold required. We’ll see what the next version is.