Jansson's Temptation (or Jansson's Frestelse or Jansson's Kiusaus)

I try to keep looking at the silver lining associated with my husband's ridiculous amount of work travel. Besides the obvious benefit of beaucoup frequent flyer miles, his exposure to new countries and cultures has translated in delicious learning experiences here at home. This week is his first time in Scandinavia, and my friends who are from/live there insisted that Jansson's Temptation is a must for us to vicariously experience a proper meal from this part of the world.

For those unfamiliar with this Jansson's Temptation (as I was a few short days ago) it's a potato and onion casserole-like dish which contains Swedish anchovies, aka sprats. It's a bonus that our new dish to try contains seafood - no doubt a pleaser for my kids. Unfortunately, yes, as I sit here typing after assembling and putting this in the oven, my fingers decidedly smell like pickled sprats. Hopefully seventeen more washings will erase that aroma. (Note: it only took four.)

Procuring Swedish anchovies, I'm told, is key. Substituting regular anchovies is not acceptable, namely because it's not even the same fish. After reading this adventure of trying to locate them in NYC, I was a bit concerned if I would be able to find them in Houston. Luckily, we have Ikea, so in 65 minutes I was back home with the goods. And, some crisp bread to eat with it, as advised by said friends. (And some ligonberry preserves, what I'm planning to do with them is still TBD.)

There seemed to be several variations of this recipe around the web. But the one I made was (more or less) followed exactly from Rebecca, who claims authenticity through her Finnish husband. My kids thought it was a hit. Spencer declared Jansson's Temptation to be "AWE-SOME!" and Charlotte was fascinated with the crisp bread.




Jansson's Temptation
from Kaarle & Rebecca Rautio

2 large baking potatoes (peeled and cut into matchsticks)
1 large onion (diced small or sliced thin)
1 1/2 - 2 Cups cream
1 tin Swedish anchovies (diced, reserve liquid)
1 tomato (sliced)
salt & white pepper
butter
breadcrumbs

Chop the potatoes into matchsticks and dice the onion. Put all of this into a bowl and combine well.


Pour half of the potato/onion mix into a well-buttered casserole dish. Layer with diced anchovies. Season with white pepper and a bit of salt, if you like. Dot with butter (cut into small pieces). Pour remainder of potatoes on top. Again, add a little white pepper and salt, if you like.


Pour anchovy "juice" over casserole and then pour cream over. Liquids should be about half the depth of the dish. Place slices of tomato on top of casserole, dot with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.


Cover with foil and bake for about an hour. Uncover and bake just a bit more to let top become brown.


In traditional style, you must serve this with some dark rye bread, butter, sliced cheese (for the bread), and a nice green salad! Hyvaa Ruokahalua! (Enjoy your meal!)

Latke

Happy Hanukkah!! Last night I celebrated Hanukkah early in the evening by lighting candles with the kiddos and opening presents. After they went to bed, neighborhood friends from book group came over for discussion... and food! Since I was hosting the book group discussion this month during Hanukkah, I definitely wanted to share some traditional holiday goodies. It was so wonderful having friends who were eager to participate as well. Though, what's not to like about jelly donuts and thawed ruggelach baked last week!

Of course, a Hanukkah celebration would not be complete without latkes - potato pancakes. Like many Jewish recipes, there is no 'standard' (as my friend who tackled making a delicious sweet kugel discovered!) and when working with produce as the main ingredient the quantities and ratios aren't exactly set in stone.

Last year my latkes we pulsed so fine in the food processor and, although tasty, were a bit to creamy inside without much potato texture. This year, I made sure not to repeat that and only used the shredding blade on the food processor. As a result, this batch were awfully similar to hash browns, but still extremely tasty!

A new tip from my sister this year was to add the cut ends of the onion into the oil as it is heating up. The bonus is two-fold as you get onion flavor permeating the oil that the latkes will fry in, and the sizzle will let you know when it has reached the correct temperature to start cooking the latke so they will start frying immediately upon being placed in the oil. Brilliant.

I did my frying two days before book group to give the house time to air out from the smell. But, one big bummer was that our (new) oven died and last night I was forced to reheat them in the microwave instead, which unfortunately didn't allow them to be crispy. But, they still tasted awesome, and I think it was the only food item on our buffet table feast that disappeared completely. On the positive side, the dead oven is forcing me to sit around and wait for a service call at this moment in time, so I'm able to catch up on blogging.

Latkes
The recipe below is a suggestion of amounts & ratios and can absolutely be modified

2 pounds of potatoes
2 eggs
1 onion
2 Tablespoons matzoh meal, or flour
salt & pepper
lots of oil

Peel potatoes and shred using a food processor. Switch to cutting blade and pulse a few times to break up the larger shreds. Transfer potatoes to a strainer inside of a bowl to allow excess liquid to drain.

Fill frypan or griddle with 1/2" of oil. Cut ends off onion and place in the oil as it heats up. Continue peeling onion and add chunks to the food processor. Pulse until finely chopped and added to draining potatoes. Mix together to help prevent browning and transfer drainer mixture to a bowl. Add beaten eggs, salt, pepper and matzoh meal and mix everything together.

Drop raw potato onion mixture into hot oil - size of latke depending on preference. Allow first side to brown for about five minutes, then flip and continue frying on the other side for 3-4 minutes. Remove and drain on wire racks. Serve immediately, or can be cooled and then frozen at this point. Re-crisp by placing in the oven on a wire rack over a baking sheet for a few minutes on each side.

Potatoes Lyonnaise

I love making tasty food from staples I find in the pantry! When trying to figure out a side to have with our Poule au Pot, I decided upon trying Potatoes Lyonnaise for the first time. Yum! And I had everything on hand to make it (except for parsley, which I ought to remember to keep in the fridge as a staple, because I find that when I buy a bunch I always use it for much more than I think I will.) Not wanting to put a(nother) pot in the oven that is not listed as oven-safe, I changed the approach slightly for this recipe. First sauteeing onions on the stove, then the potatoes, and transferring to a different dish for time in the over. There isn't much that smells better than onions cooking down and getting all carmelized. Spencer appeared in the kitchen a few times just to tell me "mom, it smells DELICIOUS in here!"


Related, does anyone have experience with the new 'green' non-stick cookware that has emerged in the last year or so??


I bounced around between two recipes to arrive at my own combination, driven by quantities of ingredients on hand (a little less than 1/2 a 5 lb. bag of potatoes, and two large onions in the pantry) and trying to not use an entire stick of butter in a single side dish. The end result could have been more heavily salted, which also makes me lean towards trying a version of this with bacon next time! One recipe called for thick (1/2") sliced potatoes and the other for shredded. I met in the middle with thin (4mm) slices but whichever approach you choose, I highly recommend using a food processor. I've had my Cuisinart for 15 years and love it.


Potatoes Lyonnaise
Adapted from Classic Lyonnaise Potatoes Recipe and Pan-Fried Potato Cake with Onions and Bacon

2 pounds baking potatoes, like russets, peeled and sliced
2 onions, julienne
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the potatoes in a pot of salted water. Bring the potatoes up to a boil and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, drain, and cool. Skip this step if you are using shredded potatoes.

In a large ovenproof saute pan, heat 2T butter. When the butter is hot, add the onions. Season with salt and pepper. Saute the onions until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Move the onions into a bowl.

Place the pan back on the stove and melt 2T butter. When the butter has melted, cover the bottom of the pan with 1/3 of the potatoes. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Cover the first layer of potatoes with 1/2 of the onions. Cover the onions with 1/3 of the potatoes. Season with more salt and pepper. Repeat the layering with final 1/2 of the onions and 1/3 of potatoes. Sautee 10 - 12 minutes until to bottoms are golden brown. If you are feeling adventurous, slide the potatoes and onions onto a platter, then place the inverted skillet (or oven-safe dish) on top and flip so the crispy side is on top. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown.

Using a spatula, gently lift the potatoes out of the pan and place on a platter. Garnish with parsley.