Recipe 2 - Wild Mushroom and Potato Matafaim

While trying to find a new recipe to test, I realized that my main problems are:

• left-overs
• package sizes

Still haven't used the leftover sauce from the last test, because I also had to get rid of a bag of potatoes and the duck confit from the holidays. Unfortunately, the food industry seems convinced that a) the average family size is 6 people or more and b) there's no such thing as too much of a good thing. Why else would they sell carrots in kilo bags? While browsing through my books I noticed several recipes that called for 1 carrot and 1 celery stick - but they never tell you what to do with the rest of the celery and 950g of carrots. Stupid!! Guess we'll need to eat a lot of crudité this year...

The book

Anyway, finding a recipe that would help me get rid of some of my leftover food and wouldn't produce more leftovers was successful in the end. I settled for "A passion for vegetables" from Paul Gayler (ISBN 1-85626-476-9). I have no idea where I got it from. I thought I had bought it in San Francisco, but then I discovered that the price on the back is in £. It still looks pretty shiny and new, probably because I can't remember cooking anything from it. A pity, though! The recipes sounds great - red pepper spätzle, spinach salad with crisp prosciutto and goat's cheese dressing, braised fennel with sour orange and chestnuts, etc. Why did I not use this before? In the end, despite fantastic sounding alternatives, I settled for the Wild Mushroom and Potato Matafaim, which would help me get rid of the last potatoes and the parsley I still had. 

The ingredients

250g new potatoes

50g unsalted butter

1 banana shallot

100g mixed wild mushrooms, cleaned

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

50g plain flour

2 free range eggs, separated

150ml milk

A pinch of sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

The recipe

Matafaim, meaning 'to beat hunger', is a potato dish eaten by farmers in the south of France after they have brought in the harvest. Traditionally it is torn with forks to serve. (Quoting from the book, so no idea if this is actually true or complete nonsense, invented to make it sound a bit more fancy.)

Preheat the oven to 190°/375° gas mark 5. Boil the potatoes in their skins until just tender. Drain and allow to cool slightly, then peel and cut into slices 1cm (1/2 inches) thick. 

Heat half the butter in a 20 cm (8in) ovenproof frying pan and sauté the potato slices for about 4-5 minutes on each side, until golden. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Add the remaining butter to the pan, then add the shallot and wild mushrooms and sauté over a high heat until tender. Add half the parsley, season to test, then set aside. 

Sift the flour into a bowl, then beat in the egg yolks, milk and a pinch of salt to make a smooth batter. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to a snow with the sugar, then fold them into the batter. Return the potatoes to the mushroom pan and raise the heat. Pour the batter in, and tilt the pan to let it run under the vegetables and spread evenly. Transfer to the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, until puffy and golden. Tear into pieces with the aid of 2 forks and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve. 

The testing

I used the rest of the potatoes that I had already cooked earlier this week and the mushrooms I used were not extremely wild, but rather tame.  I also used goose fat, instead of butter, to sauté the potatoes. Why? Leftovers, that's why! Potatoes sautéd in goose fat are also extremely delicious, so why use butter if you don't have to? I also don't know how banana shallots are different from non-banana shallots and I also knew that I don't have shallots, but leftover pearl onions, so guess what I used...
I didn't use forks to tear the end result apart and after all the emphasis on how it's tradition and whatnot I felt a bit like a traitor, but the spatula worked just as well. 

The result

I served this on plates with a side salad with cherry tomatoes and bits of Irish cheese (St. Gall, if you need to know). Serving bowl, pah!

The verdict

This one reminded me very much of the "Bauernfrühstück" my mother used to make. A simple, easy-to-make, hearty dish - and great for getting rid of leftover potatoes, eggs and parsley. It feels, though, like the story about the French farmers and the beating of the egg whites was added to the recipe to make it look like something a bit more special. However, I don't see anything wrong with simple, yummy dishes and will definitely make this again. 

I'm also pretty sure that I will come back to this book for some other recipes. They sound too fantastic not to be tried - but other books first!