FOOD FRIDAY: SKILLET POTATOES

As promised, I'll be giving you yet another recipe from the wonderful cookbook my dad brought home from one of his travels. I think I already explained why it was my dad and not my mum, (in a typical African setting) who brought the cookbook home in a previous article here on this blog. The reason I love this particular cookbook is you get to try out one recipe in so many ways and it gives a different flavor all the time. Today, the recipe under discussion is the skillet potatoes as indicated by the title.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine
• 1 cup of vegetable 1 (sliced celery/ frozen green beans/sliced mushroom or chopped tomatoes).
• 1/2 cup of vegetable 2 (chopped onion/ sliced green onion/ chopped leeks or chopped green pepper).
• 2 cloves garlic, minced.
• 1 can (10.75 ounces)  condensed chicken broth
• 1/4 cup of water
• 4 cups potatoes (diced into cubes)
• 1 cup of carrots cut into strips.
• Seasoning (1/8 teaspoon of pepper/ 1/4 teaspoon crushed thyme leaves/ 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard or 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper).
• Garnish (chopped fresh parsley/ chopped fresh chives/ toasted sesame seed or chopped pimento)

RECIPE:

• Wash and cut the potatoes into cubes
• Wash and prepare ingredients
• In 10-inch skillet (frying pan) over medium heat, add butter.
• Cook vegetable 1, vegetable 2 and garlic until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
• Add chicken broth, water, potatoes, carrot and seasoning to the skillet.
• Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low.
• Cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• Uncover, then over medium heat, allow to simmer for another 5 minutes or until the broth is slightly thickened, stirring often.
• Sprinkle with garnish before serving.
• Makes about 6 servings.

MY STYLE:

Let me just say at this point that I never follow the recipe as it is, since I'm in Nigeria and some of the ingredients are not available to us. Also because I do so love to experiment with food. I love to see how it comes out if tried in another way. So, here it goes;

• After peeling and cutting my potatoes into cubes, I fry them in deep oil (cholesterol-free to reduce the calories a bit). Then drained them from the oil.
• I may pick more than one ingredient from a particular group. For instance, in vegetable 1, I picked the green beans, mushrooms and tomatoes.
• For vegetable 2, I picked onions and green pepper.
• I added a few more seasoning and spices of my own to placate my spice-loving African taste buds. They include curry, thyme, salt, pepper, maggi (a seasoning cube).
• The garnish I chose was parsley.
• Finally, I add my fried potatoes at the time the broth is slightly thickened, just before I add the garnish

I have to say mine came out better! (Well, what else would expect from me? Lol). Give it a try and enjoy!!!...

For a more healthier version of this recipe and a slightly different one too, visit +Stacey Adams blog. Link is shown below.
http://womanofthewoodshealthportal.blogspot.com/2013/11/pan-tastic-potato-supper_5.html

Cheers......