THE sacred versatility and variety of the potato makes it our fondest friend in the kitchen. In wintertime it plays its role as blissful ballast, when creamy gratins and baked spuds lathered with butter make every meal a consolation against the cold.
In summertime, the smart cook learns how to make the potato gracefully arresting and refreshing in flavour, seeking a way in which to offset the starchiness of the young potatoes by pairing them with complementary and challenging partners.
In our search for just these summertime flavours, we have turned to two of the smartest cooks working in Irish restaurants, women whose work enshrines vivid, creative concoctions. Especially with the sacred spud.
Liz Mee of Dublin's Elephant & Castle and Johanna Hill of Avoca Handweavers in Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow, both cook for prodigious numbers of people every day of the week, but their work never sidles into the complacency of dreaded catering. These women are cooks, and their kitchens are restlessly inventive.
So what follows is a pair of splendid Avoca salads inventions which are just as clever and as delicious as you would expect the mixture of two dressings in the potato and smoky bacon salad is a delight, with the German salad dressing technique abetted by a light mayonnaise and yogurt mix. Ms Hill counsels that the smoky bacon salad definitely needs waxy new spuds.
The Elephant & Castle potato puree is a truly great dish, and it is with a certain chagrin that I admit my own many efforts have never managed to produce the puree is fine as they make it. The use of the basil and the sundried tomatoes makes it a perfect summer dish, and the recipe here is provided by Joe O'Brien, the hardworking prep cook.
Just as perfect for summertime is the potato and pear puree, originally an Arabella Boxer recipe. To make it, Liz recommends you cook the potato and pear separately.
. Avoca Potato and Smoky Bacon Salad with Mint
2lb baby new potatoes, cut in half
1/4 lb smoky streaky rashers, handful of chopped mint salt and pepper tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar teaspoon Dijon mustard tablespoon mayonnaise tablespoon Greek yogurt
Boil the potatoes. Chop the rashers and fry until crispy. Whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour this over the hot potatoes and mix in the bacon. Allow to cool. Mix together the mayonnaise, yogurt, chopped mint and mix into the cooled potatoes.
. Avoca Roasted Potato & Aubergine Salad
2lb potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
2 aubergines, cut into chunks
1-2 cloves garlic
4 sprigs of rosemary, chopped olive oil, about 6 tablespoons sea salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
Sprinkle some salt on the aubergines and leave for half an hour. Pat dry. Heat three tablespoons olive oil in two roasting tins in a hot oven (220C/450). In one, put the potatoes, rosemary, half the garlic (whole cloves still in their skins) and seasoning. In the other, put the aubergines, the remaining garlic and some black pepper. Put both trays back into the oven. The aubergines will take about 15 minutes and the potatoes about 30 minutes. Mix them and the garlic cloves, unpeeled, together with the mustard and serve at room temperature.
. Elephant And Castle Mashed Potato With Sundried Tomatoes And Basil
2 lbs potatoes oz butter
2-3fl oz cream
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, julienned cup sundried tomatoes (in oil, drained), julienned clove garlic, minced salt and pepper
Boil potatoes in salted water until soft. Drain (reserving a little of the cooking water) and dry over a low heat.
Heat the butter and cream, add the potatoes and mash very well. Season well with salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients, stirring, not mashing. Check seasoning. This is perfect with grilled meats. Do remember to make loads of the puree, as leftovers make the most delicious potato cakes for breakfast, brunch or lunch.
Other suggestions for additions to a summer potato puree which they use in the Elephant And Castle include.
Thinly/sliced sauteed mushrooms seasoned with shallot, garlic and herbs real comfort food.
Celeriac add one third the amount of potato you use.
Steamed dice of the following vegetables carrots, french beans, petits pois, celeriac.
Sauteed diced bell peppers.
A combination of herbs, e.g. chervil and chives, etc., finely chopped
. Arabella Boxer's Pear And Potato Puree
1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and halved
1/2 lb ripe dessert pears, peeled, cored and quartered 50g (2oz) butter, cut in bits salt and black pepper 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated (or ground) ginger.
Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with lightly salted cold water, and bring to the boil. Cook until just soft, then transfer to a colander with a slotted spoon. Put the pears into the same cooking water and poach gently for five minutes, or until soft, then drain. Push the potatoes and pears through a medium food mill into a clean saucepan. Reheat, stirring well to mix, and dry out the puree a little by stirring constantly over low heat for a few minutes. Then add the butter, salt and pepper, and ginger, and mix thoroughly.