Twice-baked Kipfler Potatoes with crisped Dulse

From The Conscious Cook, Tal Ronnen, William Morrow, 2009.

This recipe called for a small amount of dulse. I hunted store after store to find it. When I did chance upon it I found it cost $140 a kilogram. However it was not heavy and I only needed a little so only paid $1 for a fraction more than required.

I’m not a great fan of sea vegetables for the taste or smell of the sea reminds me of fish which I strongly dislike. I do persevere with seaweeds and may over time overcome my dislike for them. The dulse I found to be much more to my liking than any of the others I have tried. It’s actually the first one to win me over.

This recipe was little more than filled baked potatoes with an elaborate name. However, it was a vegan dish that called for me to investigate some new items such as cashew cream. Being an ovo lacto vegetarian I could make do with dairy products but decided that I would try for the recipe as it stood.

The first thing that I needed to do was make the cashew cream. This entailed soaking some cashews in water and letting them soak over night. The next day the cashews were rinsed and placed in a blender with enough water to cover them. They were then pulsed until they became the cashew cream.

The potatoes were washed and baked until tender. They were then cut in half and as much of the contents scraped out of the skins as could be done without breaking them. This pulp was placed in a bowl and other ingredients added: a little horseradish sauce, a tablespoon of mayonnaise (the recipe called for vegan but I settled for what was in the refrigerator), a couple of tablespoons of cashew cream, and a tablespoon of margarine (the recipe called for Earth Balance which I was not able to get but I understand is a type of margarine). These were all mashed together and seasoned to taste.

The potato skins were filled with this mixture. They were sprinkled with paprika and put in the oven to heat through. Some dulse was placed on the top of each potato when serving. The dulse was crisped by frying it for a short time in some oil.

As far as baked potatoes go these were reasonable. It was a change having kipfler potatoes rather than the larger varieties which meant you could settle for smaller portions. Next time I would settle for real cream rather than one made from cashews. The horseradish tang is always good with potatoes and it came through well in these.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔