Cheesy Spinach Mash

From Coles Magazine, June 2014.

There are heaps of variations to potato mash and I generally like to try them all. This one began with a normal boiling of 300g potatoes while I prepared the other ingredients.

I grated 35g cheddar and sliced 35g baby spinach leaves.

Once the potatoes were cooked I drained them and mashed them with about a tablespoon butter. I quickly added the spinach as I wanted it to wilt in the hot potatoes. The cheese went in next while the mash was still hot so that it could melt in. Lastly I added a little milk to make the mash creamier. A little salt and a lot of freshly ground black pepper went in.

This was an acceptable variation. I don’t expect it’s one that I will use that often but one to keep in mind in case.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Leek and Wasabi Mash with Oyster Mushrooms and Choi in Coconut Tamarind Sauce

From For the Love of Food, Denis Cotter, Collins, 2011.

One of the selling points for me in this book was that it had a whole section of recipes for mash. And these mashes were all of somewhat exotic sounding names, like this particular one for leek and wasabi mash and accompaniments. I could not resist a book which had such a variety of mash dishes.

To begin the leek was chopped and sautéed in butter until tender. One teaspoon of wasabi powder was mixed to a paste in a little milk. The potatoes were steamed and mashed with warmed milk and melted butter. Then in went the leeks and the wasabi paste. That was the mash done.

For the accompaniment part of the recipe some tamarind pulp was soaked in a little boiling water. It was left to soak and then pushed through a strainer to separate the pulp from the liquid. The tamarind water was kept and the pulp binned.

Oyster mushrooms were now fried in butter for a couple of minutes. In went some bok choi cut into quarters and a very small amount of grated ginger. These were fried until the bok choi were tender. To finish, the tamarind water was added with coconut milk and a little soy sauce.

It was served in pasta bowls with the vegetable mixture alongside the mash.

I found that this did not come together totally as a whole dish. The flavours did not meld well for my palate. It would seem from the short introduction to the dish that Cotter was trying to make a mix work. I don’t feel that it was completely successful. Using an Asian noodle dish and then substituting mash for the noodles did not really work despite Cotter’s efforts to make the mash and sweetness of the coconut milk meld by the addition of the sourness of tamarind. It was quite edible but not something that I would make again. Better luck with the next mash dish I try.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Horseradish Mash

From The Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver, Michael Joseph, 1999.

I needed something to go with a crumbed version of Lucy’s breakfast sausages. Naturally I went for a mash and turned to this variation from Jamie Oliver.

It was a simple dish. All that was necessary was to add some butter and horseradish sauce to the mashed potato. With a bit of tasting the right quantities that suited were soon found. A little cream was added and seasoning. Tasty. And it went really well with the sausages with a few green peas and tomato chutney.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔