Recipe: Potato and Cippolini Onion Salad

Recipe Source: Ko, Genevieve.  "Cooking: Salads with Substance."  Martha Stewart Livingno. 175 p. 76, June 2008.  The recipe is available online here. '

I love potatoes.  I love them so much that I cheerfully eat them raw.  I always have.  My grandmother used to have to by extra if she were serving potatoes, because she knew full well I'd eat them before she got to cook them.  I love them baked, I love them fried, I love them roasted and boiled and sauteed and thin-sliced and wedged and ... Well, the list goes on and on.  I don't eat them as much as I'd like since the doctor recommended I lay off the carbs, but believe you me that they are one of my favorite foods.  So when I heard about the Potato Ho Down event I knew I had to throw my hat into the baking dish ring. 

This recipe appealed to me because of the olives and fennel (at least the potato starches wouldn't be the only thing in the dish.)  Fennel is one of the few winter vegetables I actually like, so I try to use a lot of it.  I didn't make a whole lot of changes to the recipe.  I waited so long to make this dish that the baby potatoes I had sprouted.  This meant I had to have Fearless Grill run out to the market, where he couldn't find baby potatoes but found large potatoes.  I took three of them and chopped them up.  I increased the amount of red pepper and added some ground aji amarillo (a kind of yellow Peruvian pepper).  Finally, I didn't have any proper stock.  I had some chicken stock in a carton, and I could have used it and it might even have been cheaper, but after all those dishes I made with duck stock I just couldn't bring myself to use someone else's.  So I used a bottle of beer.  I also eliminated the cheese.  We were really, really happy with how this dish came out.  I served it with some beef ribs my husband made, and they really complimented the main dish well. 

Potato and Cippolini Onion Salad (serves 4; approx. $3.27/serving)

3 tablespoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves, sliced into chips

1 1/2 pounds potatoes, cut into baby potato-sized wedges

1/2 pound cippolini onions, peeled

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1/2 teaspoon aji amarillo

1 bottle beer - I used Sam Adams

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1/2 cup black olives - mine were marinated in "Sicilian herbs." 

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1/2 bunch chopped fresh parsley

Equipment:

• Skillet with lid

1. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add the oil and the garlic.  Cook until the garlic threatens to brown.  Don't let it burn.  That tastes bad.
3. Add the potatoes, onions and pepper.  Cook until the onions are golden.
4. Add the beer.  Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender. 
6. In your serving bowl, combine the olives and fennel.
7. Add the mixture from the skillet.
8. Top with the parsley.
9. Add the vinegar, mix well and serve. 

Comments

[Emily]

This salad sounds delicious. I love that it has fennel and beer in it. How much better could it get?!

[The Duo Dishes]

Love fennel. That slight licorice scent is to die for. A big forkful of onions, potatoes and fennel must be heaven in this dish.

[Daily Spud]

Well, how could anyone not love potatoes :) Intriguing recipe - I happened across another potato recipe involving beer today too. I'm definitely going to have to try that combination out!

[Lori Lynn]

Oh this sounds excellent. I don't see much aji amarillo used and I love it. Made an oyster taco sauce with it last year in May, and I am about to write about it in the next week or so with potatoes, too. I love all the interesting ingredients in your dish.
LL

[elra]

all of this ingredients, cippolini onions, Aleppo pepper, aji amarillo, bottle beer must be adding such a nice flavor to the salad.
Cheers,
Elra

[Fearless Kitchen]

Elra - thanks! It actually did give it a nice flavor.

Lori Lynn - Thanks! I'm a fan of aji amarillo, but it's hard to find recipes that actually call for it. I haven't even found it for sale around here - mine was brought back by friends when they went to Peru!

Spud - The Diet Police would probably complain about using two carbs (potatoes and beer) but I locked them out that day.

Duo - I've got a real fennel weakness. It's definitely the best winter vegetable!

Emily - beer makes everything better. Well, okay, maybe not everything. But it makes a great ingredient!