Yellow potatoes side-dish

These potatoes are ideal as side-dish, I always serve them with grilled fish.

This recipe is from my aunt Mari and to be honest, I don’t know what she calls them. At home we call them “Yellow potatoes” for obvious reasons.

I usually use normal potatoes peeled and diced, but for a special occasion try using salad potatoes, the result is even better.

YELLOW POTATOES SIDE-DISH

3 Potatoes

Several cloves of garlic

1 or 2 bay leaves

Olive oil

Turmeric

White wine

Black pepper

Salt

Peel the potatoes and cut into medium dice. In a pan with a splash of olive oil put the garlic (unpeeled and with a cut) and the bay leaves. Sauté everything for a few minutes.

Then add a good splash of white wine, some turmeric (mostly for color), salt and pepper. Add water until potatoes are covered and cook over medium heat covered with a lid. Stir occasionally and cook until tender. By then, the liquid must have completely evaporated (except the oil, of course).

Gazpachuelo

Today I bring a traditional dish, one of those cooked by our mothers and grandmothers.

The gazpachuelo soup is typical in Málaga and is made with mayonnaise. The full version has fish or seafood in it, but I prefer the basic version, made with just potatoes and rice.

Some people make the mayonnaise in a blender, but I think the result is much better if you make the mayonnaise by hand. It may seem a bit complicated, but you only really need some patience and a strong arm to stir. :-)

This soup is very economical and is made with ingredients that everyone has at home.

GAZPACHUELO (for 2)

1 small potato

1 handful of round rice

1 egg

Olive oil

Salt

Lemon

Cook in a pot the potatoes (peeled and cut into pieces not too thick) and the rice with some water. In the meantime, we will make the mayonnaise.

Open the egg, reserve the white and place the yolk in a bowl. Put at hand some salt, half a lemon and an oilcan. With a spoon (I use metal) break the yolk on one side and mix a few drops of oil. Keep adding more oil and taking more yolk until you see that they have combined. Always stir in the same direction, to avoid oil and yolk separating and better start adding the oil as a trickle. If you see that the mixtured does not thicken, add a pinch of salt in one corner of the plate and start mixing only that part of the egg, and as you see it thickens, keep including more yolk in the mixing.

When you get a mayonnaise with a consistency similar to the one in the photo it is time to add the lemon juice, in the same way as you did with the oil, adding drops of lemon and mixing. You will see that the mayonnaise gets lighter in color.

Return to the pot. Potatoes and rice should be ready. It's time to add the egg white and let cook until solid, for about 2 minutes. After this, switch off the cooker.

With a ladle slowly add some water from the pot to thin the mayonnaise (this step is important because if we add the mayonnaise as it is in the soup, it would curdle). Pour the diluted mayonnaise in the pot slowly while stirring.

It only remains to add salt and lemon to taste (I like with lots of lemon) and serve!

Note: If the soup is cold and you have to heat it up, do it over low heat and preventing it from boiling, because if this occurs, the soup would curdle.

Russian salad

There are thousands of versions of this recipe, and all are delicious. A salad suitable for both summer and winter. In fact, I usually prepare more often in winter. I am a little apprehensive with the combination of heat and mayonnaise, and as I like homemade mayonnaise ...

Here is my version.

RUSSIAN SALAD (serves 4)

4 medium potatoes

2 carrots

1 handful of frozen peas

1 egg

1 small tin of tuna

1 slice of onion

1 slice of green pepper

Several lettuce leaves

White wine vinegar

Salt

And for the mayonnaise:

1 egg

Sunflower oil

Lemon juice

Salt

Peel potatoes and cut into medium size pieces. Peel carrots and cut into small pieces.

Put them in a pot to boil in salted water with the washed egg (making sure it has no cracks in the shell) and peas.

Meanwhile in a bowl finely chop the onion and pepper. Add the tuna, drained and flaked.

When the potatoes are tender, put the egg aside and drain the water. Pour the potatoes, carrots and peas in the bowl with the onions. When the egg has cooled slightly, peel it and chop it. Mix everything together with a splash of vinegar. Add more salt if needed. Now prepare the mayonnaise.

Wash well the raw egg (I use soap and a cloth) and put it into the blender receptacle. Add some salt and begin to beat on high speed with ascending and descending movements. Then, start adding the oil slowly without stopping the blender. Check that the oil is incorporated into the mayonnaise before adding more. Stop adding oil when the mayonnaise has acquired the desired consistency. At this point add the lemon juice and salt to taste.

Wash and chop the lettuce and add to the potato mix that would have now lost most of the heat.

It only remains to add several tablespoons of mayonnaise to the salad and toss well to make it homogeneous. I prefer not to mash the potato too much.