Saturday Comfort Supper - Panfried Potatoes and Kale with Smoked Salmon

OK. FIRST.

COOKIE UPDATE
Or rather
PUMPKIN SEED UPDATE

Shortly after posting last night, I greeted Mumsy in the driveway with a cookie. This is how the convo went:

A reminder of what happened
yesterday. These happened.

Me: Eat that.
Mum: Ooo cookies? What kind?
Me: Just eat it.
Mum: [looks down at it. suspicion appears] Pumpkin Seeds.
Me: Just eat it.
Mum: Hmm. Pumpkin Seed and what? Are they cooked? I have to take my coat off first.
Me: Just. Eat it.
Mum: [takes bite. pause.]
Me: Well?
Mum: [silence as chews and gazes contemplatively over the field.]
Me: Do you like pumpkin seeds now?
Mum: [takes another bite, more silence, more gazing.]
Me: MOM.
Mum: [looks down at cookie, chews, nods slowly.] I like pumpkin seeds.
Mum: We will be getting some more this weekend.
Mum: How many of these did you make?

SUCCESS, DEAR READER. RESOUNDING SUCCESS.

That being said.

I just found out that Live Free or Die Hard is on TV. This is the one with Bruce Willis AND Timothy Olyphant AND Maggie Q. So much pretty contained in one movie. Added bonus: Justin Long who is awesome and hilarious and adorable. It's actually not a bad one, as Die Hard's go, certainly a hell of a lot better than the newest one. Which was . . . dreadful. But shhhh don't tell Bruce I said that. Did I mention that he and I are secretly married? Well, we are. So I'm under marital obligation to go see all his films. And it would hurt his feelings if I said I didn't like it. So, for the record: Brucey you were wonderful. You always are.

The point of that is that I was just in the kitchen making what I think might be the 20th cup of tea (?) of the day and eating lentil cereal out of the box, and getting ready to go right back to the warm cavern that is the library, where my book, my computer, and a million Rebel Wilson videos ready to be downloaded from a youtube black hole of awesomeness eagerly awaited my return.

Incidentally, publishing peeps. I just started, years too late, I know, The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud. So far so good. The writing is as exceptional as I knew it would be. The only difficulty I forsee is that this "Bootie" character is possibly the most irritating fictional creation of all time, and I've only had a couple of pages of him. If he plays the role I am expecting him to play then it may render the book unreadable. But so far the pages that are Bootie-free are quite good. I'll let you know.

As noted, I'm living in the guest room until my bedroom is finished, and therefore working my way through its somewhat eclectic bookshelves. Melissa Marr's dark (so dark) fairies rub bony and often bloody shoulders with P.G. Wodehouse, and galleys (pre-pub copies for those not in the lingo) of mysteries that pubbed in 2005 whisper clues to Hardy Boys first editions. My reading these days is all over the place, and more often that not a few years out of date. Claire Messud caught my eye the other day and since I was only reading three books the time, I figured I'd give it a go.

I look upon it as catching up on years and years of bestseller lists. So there.

Ok, sorry, tangent day apparently. The point of THAT is that the library is a warm cavern, my husband Bruce is on TV, I like my book a lot, I'm full of tea and buried under two fleece blankets, and the hill repeats I did yesterday have rendered my butt muscles . . . how shall I say this . . . sore as hell. What better time than the present to offer up

SATURDAY COMFORT SUPPER - Panfried Potatoes and Kale with Smoked Salmon

We all love hash, right? It's delicious. It's fried potatoes and onions and veggies (sometimes) and protein and it's warm and spicy and . . . hashy. It's great. It's also really good for dinner, did you know that?

Fish Hash is something that is underappreciated in the carnivore world. Not that good old fashioned corned beef hash isn't delicious in the extreme, but fish hash never occurs to most people as a culinary possibility, and that's so wrong. I mean, fish and potatoes is one of the most classic combos of all time, and when you add spices and onions and olive oil and a frying pan . . . come on you guys, how could that be bad?

Here's my simplified version for a sunny yet chilly Saturday night.

• 15 small red potatoes, quartered
• 1 bunch kale, chopped and large stems removed
• 1 small sweet onion (or half a large onion), diced
• 1 package (14 oz) smoked salmon (preferably Alaskan, the flavour is so much better), cut into small pieces
• Fresh dill
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Steam the quartered potatoes in a small pot about 15 minutes, until tender. They don't have to be done totally as they will cook in the pan, but they should yield very easily to a fork. Remove from heat.



That bright pink colour is what you want in smoked salmon.
The pastel salmon you get from Scotland or Norway,
ahem, pales in comparison.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onion, stirring frequently and cooking until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, kale, salmon, dill, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the kale is done, about 5 minutes more. Feel free to add more dill (the more the better in my opinion) as you see fit.

We had a TON of fresh kale
so I steamed it all for future use.
Yay for backup kale!













There's no specific reason for this here.
I just really like photos of potatoes.

This version is significantly less spicier than most hashes. But I like it that way. It's hearty and warming without being overpowering. The kale gives the whole thing a bit of green, and adds and earthiness that the potatoes alone couldn't bring. And honestly dill is one of the best herbs out there. It's so clean and sharp and combined with fish and potatoes, it really is one of the best possible combinations out there.

So excuse me as I finish this post, go put on another sweater, and settle in for the evening.


Beetle Out.