Easter Sunday with Four Cheese Scalloped Potatoes #SundaySupper

Happy Easter one and all! Easter means so much to me ever since I can remember. Most importantly, for me, it is the day Christ rose again from the dead and gave us all hope in the promise of eternal life. I've been blessed to have grown up and be part of a most wonderful family that is held together tightly by the love of God, which translated beautifully in the love we shared for each other and everyone around us. I can never finish counting my blessings for all the love and care my parents showered my brother and I with.

Growing up, we traveled a lot around India because of the nature of my dad's job. We'd move cities every four years or so and with each move, came the painful goodbyes and the rounds of settling in and making new friends. But, you won't believe it. More than making friends in every city, we made new "family" wherever we went. Every city. They went over and above the call of close friends and didn't make us feel the absence of our close family at all.

So, every celebration and holiday didn't leave us missing the laughter and fun that people usually share with family because, we DID have family around us.

Potato and Caraway Cakes by Darina Allen

(Part of a weekly series by a group of bloggers, featuring Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers in Food - see end of post for list of bloggers participating & their blogs)

At #38 this week, we have Darina Allen, a culinary visionary and celebrity in Ireland. She's got two grand founding achievements under her belt - she's the founder of (a) the internationally renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School, Country Cork and (b) the first Farmers Market in Ireland. She still teaches at their family-run school and is actively involved in sourcing and setting up new farmers markets.

Credit: Koster Photography / Source: Cookstr

Her love for all things organic and locally-sourced also manifests itself in the way she runs the school, which is strategically located on a 100-acre organic farm. The emphasis of all teaching and operations at the school is on using the finest quality of home-grown and locally sourced ingredients and making a sustainable use of resources. The farm grows countless varieties of produce and seasonal goods, so students learn with the freshest ingredients possible and also experience first-hand the advantages of supporting your local farmers. 

Besides being a chef and teacher, Darina has written many popular, award-winning cookbooks including Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cooking School Cookbook (nominated for best international cookbook by the James Beard Foundation) and Irish Traditional Cooking (winner of the Langhe Ceretto Prize in 1996). She's also food-writer and has appeared on many television shows and series as well. Darina was named Cooking Teacher of the Year by the IACP in 2005, and was the recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Ulster in 2003. You can read more about her achievements on her website.

Now, Darina is exactly the kind of chef/cook I love learning about since I just discovered a whole treasure-trove of recipes on her website. It's an interesting mix of Irish and international recipes, which has now been added to my list of go-to sources. I had the toughest time choosing a dish for this week since I literally wanted to make ALL of them. Seriously! I'm going back to the website for more!

Creamed Spinach by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

(Part of a series featuring Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers in Food)

I was pleased to learn about the two ladies in the spotlight this week at #33- Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, the dynamic duo behind Canal House Cooking, a food magazine that dishes out seasonal delicacies. They're the brains behind Canal House (opened in 2006), a unique little food and design studio that's quite intriguing to read about from other articles. It's apparently laid out like a kitchen, dining room, office, workshop, studio all rolled into one where they cook up delicious food, write, create recipes, shoot and much more. Hirsheimer and Hamilton have known each other for about 15 years and have a bunch of credits they each carry in their bags. Hirsheimer, a writer and photogrpaher, served as the food and design editor for Metropolitan Home magazine, and was a founding editor at Saveur magazine. She shoots food photos for Jacques Pepin, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, and Rick Bayless. At the other end of the table, Hamilton, a chef, food stylist and recipe developer, has worked at Martha Stewart Living, Cooks Illustrated and also served as a food editor and director of the test kitchen at Saveur magazine. Both the ladies come from different cultural backgrounds - Hamilton's french heritage and Hirsheimer's california childhood - and that reflects highly in the food they lavish in their cookbooks.

When it was time to pick a recipe from their treasure trove, I first settled on their stewy roasted root vegetables. It looked so earthy and delicious that I couldn't resist. I'd planned to have the food and pictures all set by midnight Thursday so I could post it early on Friday. 

So, I gathered all the ingredients and started roasting. Every time I peered into the oven to check its done-ness, the aroma from the roasted vegetables was so heavenly. I smiled contently thinking I had a success of a dish. But, then, things slowly didn't turn out as I hoped they would. It could also perhaps be that I just discovered I can't stand the taste of parsnips. In addition, the liquid quickly dried up and my vegetables had still not completely softened, so I had to add a little more here and there. It didn't help. When I tasted the final product, all I could think was 'Blech'! No offense to the lovely ladies, but it is most likely me making a disaster of a good recipe.

There went all my plans of having the recipe and post ready for early Friday! I went back to the drawing board and started hunting for new recipes. I decided to stick with something really simple so I couldn't mess it up again. And my eyes took me straight to their version of creamed spinach, and my heart and hands followed. 

BOY, was I right to pick this one! This creamed spinach is one of the best I've ever eaten and the potatoes really add a new dimension to the dish. Me being thrilled with the results, is an understatement. I was grinning like a buffoon, is more like it! So, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Bon Appetit!

Creamed Spinach by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton (recipe found here and in Canal House Cooking Vol. 6)

Ingredients and instructions:

For the ginger-garlic paste

• 1 5-inch finger fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 6 cloves garlic
• Salt
• Really good extra-virgin olive oil

For the spinach

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1potato, peeled and diced
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 pound washed young spinach

For the ginger-garlic paste, pulse the ginger, garlic, and a pinch of salt in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add a little water to thin the paste. Store in a covered container with a little olive oil on the surface. Keeps for about a week.

For the spinach, melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add 1 big tablespoon ginger-garlic paste and cook for a minute, swirling it in the butter. Add the potatoes and stir until well coated. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until tender but not browned, about 10 minutes.

Add the cream and pile the spinach into the pot, pressing it down so that you can fit it all in. Cover and cook until the spinach wilts, about 10 minutes. Fold the spinach into the potatoes and cream, and serve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a list of the other bloggers participating in this series. Do go over to their blogs to see what yummy dishes they've whipped up. If you'd like to join the group, please get in touch with Mary of One Perfect Bite. 

Val - More Than Burnt Toast [] Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed [] Susan - The Spice Garden [] Heather - girlichef [] Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney [] Jeanette - Healthy Living [] Mary - One Perfect Bite [] Kathleen - Bake Away with Me [] Sue - The View from Great Island [] Barbara - Movable Feasts [] Linda A - There and Back Again [] Nancy - Picadillo [] Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits [] Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen [] Annie - Most Lovely Things [] Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook [] Alyce - More Time at the Table [] Amrita -Beetles Kitchen Escapades