Austrian Style (no mayo) Potato Salad Recipe

May 24, 2023 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, All year round recipe, Appetizers, Austrian inspired dishes, Central European recipes, child friendly dish, child friendly meal, dinner, Eastern European dishes, Eastern European recipes, Easy recipe, family friendly dish, family friendly meal, Healthy, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, main vegetarian course, main vegetarian dish, main vegetarian meal, Mitteleuropean cuisine, Mitteleuropean dish, Mitteleuropean food, Mitteleuropean recipes, Root vegetables, Rustic dish, Salads, Side Dishes, simple recipe, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, supper, Vegan, Vegetable side dish, Vegetables, Vegetarian

This recipe for Austrian style potato salad uses sliced boiled potatoes and a simple dressing made with olive oil and vinegar and no use of mayonnaise, which makes it very light and fresh.

It can be enjoyed as a main dish and it is most commonly pared with a famous Wiener schnitzel and breaded fillets of fish.

Great dish to add into your picnic baskets and great side dish to barbecued meat, fish and vegetables, and a great addition to any selection on a buffet table.

This potato salad is best made ahead allowing the potatoes to soak and absorb the light vinaigrette, this makes it very juicy and succulent.

The beauty of this salad is that it can be enjoyed and eaten warm, at a room temperature or chilled in the fridge (perfect for hot summer days).

In Slovenia, up and down the country this is a dish (Krompirjeva Solata) that is prepared in the households and canteen on a regular basis and sometimes found in local family run restaurants.

I am sharing here the recipe for this humble and very tasty potato salad that has been prepared and enjoyed for generations in my family.

To this basic potato salad you can add hard boiled eggs and other types of raw vegetables, this is not however the way it is traditionally eaten.

Recipe

Ingredients

500g waxy potatoes (like new or baby potatoes, Jersey Royal, Charlotte and similar, they have smooth and dense flesh that holds its shape when cooked; for this recipe I used miniature potatoes)
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
50ml white wine vinegar (can use cider vinegar)
onion (about 30g or to taste), peeled and finely chopped, optional
fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly or finely to your preference
100ml cold water
sea salt
black pepper

Method

Wash the potatoes, place them into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to boil, cover with a lid and simmer until the potatoes are fully cooked and tender (for small, baby potatoes it should take between 8-12 minutes).

Alternatively, you can cook the potatoes with your preferred method like steaming or microwaving.

Drain well and peel the potatoes when still warm (as soon as you can handle them).

Slice them and transfer into a serving salad dish.

Pour over cold water and let the potatoes cool completely (pouring cold water over warm potatoes stops the potatoes absorb too much dressing, therefore the potato salad stays nice and moist).

While the potatoes are cooling, prepare the dressing.

In a small bowl pour olive oil, vinegar, sea salt, black pepper and whisk well. Add finely chopped onions.

Pour the dressing over sliced potatoes and mix very gently so the potatoes do not break completely (some will break, and this is normal).

Taste and adjust the seasoning, sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.

Sliced Fennel and Rocket Salad with Olive Oil and Lemon Dressing Istrian Recipe

Beans and Sradines

January 04, 2023 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, All year round recipe, Appetizers, brunch, dinner, Easy recipe, entrée course, Healthy, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, light meal, main course, main dish, main vegetarian course, main vegetarian dish, Nutritious, Nutritious dish, Root vegetables, Rustic dish, Salads, Side Dishes, simple recipe, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Starters, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

This simple and fresh salad makes a full-flavoured side dish and will sit nicely along side any main course. It is quick and easy to make, all you need is a few fennel bulbs, rocket leaves and uncomplicated olive oil and lemon dressing. It can also be enjoyed as a main salad if you are looking for a nutritious and light meal recipe.

Raw fennel can be quite fibrous, but when sliced very thinly and mixed with some salad leaves it really makes a wonderful salad.

Wild rocket has been used as a culinary herb since Roman times, and this peppery leaves was a little known weed.

Fennel and wild rocket salad has been popular along the coast of Slovenian Istria, where I come from, long before wild rocket became “fashionable” and mass produced for the supermarkets and food stores.

Along the Slovenian coast and inland Istria wild rocket grows naturally on the fields and other areas with dry and poor soil (close to typical Istrian dry stone walls), and has been foraged by the locals since – well, since forever, and they mixed wild rocket leaves with other types of salad leaves to make a variety of different salads. My 96 year old nona remembers very vividly picking it.

I am sharing here this traditional and unpretentious shaved fennel and rocket leaves salad recipe that will bring freshness to your dinner table, and for extra flavour and a bit of crunchy texture you can top this salad with walnut kernels or lightly toasted pine nuts.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

2 fennel bulbs
pack of rocket leaves (about 60-100g)
juice of ½ of lemon, or to taste
extra virgin olive oil, a drizzle, or to taste
sea salt
a handful of walnut kernels, optional

Method

Wash fennel bulbs under cold running water and dry them with kitchen paper or kitchen towel.

Place the bulbs on the chopping board and cut off the hard hollow stalks from the bulb which are quite tough and very fibrous.

Cut the feathery fronds from the stalks if you are using them for this dish for adding extra flavour and garnish.

Trim off a thin layer of the root end of the bulb (the base of the fennel bulb).

Thinly slice the bulb using a sharp knife or ideally mandoline slicer, if you have one.

Transfer the fennel slices into a big salad bowl and add rocket leaves.

Season with sea salt, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.

Toss together, taste, and adjust the seasoning.

Sprinkle and scatter a few walnut kernels and fennel fronds, if using.

Serve immediately directly from a salad bowl or pile onto plates.

Cooked fennel salad with lemon and olive oil dressing Istrian Recipe

Beans and Srdines

July 20, 2022 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, All year round recipe, dinner, Easy recipe, family friendly dish, family friendly meal, Healthy, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, light meal, Nutritious, Nutritious dish, Root vegetables, Rustic dish, Salads, Side Dishes, simple recipe, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, supper, Vegan, Vegetable side dish, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Cooked fennel salad is a great choice when you want to complete a meal with a simple salad, all you need is a few humble fresh fennel bulbs and an uncomplicated olive oil and lemon dressing which will get soaked up with some crunchy bread.

This fennel salad is rustic and informal, very healthy and nutritious and a great companion to grilled meats and fish, very fresh and incredibly easy to prepare, can be done in advance, stored in a fridge and served cold on a hot summer day.

Along the Slovenian coast, where I grew up, the area is blessed with Mediterranean climate, which subsequently means that there is an abundance of fennel, a very much loved vegetable by the locals, it is traditionally eaten raw or cooked in salads, or braised, which does go down a treat. Wild fennel is also abundant and grows just about anywhere it can, the fronds are used in the local cuisine instead of flat leaf parsley or in combination with.

I am sharing here this traditional and unpretentious cooked fennel salad that it has been made in my family, and by the locals, well, since forever.

If you go so the food store, see some lovely fennel bulbs, and not quite sure what to do with them, you can start with this recipe...

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 as part of meal

few fresh fennel bulbs, approximately 900g (smaller bulbs are better for this dish)
extra virgin olive oil, a very generous drizzle
1 lemon (juice of ½ or whole lemon, depending on a taste)
fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly or finely chopped (amount to taste)
sea salt
black pepper, optional
fennel fronds, optional

Method

Wash fennel bulbs under cold running water and dry them with kitchen paper or clean kitchen towel.

Place the bulbs on the chopping board and cut off the hard hollow stalks from the bulb which are quite tough and very fibrous. Cut the feathery fronds from the stalks if you are using them for this dish for adding extra flavour and garnish.

Discard the stalks or use them in other recipes for soups and stews, you can use them as a bed for roasted chicken or other meats, and roasted fish.

Trim off a thin layer of the root end of the bulb (the base of the fennel bulb).

Stand your fennel straight up and slice in half.

Check how big the core is, if it is quite big, it is a good idea to remove it for this recipe, as they are very fibrous. The cooking time for this recipe is fairly short, and the core, if not removed, could stay quite hard.

To remove the core, take a knife at a 45 degree angle on both sides of the core and slice in, the core will pop out easily.

Place the fennel in a pot, add boiling water, about ¾ up, alternatively you can steam the fennel.

Put the lid on and gently simmer for about 15 minutes, cooking time will depend on the size of the fennel pieces and the desired consistency.

Adjust cooking time, depending on whether you want the fennel quite soft, or prefer it with still quite a bit of a bite.

Drain in a colander, run under cold water, leave to drain well and cool a bit.

Slice cooked fennel to your liking.

Transfer sliced fennel onto a serving plate.

Season with sea salt and black pepper, if using.

Dress cooked fennel with very generous extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh flat leaf parsley an fennel fronds, if using.

Serve at room temperature or cold, place the serving plate in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves, and make sure you have some crunchy bread to soak up all those juices.

Just a thought

For extra flavour, sprinkle dressed fennel salad with dried garlic, not a very traditional way of serving, but a nice addition or a variation of the recipe.

Pan-fried potatoes with onions and pancetta Istrian Recipe

Beans and Sardines

May 25, 2022 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, All year round recipe, Autumnal dish, Autumnal recipe, brunch, child friendly dish, child friendly meal, dinner, Easy recipe, family friendly dish, family friendly meal, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, Root vegetables, Rustic dish, Side Dishes, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Spring dish, Spring recipe, supper, Vegetables, Winter dish, Winter recipe, hearty dish

If you are searching for a slightly different potato side dish from the usual and delicious mashed or roast potatoes, look no further.

This modest, simple and humble, but hearty and scrumptious potato side dish, pairs perfectly with just about anything, but it is the most loyal companion to meat or vegetable based dishes.

This recipe consists of boiling the potatoes, then cutting them into small pieces and pan-fry them together with salty and crispy bits of pancetta and caramelised, sweet and mellow onions. During this process the light crust will form at the bottom of the pan and when the mixture gets broken into pieces and mixed, you end up with the combination of smooth, creamy potatoes and brown crispy pieces of potato crust, heavenly texture! During this pan-frying phase, the stock gets gradually added for extra flavour and moisture.

You really cannot find a more Slovenian dish than this. It is cooked recurrently in every household and found regularly on the menus (Pražen krompir) in a family run restaurants, nurseries and school canteens up and down the country. Traditionally it is served with roasted meats, sausages and sauerkraut, boiled sheen of beef cooked in broth or simply eaten on its own with a salad or fried eggs.

I grew up with this dish and I am sharing with you my mum's recipe, a variation developed on the coastal part of Slovenia (Kromper v teći, Patate in tecia) where pancetta and olive oil is used instead of lard and pork cracklings, still a very popular choice, but most commonly perhaps ingredients used in inland Slovenia.

This potato dish really unites all the regions of Slovenia, it is a part of very strong gastronomic culture in Istria and Dalmatia (in Croatia) and stretches across and beyond the “borders” with Italy.

This very popular and very much loved potato side dish is traditional in the whole region of Friuli- Venezia Giulia in Italy, where the city of Trieste with its inhabitants particularly prides itself for exceptionally good Patate in tecia.

It is in the dialect of this region and the Veneto region that the word tecia has a double meaning; it can indicate a type of a pan that would normally be used to cook this dish and it can refer to a method of slow cooking on a fairly low heat.

Other recipes and dishes can have a word tecia in them, so for example you can have Zucchine in tecia (Pan- fried courgettes) or Verze in tecia (Pan-fried Savoy cabbage) etc.

This dish, made from scratch, is incredible in its simplicity, but it is also made and can be prepared using leftover boiled potatoes and no vegetarian or vegan friend or family member will be excluded from the dinner table as you can cook this dish by omitting the meaty element and using vegetable broth or stock.

Ingredients

Serves 4

1kg of potatoes
100g unsmoked pancetta or bacon, cut into small strips or finely diced, bacon lardons or pork cracklings
onions (about 240g), peeled and finely sliced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or lard
sea salt
black pepper
200ml meat or vegetable broth or stock (you can make a simple stock using a good quality instant vegetable or meat stock powder)
flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped, for garnish

Method

Wash whole unpeeled potatoes under the cold running water and put them in a big pot of boiling water.

Add sea salt and gently boil the potatoes until fully cooked, this will depend on the size of the potatoes you are using.

Drain cooked potatoes and allow to cool.

Peel the potatoes and slice or cut them into irregular shape smaller chunks, set aside.

Put the olive oil or lard, if using, in a fairly large frying pan.

Add finely sliced onions and pancetta and gently fry on a fairly low heat until the onions become golden brown in colour, soft and caramelised, and pancetta fully cooked and slightly crisp. This might take around 40 minutes but it is important not to rush this phase of the recipe as the onions might not get as sweet.

Turn the heat up a bit, add pieces of potatoes and season with sea salt and black pepper (bear in mind that the use of pancetta and broth in this recipe, will partially provide the seasoning).

Cook the potatoes with the onion and pancetta mixture and break down a bit bigger pieces of potatoes with the back of the wooden spoon or or a fork, avoiding to end up with mashed potatoes, you still want bits of potatoes in the texture.

Cook for a few minutes allowing the mixture to catch a bit at the bottom of the pan forming a light crust, but try and avoid to get it burnt (although if it does burn slightly it is not the end of the world).

Scrape the layer of golden brown bits and break the crust with the wooden spoon, stir the mixture.

Cook further for a few minutes until the crust forms again, break it and stir.

Repeat the process a few times adding small amounts of broth or stock to avoid potatoes getting too dry.

The whole idea behind repeating this process of allowing the crust to form, then breaking it and stirring the mixture is to end up with a final dish that will have a combination of crusty and crispy bits of potatoes that are stirred back, mixed with the rest of soft/mushy potatoes, caramelised onions and pancetta.

Taste, adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper.

Sprinkle with roughly chopped fresh flat leaf parsley and serve hot.

Just a thought

This dish is not suitable for freezing.

When reheating this dish you will need to add some moisture back, as it gets quite dry when cooled down and kept in a fridge, adding more stock or broth.

You can cook this dish with leftover boiled potatoes or using left over mashed potatoes.

Wine suggestion

Friuli Venezia Giulia Friulano DOC "San Pietro" 2020 - I Clivi

Braised Fennel Istrian Recipe

Beans and Sardines

February 09, 2022 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, Autumnal dish, Autumnal recipe, brunch, Central European recipes, Easy recipe, Healthy, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, main dish, Nutritious, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Side Dishes, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, supper, Vegan, Vegetarian, Winter recipe, Vegetable side dish, Vegetables, Root vegetables

Braised fennel is made with fresh fennel bulbs, a humble and very often underrated and forgotten vegetable, and if you were ever put off by maybe a slightly “assertive” liquorice taste of a raw fennel, try this dish, it is like eating a completely different vegetable.

Fennel, during braising process, becomes mellow and sweet, very tender, and develops soft and mild aniseed and slightly caramelized flavour, sincerely gorgeous!

For this dish, perhaps, we can apply the famous saying “do not judge the book by its cover.”

With its appearance, maybe it does not belong to the privileged club of the most appealing looking dishes, but the taste of braised fennel is simply luxurious and elegant, worthy to be served as a part of Sunday roast.

Back home, on the Slovenian coast, where I come from, braised fennel is a very popular, very much loved dish and served with dignity for a simple midweek lunch or dinner.

Here I am sharing my mother's recipe for a traditional and regional braised fennel recipe. Try it, and next time you are shopping for your vegetables, you will be reaching out for fresh fennel...

Ingredients

Serves 4 as part of meal

few fresh fennel bulbs (1200g approximately)
5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (the best you can afford)
sea salt
black pepper
fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
100ml water or vegetable stock

Method

Wash fennel bulbs under cold running water and dry them with clean kitchen paper or towel. Place the bulbs on the chopping board and trim the hard hollow stalks which are quite tough and very fibrous. You can discard the stalks or put in the compost, or trim the stalks, cut them into pieces and use them instead of, or as an addition to the celery in soups and stews, or use them as a bed for roasted chicken, or other meats, and roasted fish.

Cut the feathery fronds from the stalks, you can use these as a garnish for this dish, or as a herb to make others dishes. Trim off the root end of the the bulb (the base of the fennel bulb) and cut it into wedges.