French-fried, hash-brows, baked, mashed or even in a salad I’m a big fan of the potato. But I’ve been convinced for a long time that the lovely spud wasn’t too good for me. Turns out the potato is doing good work all around the world.

The potato is such an important food globally that the United Nations has declared 2008 the “International Year of the Potato.” I wish I’d know back in January. I would have been happily celebrating the potato all year. Oh well, there are a few months left in 2008 – I think we should all celebrate with some fries!

The potato was chosen because of its strong nutrition profile, versatility and ability to feed the masses. Jacques Diouf, the Director-General of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), stated that the “potato is on the front line in the fight against world hunger and poverty.”

According to the FAO, the world will need to increase food production by about 60 percent to meet the needs of its rapidly growing population. The potato is crucial to meeting this challenge because it’s fast-growing and nutritious.

Nutritious, really? That’s what the potato growers keep saying. (They would say that, right?)

One medium (5.3 ounces) potato contains 110 calories, 45 percent of the daily value of vitamin C, essential B vitamins and 2 grams of fiber. Potatoes contain no fat, cholesterol or sodium, and skin-on potatoes are a good source of potassium.

Well, I can’t say I’m completely convinced, but I sure do like to eat the potatoes – and they fit into my budget pretty easily. So I’m going to share a recipe I’m looking forward to trying soon.

Red Cooking Pork and Potatoes

• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 6 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup minced, peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 1/4 pounds boneless pork loin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 pounds very small yellow-fleshed potatoes, halved
• 9 medium scallions cut into 2-inch strips
• 2 serrano chiles, seeded and minced
• 3 garlic cloves, slivered
• 3 star anise pods
• 3 4-inch cinnamon sticks
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, mustard greens or turnip greens, rinsed (but not dried) and chopped
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Stir broth, soy sauce, ginger, sherry, orange zest and honey in large pot until honey dissolves. Add pork, potatoes, scallions, chiles, garlic, star anise and cinnamon sticks. Stir well and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer slowly until pork is meltingly tender, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours. (Alternatively, stir all these ingredients in slow cooker, cover and cook on low about 8 to 9 hours.)

Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add greens and vinegar. Cover, reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted and tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Cover and keep warm on stove.

To serve, first discard star anise pods and cinnamon sticks. Divide greens among serving bowls, then ladle stew over greens.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 424 calories, 10 g fat, 110 mg cholesterol, 40 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 44 g protein, 846 mg sodium, 1239 mg potassium, 82 mg vitamin C

Recipes from “The Ultimate Potato Book” by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

For more information or more potato recipes visit www.potatogoodness.com. You can even have seasonal recipes sent to you throughout the year by signing up to receive postings from the U.S. Potato Board’s blog, www.potatounderground.com.

By Tanya Manus

I have a darling friend, Renee, who, a couple of years ago, ventured to Honduras where she taught at a Christian school for a year. She came back with stories about giant spiders, crazy traffic, learning Spanish and learning to cook as she was introduced to all kinds of new foods.
She visited me earlier this month and treated my family and me to an authentic Honduran dinner. The biggest surprise about Honduran food is that this Latin American country uses little or no spice. No five-alarm anything was served. The menu was black beans and rice, tacos made with thick homemade tortilla-like wraps, angel bread, and a light, refreshing mixture called chismol (pronounced cheese-mol).
Chismol is essentially a salsa made with mango, peppers, cucumber, tomatoes and cilantro. In Honduras, it’s the national condiment, Renee tells me. Hondurans eat it on many, many foods the way we might use ketchup. However, Renee and I ate it with chips, like salsa.
Though it’s not spicy, it is addictive. Renee introduced chismol to her neighbors at home in northern Minnesota, and they clamor for it. And they’ve learned to make it, although they’ve Americanized it by adding some spice.
Ater the mixture sat for a couple of days and the flavors had a chance to blend, I found myself craving it, too. It’s a cool, tasty, guilt-free snack to enjoy on a lazy summer day. Whip up a batch and relax with a taste of Honduras.

Chismol
1 mango
2 large tomatoes
1 large cucumber
1 bell pepper, any color
1 small onion
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped very finely (about 4 tbsp.)
Juice from one lime

Chop all ingredients and mix together. Season to taste with pepper and garlic salt. Add a finely chopped jalapeno pepper if desired.

By Jomay Steen

 

For some of us, we’re too ambitious for the great outdoor grill gate at our favorite campsites. I blame it on the excitement of getting out of the house.

My sister and I were always so excited about going camping, that for years we left all of our cooking gear on her kitchen table when we left on our summer camping trips. It made for great shopping trips in Hot Springs, Hill City or Custer for new gear. Back at camp, the kids really didn’t mind the cold hot dogs.

Amending that deficit, I recently gifted my father with a cast-iron Dutch oven. Along with a bag of charcoal, starter, lighter and a vague idea of the rule of threes when shoveling hot coals onto the oven’s flat lid, I think this could be the best culinary decision to hit our camp in awhile. I have included a prize-winning soup recipe to share from a recent Dutch oven cook-off. It’s a doozy.

For the head chuckwagon and professional campfire cooks wanting to give up a few favorite Dutch oven recipes, I simply can’t wait.

 

Shane Stewart’s Tortilla Soup

4 tablespoons olive oil

24 corn tortillas

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

4 yellow wax peppers, chopped

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

3 quarts water

2 tablespoons Persil chili powder

2 tablespoons New Mexico chili powder

2 tablespoons California chili powder

2 cans (16 ounce) tomatoes

1 tablespoon salt

1 pound grated Monterey jack cheese

Heat Dutch oven to 375 degrees using 10-13 coals on bottom and add enough oil to cover bottom. Cut corn tortillas into squares and fry in hot oil until brown. Drain oil from tortillas using paper towel and set tortillas aside. Saute onion, garlic, bell pepper and yellow peppers in hot oil. Add chicken and brown. Add water, chili powders, tomatoes and salt. Place 13 coals on top of Dutch oven, leaving 13 coals at the bottom that were used earlier. Let simmer 15 minutes. Just before serving, add tortilla squares to soup. Put cheese in bottom of bowls and ladle soup into bowls.

    

By Jomay Steen

It was at the United Tribes International Powwow in 1977 in Bismarck, N.D., that I ate the first of what would become one of my all-time favorite foods. The international powwow – Native Americans from Chile participated – carried stratospheric prize money for its dancers and drum groups. At that time, a first place finish could net a young fancy dancer $700. This was serious money when gasoline sold for 52 cents a gallon. It brought dancers from across the nation as well as their families, who might have brought along a converted camper to sell their own local foods.
At a little mom and pop camper from Arizona, I paid $1 for my first “Navajo Taco.”
It was a work of art. Lettuce, onions, tomatoes, a spicy mix of chilis, meat and beans and a thick, golden piece of bread that melted in my mouth, it was perfection.
At the following year’s powwow, every food vendor there was selling “Indian Tacos” and we were happy to pay $2. This great festival food has always signaled a great summer of travel, singing, dancing and happy feasting.
I’ve included a fry bread recipe. But if you have a better one, I’m always willing to try something new.

Taco Fry Bread
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups hot water
1/2 cup cold water (to make water mixture lukewarm)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 packets yeast
6 cups flour (or more)

Directions
Bring water to a boil, pour into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and mix until it dissolves. Add oil and cold water and blend so that the mixture is lukewarm, making sure that it won’t kill the yeast. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water, don’t stir in just leave on top and allow it to become foamy and puff out. Once the yeast is fluffy, mix in 2 cups of flour at a time. Add enough flour to make bread not sticky but not too tough. Mix and kneed until it becomes elastic and doughy, about the same consistency as bread rolls. Allow to raise one hour.
Once the dough is ready, punch down and pull off a chunk. Start stretching it out by hand pizza style into a circle of dough about 8 inches in diameter. Place in a hot skillet of vegetable oil on medium high heat and fry until golden brown. Carefully turn bread over and cook the other side. Lift from skillet, let drain on paper towels and place in 9X13 cake pan. Makes 12 to 15.
 

Garlic, how can it taste so good but make your breath smell so bad?

I brought in some dip to work today. Tastefully Simple Garlic, Garlic dip. It tastes awesome. But I only had one bite — two hours ago – and my breath smells bad now. Really bad. So bad that I can smell it!

All the experts say that smell and taste are definitly linked. But in that case, how can something that tastes so good make your breath smell so bad? Onions are the same story. And vinegar. In fact, my friend Jackie made me dinner a few weeks back and she concocted a sherry vinegar and onion sauce for the meal.

As soon as I stepped into her apartment I was afraid. In fact I was regretting the fact that I had said yes to her cooking me dinner. The entire apartment smelled kind of pickled — because of the sherry vinegar in the sauce.

At first I thought the apartment smelled funny because, well she has a male roommate and young men are just notorious for being bad house-keepers and a little smelly to boot. But when I realized that the smell permeating the place was actually the food that Jackie expected me to eat I was afraid.

I briefly tried to think of a bunch of excuses that might allow me to go home. I had nothing. I was going to have to eat it. So we sat at the table, prepared our plates and as I lifted the fork to my mouth to take the first bite I was getting ready to fake a polite response.

But it was actually great! I enjoyed the meal and even got over the smell. That is until I left the apartment. The smell had permeated my clothes. Kind of like when you eat at Subway and when you leave you smell like bread for a couple of days. I hate that. And how is it that the scent of baking bread smells disgusting when it’s in your hair or t-shirt?

Anyway, after my garlic, garlic breath I just had to go on about how smell and taste baffle me.

On our Food page this week, reporter Jomay Steen and some friends launched their quest for the best malt in town. Limiting the choices to hand-dipped ice cream, they sampled malts at Fjord’s, the Millstone and Arnold’s Classic Diner.

I’m sure there are other great malts in town. Where’s your favorite place to go?

What are the things you like to cook when camping out? We’re looking for your ideas and recipes. Anything that feeds a crowd, can be cooked over an open flame or is just handy to serve from your tent or camper is fair game. We’ll be putting together a future story for our Food section.

 We’re also planning a story on s’mores. Have any variations of the classic campout treat? When I was a little girl, we used to make them with saltines, peanut butter and toasted marshmallows. They taste a bit like a salted nut roll. Of course, you can’t go wrong with graham crackers, Hershey bars and marshmallows. Gotta say, though, I don’t like s’mores when they’re microwaved. It’s OK when you need a quick fix, but it’s no substitute for the roasted marshmallow version.

What are your favorite camping recipes? Let us know here or by e-mailing features@rapidcityjournal.com.

–Deanna