Spanish Veggies, Italian Potato & Onion Pizza, German Baked Potato Pancakes

Spanish Country Veg
Internationally famous Spanish chef José Ramón Andrés (check him out on Wikipedia) created this dish, which he calls Garlicky Potatoes, Green Beans, and Cauliflower;  as a simple "one pot" meal reminiscent of the simple 'country' dishes of Spain rather than the fancy cuisine of the cities.  Serves 4-6 as a side, 3 as a main course.

1 lb fingerling Potatoes
1 lb Green Beans
3 cups small Cauliflower florets
Salt & Pepper to taste

Dressing
1/3 cup EVOO
2 Tbsp minced Garlic
1/2 tsp Hot Paprika or 1/4 tsp each Hot and Smoked paprika
1 Tbsp Sherry Vinegar

Highly recommend adding dollops of Romesco sauce to individual servings.In a large pot, cover the potatoes by a couple inches with water.  Bring to a boil then reduce het and cook for 8-10 minutes.  Add the cauliflower and beans, and simmer another 5-10 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, over low heat, saute the garlic in the EVOO until browned.  Add the paprika, a pinch of salt and stir.  Remove from the heat and reserve.

Drain the veg mixture and transfer to a serving bowl.  Dress with the garlic-pepper oil and vinegar.  Toss to coat.  Serve with Romesco sauce on the side.

Italian Potato & Onion Pizza
In Italy, of course, this would be made on a conventional dough crust.  I made mine on my own riced-cauliflower crust with Romesco sauce rather than the usual pizza sauce.  Either way, this is a surprisingly tasty combination.

Pizza Crust -- homemade is always best, or you can buy pre-made dough at most megamarts
2-3 Red or Yukon Gold Potatoes, sliced "wafer" thin
1/2 Sweet Onion, sliced wafer thin
Romesco sauce or pizza sauce
Optional - sliced Mushrooms

Pre-bake your crust so it won't get soggy.  Pre cook the potato slices on a baking sheet or in the microwave, until just tender. 

Layer on your sauce and then toppings in any order you choose.   Bake at 500F or more until the cheese is melted and starting to brown, and the potatoes are curling a bit. 

Baked Potato Pancakes
FYI, that's Baked... Potato Pancakes; not Baked Potato...Pancakes!  Potato pancakes were invented in Eastern Europe (Germany, Austria, Poland, Russia) as filling but inexpensive peasant food.  This recipe lightens things up by adding zucchini and baking the cakes rather than frying them.

2  large Red Potatoes
1 large Zucchini
1/2 large Sweet Onion
1/2 cup Flour (your choice of kind)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Black or White Pepper
Salt to taste
1 Egg, beaten

Grate/shred the potatoes, zucchini and onion fine.  Spread on paper towels and press away as much liquid as you can.

Toss the shredded veg together in a bowl with the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.  Take a 1/4 cup of the mixture and squeeze it into a ball, then flatten into a "pancake".  If it sticks, that's great!  Otherwise add the egg to the mixture to bind things together better.

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Parchment cover a baking sheet of two, and make 1/4 cup pancakes there, pressing them flat with a spatula.   Bake 12-15 minutes per side, carefully flipping the cakes until you get the level of crispy you want.   Plate and serve with your favorite savory or sweet topping(s).  We liked ours with Lizano and Romesco (but not both on the same cake!). 

Apple Sweet Bread

Great entry in the Dessert or Breakfast Bread category!  Like all FoK recipes it needed tweaks to come out "right", which I've included below.

1-1/2 cup regular Applesauce, not unsweetened
1/2 cup Brown Sugar-- does anyone ever measure 'unpacked' brown sugar?
1/3 cup Almond Milk or Creamer
2 cup Self Rising Flour -- or AP Flour plus baking soda and powder

1 tsp Salt, sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup chopped Walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Stir to combine the applesauce and non-dairy liquid, in a largish bowl.  In a smaller bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add the dry to the wet and mix into a batter.

Pour into a 9x5 loaf pan and bake 30-40 minutes until the traditional toothpick comes out appropriately clean.  Cool in the pan 20 minutes, then remove loaf from the pan to cool further on a rack.

Makes a nice dense, moist loaf that will have your apple lovers begging for seconds.