Fried potatoes with leeks and mushrooms

Occasionally I want to travel in time back to the 1980s, and reminiscent wonderful working class grub from Finland. These fried potatoes qualify as such, in this post I have only changed them a little bit by adding leeks, and serving them with mushrooms (that's not quite traditional). My second excursion into the world of fried potatoes happened in Germany, and I do appreciate this humble dish very much. Normally you would only make this dish from leftover cooked potatoes, but sometimes it's worth making them from scratch. Today I'm flying to Finland for a short holiday, so this is a great lunch before the flight.

I have divided the ingredients into three sections as I started preparing these components in three different pans.

Fried potatoes:

650g potatoes

4 shallots

1tbsp vegetable oil

½tsp paprika

1tsp salt

½tsp black pepper

1tsp thyme

Leek supplement:

3 leeks

2 shallots

3 garlic cloves

24g butter

50ml dry cider

Mushroom side:

200g baby chestnut mushrooms

1 garlic clove

1tbsp olive oil

½tsp vegetable stock powder + 50ml water

1tsp parsley

A splash of white wine

Boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes with the peels on so that they become almost cooked. After the boiling peel them, if the peel is too thick for your taste. I wouldn't peel for example new potatoes, and even others can be left with the peels on. Quarter or slice them generously.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and start frying the potatoes in the pan at medium heat. They are supposed to get crispy and brown on the surface, but take care that the temperature isn't too hot and stir them occasionally. The potatoes also need to fully cook, so no need for haste. When the potatoes are nearly cooked, season them with paprika, salt, black pepper and thyme.

Slice the leeks, shallots and garlic (divide the garlic for the leeks and the mushrooms that are to be cooked separately). Heat the butter in another pan and sauté the shallots and garlic in there; later add the leeks and cider and let simmer under the lid.

Keep the mushrooms as whole and cook them in olive oil with one chopped garlic clove. Add the white wine and vegetable stock, and let it also simmer slowly under the lid by occasionally stirring. Season with parsley and maybe with additional salt, if the stock isn't salty enough.

Once you're happy with all the components, combine the potatoes and leeks and serve them with the mushrooms on the side.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog