US Potato Culinary Festival KL 2013: Going Wild with 38 Titillating US Potato Dishes!

One Potato, Two Potato, Titillating us with 38 US Potato Creations!

Talk about spud invasion! A recent invite to the US Potato Culinary Festival KL 2013 had my jaw dropped as I ogled at a long list of creations made using my favorite root vegetable, the potato!!

Potato lovers alert… 16 leading Malaysian chefs show off their prowess in the US Potato Culinary Festival KL 2013 organized by the US Potato Board. Come this June, The US Potato Culinary Festival KL 2013 celebrates the launch of more than 38 dishes in 13 F&B outlets comprising restaurants, eateries, pubs and hotels etc.  These F&B outlets are set to serve customers a wide and interesting repertoire of dishes comprising mains, appetizers and desserts using US frozen potatoes as the key ingredient.

 

From 1st to 30^th June, customers at these 13 outlets will have the opportunity to taste US potatoes used in various types of Malaysian fusion, western and eastern dishes. The objective of this festival is to promote the enjoyment of US frozen potatoes in a variety of innovative menu items. When one thinks about frozen potatoes, the first impression is probably Shoestring Fries, Curly Fries or Potato Wedges which often accompany steaks or burgers. This is about to change as there are just no boundaries what one can do with frozen potatoes… at least from what I can see here at the festival!

Malaysia is a melting pot of cuisines. As such, I wasn’t surprise to see all the various variations of potato dishes from all our cultures. Going through some of them, I was really impressed with the creativity and effort put out by all the participating chefs from the 13 F&B outlets. The versatile spud is showcased from the very first appetizer course to main and snacks before finishing with potato desserts. US frozen processors offer the widest variety of menu-enhancing frozen potato products from which to choose. Malaysians will have the opportunity to taste different types and shapes of US frozen potatoes during this promotion from whole frozen baked potatoes to specialty fry products.

We got an opportunity to sample some of these creations at a special media event held at the Sime Darby Convention Centre for the auspicious launch of the festival. The event took off with several speeches by several US Potato Board Representatives and Committee Heads together with US Agricultural Attache.

Group photo with all the F&B participating chefs and the US Potato Board team

 

Be prepared for a long post of potato dishes…

BADBOY COOKS

by Chef Ken Wong

BARA ONE BISTRO

by Chef Hairy

CRAVING KITCHEN & CAFÉ

by Chef Koh Thong Seng

 

REST HALIA

by Chef Mohd Faisal

 

SECRET OF LOUISIANA

by Chef Elvin Goh

 

MARINI 57

by Chef Logan

 

MOVIDA KITCHEN

by Chef Pele Kuah

 

SUKA F&B RESTAURANT

by Chef Jacson Khoo

 

PADDINGTON PANCAKE

by Chef Muda Muhammad

 

SAFFRON BRASSERIES

by Chef Saravanan Supramaniam

 

WARISAN CAFÉ

by Chef Nizam

 

JAGOYA

by Chef Sixtus Bakansing

 

MUZIUM CAFÉ

by Chef Jeff Wang

Though every dish oozes with creativity, dessert takes the cake for me! The US Potato Crème Brulee was deliciously beautiful at sight and taste. I detected a mild potato note in the crème but it seems to work out really nice. I never expected to like Deep Fried Steak Cut US Potato Sugar and Sesame Seed Coated but I really love it. Obviously inspired by the toffee coated sticky Chinese dessert, potato seemed to taste really well sweet and caramelly. Making potato into dessert certainly changes my perception and I doubt I will ever think of the spud as before!

                   

Here’s a little Potato fact I’ve learned at the event:

·         Idaho & Washington in US is the top growers of potato for world wide

·         There are over 20,000 varieties of potatoes but only 2,000 are commercially produced

·         Potatoes are gluten free

·         Contains lots of vitamins, potassium, dietary fiber and antioxidant power

So hurry to these outlets to enjoy US potatoes like never before!  For more information on the US Potato Culinary Festival KL 2013, please call Kent Low or Eddie Saw at (03) 8070-7216.

*More pictures available at my Facebook: Chasing Food Dreams

** Read last year’s Marvel-licious US Mashed Potato Bonanza here

Simplot Popcorn Hash Brown: Express Canapes for the Holiday Season!

Impressive Your Guests But Don’t Sweat It!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way… if only I can jingle without a sweat all the way to the festive holidays!  Festive holidays garner an excuse to wine, dine and be merry. During this time, I usually cook up a storm in my kitchen for the coming holiday parties. My family expects me to go all out and be creative and churn out delicious dishes each year. I was in a knot about what to make for appetizers when Santa dropped off bags of Simplot Popcorn Hash Browns… J

I love potatoes! My Archilles’ heel has always been potatoes and rice. A light bulb went off and I have decided to make this simple and delicious popcorn hash brown into decadent canapés. Don’t be judge by this affordable Simplot popcorn hash brown. Once I finished with these baby tater tots, they are going to look so lavish and sumptuous!

Potatoes really go with anything, so these tater tots are really versatile in blending in with other ingredients and flavors. I decided to make them into Russian, American and Mexican canapés. Taking the basic recipes of the original canapés, I substituted the base of the canapés with Simplot Popcorn Hash Browns.

Going creative, I pan fried a few of the popcorn hash browns till a little soft and squashed them with a masher tool. Once you have smashed them, leave them to fry till golden on one side before turning them. They are fragile till they are golden crisp on one side, then you can flip it over and pan fry the other side till golden.  The disc of popcorn hash browns are now ready to be topped with your choice of filling. Here’s where I vamped them up with my favorites.

Russian Smoked Salmon, American Steak and Potato, Mexican Prawn Salsa

Smoked Salmon with Sour Cream and Dill & Caviar

SIMPLOT Popcorn Hash Brown, Smoked Salmon, Sour Cream, Caviar (optional and any kind will do), Dill or Chives (to garnish)

Roast Beef, Horseradish Cream

SIMPLOT Popcorn Hash Brown, Roast Beef or Pastrami, Horseradish cream (or horseradish mixed with sour cream), Baby Cherry Tomato

Prawn, Cucumber, Salsa

Cooked Prawns, Cucumber, Tomato Salsa

Really, there is no limit to what filling one can top on these crispy Simplot Popcorn Hash Browns. Go Asian with Chili Sardines and Mango Salsa, Spanish with Chorizo Sausage and Cheese, Chinese with Smoked Duck and Hoisin Sauce and so much more! Served them in soups, bakes, pies, and more as their versatility is just endless. Make them into breakfast or simply snack on them. Once I had them with soup and it was delicious as the crispy tater tots goes so well with the Minestrone soup!

You can fry up or baked them in advance as they still remain crispy and delicious at room temperature. Dressed them up only when your party is about to start so the filling and sauce won’t make the crispy disc soggy!

Don’t feel like making them into disc? Improvised and wrapped or skewer the salmon, beef and prawn like I did for this one…

Chasing Food Dreams Simplot Popcorn Hash Brown Canapes for the holidays... Merry Christmas! 

Simplot Popcorn Hash Browns are made from premium potatoes without fillers. Bake or fry them without even defrosting. It’s definitely good to have some around anytime!

Merry Cooking with Simplot Popcorn Hash Brown!

For more details on SIMPLOT, check out their website: http://www.simplot.com.my/