When living in the land of potatoes, what is a girl to do?

Ron has been cooking these potatoes for a very very long time, and they remain one of my very favourite dishes. Irish people (for the most part) are still rather fond of the spuds (myself included) and I would say eat potatoes at least 4 times per week.

As I do most of the weekday cooking around here, I have to now come up with interesting ways to present dinner in order to not get that look of disdain from the Chef that says "potatoes and cabbage again???" - yes, I actually have to think about what I am making for dinner every day!!!

To start with, I used left over potatoes, but if you start from scratch - buy some little potatoes, boil them until tender. Then smash them a little bit and drop them in the fryer for a few minutes until they crisp up nicely. (Alternative to the deep fryer is to brush with olive oil and bake in a very hot oven - just as tasty and a lot healthier!) We usually just have 2 little bowls of sauce - one with Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce (yum) and some sour cream. This is where I panicked, because we did not have any and believe it or not, sour cream is not easy to find in the supermarkets around here. I guess not a big demand for it. So, clever clogs here decided to make her own!

What to do??First figure out what ingredients you do have and try to wing it!
I had buttermilk and whipping cream. I mixed a cup of each and heated it up on the stove. Then I left it sitting in a warm place to ferment for the rest of the day. (you could leave it up to 2 days) or just until it is thick. (I left it in beside our open fire, so it accelerated the fermentation process (yawn, I know). Then leave it in the fridge to cool down. ( I left it outside on my kitchen windowsill because it was freezing outside and I took my chances with the neighbouring cat!).

You now have creme fraiche!! Which is NOT sour cream, BUT the Chef and little crumb catchers around here really loved it!

It keeps for about a week if you use fresh cream to start with.

Note to all aspiring cooks out there - If it doesn't thicken, you have either over-heated the cream or not heated it enough. Practice makes perfect - says she who has made it more times than she would care to mention before getting it right!

Happy eating,

That is all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna