Now I can hear some of you gagging at the thought of putting anchovies in cream with potato but you are just going to have to trust me on this one - it really, really works and is not as fishy as you'd imagine. Please read on!
I am a self-confessed lover of the potato - maybe it's my distant Irish heritage or the fact that potato-based carbs satisfy and delight me. I regularly roast and mash them, occasionally serve them new, boiled in their skins with butter and every now and again, especially when I'm by the sea, I love them chipped and drenched in vinegar.
I'll be honest with you it had never occurred to me to peel and layer them with small salty fish. It took the Swedes to do that!
I went to an event held by Scan Authentic SwedishMeatballs last year for Tots100 and they served this potato dish alongside-meatballs. (obvs!)
I have often recalled the mouthwatering meal but wondered if my fond memory of it was helped by the shots we drank while toasting Midsummer Swedish style.
Anyway, it's kinda mid-summer and my book club had been reading A Man Called Ove by Swedish blogger and author Fredrick Backman. (awesome must-read book by the way!)
We always serve a meal at our book club and it was my turn to host so I went searching on the Scan website and found the delicious potato dish - known as Jansson's Frestele- along with a nice looking recipe for Swedish meatballs in a lingonberry sauce.
The meal was a huge hit and as my husband hoovered up his plateful whilst hiding from the book club ladies in the kitchen, he made me promise I would make the meal again ASAP.
This week it's his birthday but since many of our friends are disappearing for the summer I threw an early birthday dinner with some of them for him at the weekend.
The weather was iffy - sun then rain, then sun then cloud so I decided against a barbecue and opted for cooked meal which we could (and did) eat outside.
I had a couple of haunches of muntjac in the freezer (thanks Linda) which I roasted then served on a bed of buttered savoy cabbage topped with smoked bacon lardons and sweetened dried cranberries which my 11-year old had sauted in port (he wants to be a chef).
I decided to take a chance given that the meat and fruit combination seemed similar to the meatball and lingonberry recipe and prepared the potato, onion and anchovy bake to go with it.
What can I say - it was a triumph!
I can't take credit for the recipe - you can find both the recipe for the meatball and lingonberry dish and Jansson's Frestele on the Scan Meatballs website.
The potato dish is incredibly versatile and would go with lots of different foods - barbecued sausages, roast beef, chops or even meatballs! We agreed we'd even eat it as a main course on it's own.
The preparation is not as fiddly as it sounds and it's well worth going to the trouble to add the buttery breadcrumb topping. I actually missed out the single cream and just added more milk.
Disclaimer:I have not been paid or rewarded for this post - I just wanted to share a great recipe.
I am a self-confessed lover of the potato - maybe it's my distant Irish heritage or the fact that potato-based carbs satisfy and delight me. I regularly roast and mash them, occasionally serve them new, boiled in their skins with butter and every now and again, especially when I'm by the sea, I love them chipped and drenched in vinegar.
I'll be honest with you it had never occurred to me to peel and layer them with small salty fish. It took the Swedes to do that!
I went to an event held by Scan Authentic SwedishMeatballs last year for Tots100 and they served this potato dish alongside-meatballs. (obvs!)
I have often recalled the mouthwatering meal but wondered if my fond memory of it was helped by the shots we drank while toasting Midsummer Swedish style.
Anyway, it's kinda mid-summer and my book club had been reading A Man Called Ove by Swedish blogger and author Fredrick Backman. (awesome must-read book by the way!)
We always serve a meal at our book club and it was my turn to host so I went searching on the Scan website and found the delicious potato dish - known as Jansson's Frestele- along with a nice looking recipe for Swedish meatballs in a lingonberry sauce.
The meal was a huge hit and as my husband hoovered up his plateful whilst hiding from the book club ladies in the kitchen, he made me promise I would make the meal again ASAP.
This week it's his birthday but since many of our friends are disappearing for the summer I threw an early birthday dinner with some of them for him at the weekend.
The weather was iffy - sun then rain, then sun then cloud so I decided against a barbecue and opted for cooked meal which we could (and did) eat outside.
I decided to take a chance given that the meat and fruit combination seemed similar to the meatball and lingonberry recipe and prepared the potato, onion and anchovy bake to go with it.
What can I say - it was a triumph!
The potato dish is incredibly versatile and would go with lots of different foods - barbecued sausages, roast beef, chops or even meatballs! We agreed we'd even eat it as a main course on it's own.
The preparation is not as fiddly as it sounds and it's well worth going to the trouble to add the buttery breadcrumb topping. I actually missed out the single cream and just added more milk.
Disclaimer:I have not been paid or rewarded for this post - I just wanted to share a great recipe.
