Top Chef Recipes

I don't get to watch Top Chef very often, but when I do I find it "food inspiring". Anyway, last season I saw a recipe for Fingerling Potatoes with Cauliflower, Cherries, and Goat Cheese. I gave it a try with regular small white potatoes. (Fingerlings are good, but $$.) Dried cherries can be hard to find, so you could also use Craisins -- you know for kids or just dried cranberries, but I really like the sweetness of the cherries. The cauliflower can definitely stink up your kitchen, so be prepared.

A note about Top Chef recipes - Because they do things on the fly on the show, the recipes are not always well-documented, so be prepared to improvise to deal with the ambiguity. The one below was an exception and rather easy.

Cauliflower and Fingerling Smash
3 cups fingerling potatoes, sliced, half-inch rounds
3 cups cauliflower florets, medium-bite size
Milk (enough to cover)
1/2 cup chevre
1/2 cup chopped dried cherries
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped fine
Salt and pepper to taste
Place potatoes and cauliflower in heavy bottom pot; cover with milk and simmer on medium-heat until tender making certain not to overcook potatoes. Strain; reserve some cooking liquid.
(I used a potato masher before adding the remaining ingrediants.) In a mixing bowl, add potatoes, cauliflower, chevre and cherries, folding repeatedly, breaking down potato starch. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper