Cardamom and Tea

potato chop skillet

by 4 Comments

Last fall, I posted my recipe for potato chop, or breaded and fried potato croquettes stuffed with seasoned ground beef and parsley. Since potato chop isn’t something my family makes, I started from scratch with my own recipe, drawing on my memory of potato chops I’ve eaten in Iraqi and Assyrian restaurants, and asking around to hear how others have made theirs. Coming up with a recipe for something complicated that you’ve never made before requires a lot of test batches, and so I can’t tell you how much potato chop we ate last fall.

But once the marathon of croquette-stuffing and onerous deep frying finally came to an end, the only thing I was sick of was just that: all the stuffing and deep frying! I never once got tired of potato chop itself. So I decided to come up with something a little easier, but still inspired by classic Middle Eastern cuisine.

This recipe for potato chop skillet is inspired by kibbeh bil sanieh, which literally means kibbeh (Middle Eastern dumplings) in a tray. With kibbeh bil sanieh, instead of stuffing and deep frying the kibbeh individually, you layer the ingredients together in a sheet pan, bake it, slice it, and serve it. The same idea applies here: you sandwich a layer of flavorful ground beef between two potato layers, top it with some breadcrumbs that have been tossed in olive oil, and bake it until it’s golden brown and delicious.

I’m not going to try to convince you that this tastes exactly the same as classic potato chop, but it certainly captures its spirit, and takes way less time to prepare. You can totally prep this on a weeknight—it takes about one and a half hours from start to finish, but only takes thirty minutes of active time. And best of all, there’s no deep frying required, which means no deep frying clean-up. Potato chop skillet works great as a main or side, and it’s best served next to a big pile of greens dressed in lemon vinaigrette.

Print

potato chop skillet

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 1/2 hours
  • Yield: 5 large or 8 small servings

Ingredients

For the potato crust:

  • 2 pounds 8 ounces russet potatoes
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • Salt to taste (I use 3/4 teaspoon)

For the ground beef filling:

  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 3–4 garlic cloves, crushed with a garlic press
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons baharat*
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped
  • 1 bunch parsley, leaves chopped (set aside a teaspoon for garnish)

To assemble:

  • potato mixture (above)
  • filling (above)
  • 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for oiling the skillet)
  • 1 small pinch salt
  • 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

  1. Make the potato crust: Bring a large stockpot of salted water to a boil. While you’re waiting, peel the potatoes and cut them into large approximately 1-inch pieces.
  2. Boil the potatoes until very tender, about 12 minutes. (Alternatively, feel free to microwave them).
  3. Mash the warm potatoes with the butter, then let them cool.
  4. Mix the cornstarch into the cooled potatoes and salt them to taste. Set aside for later.
  5. Make the ground beef filling: While the potatoes are cooking and cooling, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring every minute or so, until they brown slightly and soften, about 5 minutes.
  6. Reduce the heat to low, add the garlic and baharat and give everything a stir. Push everything out to the sides of the pan, add 1 teaspoon of oil to the center, add the ground beef and salt, then turn the heat to high, and mix everything together, breaking up any big clumps.
  7. Keep stirring until any juices have evaporated and the meat has browned, about 5 minutes.
  8. Remove the meat from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Once it’s cooled down, add the cilantro and parsley and stir to combine.
  9. Assemble and bake: Preheat the oven to 400° F convection.**
  10. Oil a 10-inch cast iron skillet.*** Scoop half of the potato mixture into the bottom of the skillet, flattening it out with an offset spatula or the back of a glass.
  11. Evenly spread the cooked ground beef filling over the first potato layer.
  12. Place scoops of the other half of the potato mixture over the beef filling. Carefully break up the potato scoops with a fork so that the beef layer is covered evenly, and then smooth it out with an offset spatula (careful that you don’t mix the beef layer into the potato layer).
  13. Mix the breadcrumbs with the olive oil and salt.
  14. Generously brush the potato layer with some of the egg wash (discard or save the rest).
  15. Top evenly with the breadcrumb mixture.
  16. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is nicely golden brown. Cool for a few minutes in the pan before slicing and serving (it will hold together more as it cools). Optionally, garnish with the reserved parsley.

Notes

* If you don’t have a baharat blend on hand and don’t feel like making one, feel free to use 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon coriander, and a pinch of cinnamon.

** If you don’t have a convection oven, no worries, it might just take a little longer to bake, you might need to increase the temperature slightly, and you might need to rotate it to make sure it’s cooking evenly.

*** If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, feel free to use a similarly sized oven-proof skillet or cake round.

find us on instagram and let us know what you made!

easy vegetarian breakfast meze

by 2 Comments

I’ve been posting so many breakfast things to my Instagram story this week. I’d like to say it’s because I’m really good at curating social media content to coordinate with my semi-weekly blog posts (hah!), but it’s really just that breakfast has been on my mind. Now that we have big south-east-facing bedroom windows, I’m actually becoming a morning person, and (since my life revolves around food) that means becoming a breakfast person.

But “morning person” is a relative term, and so for me, breakfast must be easy, which means that it needs to be something you can make ahead the night before, or something you can quickly throw together in the morning. And this rule especially applies when hosting friends for a morning brunch, which is why I put together this easy vegetarian breakfast meze. The prep time takes only thirty minutes the night before, and thirty minutes the morning of. And best of all, most of the things on the menu don’t even require real cooking, but it still looks like you tried.

Download a printable PDF of recipes + shopping lists

menu

shakshukotash *
pita bread and/or English muffins
jajik
orange blossom marmalade
Jerusalem salad
olives
strawberries

* This shakshuka recipe makes 4 eggs, so multiply as necessary. With a large spread like this, estimate 1 egg per person for a medium breakfast, 2 eggs per person for a filling breakfast. If you’re making this menu for 4 people, just make a single batch of everything, and expect to have some leftovers of everything but the shakshuka. If you’re multiplying for a larger party of 6 to 8, make one batch of everything, but multiply the shakshuka by 3, and be sure to buy enough bread, olives, and strawberries.

Grocery list

pantry
salt and olive oil
pita bread and/or English muffins*
orange marmalade
orange blossom water
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (buy 2 cans if you’re doubling the shakshuka, 3 for tripling)

produce
olives (castelvetranos from the olive bar are always a crowd pleaser)*
strawberries, or your favorite fruit*
1 head garlic
1 bunch dill
5 Persian cucumbers
1 small yellow or orange bell pepper
5 roma tomatoes
1 small red onion
1 lemon
1 bunch parsley

dairy
1 stick butter
eggs (1 or 2 eggs per person)
8 ounces cream cheese
16 ounces small curd cottage cheese

frozen
1 lb bag frozen corn
1 lb bag frozen lima beans (or another shell bean, like soy or fava)

* Make sure you buy enough bread, olives, and strawberries for the number of guests.

schedule

The night before (25 minutes)

  • Make jajik and plate it.
  • Stir 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water into a jar of orange marmalade.
  • Plate the olives.
  • Wash the strawberries and place them in a bowl.
  • Make the shakshukotash’s tomato sauce in a non-reactive (e.g., stainless steel) pot. Multiply the recipe as needed.
  • Refrigerate everything overnight.
  • Set the table.

The morning of (30 minutes)

  • Cover the pita bread in foil and place in a 200°F oven for about 15 minutes, just to warm it through.
  • Make the Jerusalem salad (If you don’t have time to wait around, don’t worry about letting it sit with the salt. Just use less salt, about 1/4 teaspoon).
  • Get all the food on the table before you start cooking the eggs.
  • Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to the shakshukotash sauce, bring it back up to a simmer, and poach the eggs in it. If you’re doubling the recipe, divide the sauce between 2 skillets to poach the eggs (if you’re tripling, use 3 skillets, or just 2 really wide ones). Serve immediately.