FFwD: Hachis Parmentier

The first time I had hachis parmentier was in Paris but the irony was, it was served during a Brazilian party thrown by a Brazilian friend whom I met in pastry school. It was quite an eclectic meal with dishes from various countries and cultures: a part-American-part-French appetizer of endives with ratatouille and cubes of cheddar.

I particularly loved the 
 Brazilian Muqueca, a white fish coconut milk stew with flavors that were simply out of this world.

The muqueca was the perfect compliment to the classic South American staple of rice-and-beans but that was where the Brazilian theme ended. Take a look at my plate from the meal - a mix of salad, Brazilian rice-and-beans and French hachis parmentier:

As much as I enjoyed the Brazilian dishes that evening, I couldn't help gravitating towards the mouthwatering hachis parmentier and found myself going back for seconds, maybe even thirds. Come to think of it, I might had finished half the plate of the meat-and-potatoes dish on my own that evening. "It's a little of this, a little of that; it's a family recipe which I've been making from young and I don't have the measurements", so said Anna. Unsuccessful in my attempts of trying to pry her secret recipe from her, I was so excited to find hachis parmentier in Dorie's Around My French Tableand even more elated to learn that Dorie had included this dish in FFwD's first month's lineup. 

Making your own beef broth for this dish may seem a little elaborate but all the components of the dish can be prepared ahead of time and the end result is definitely worth the effort. In lieu of tomato paste, which I thought we had in the pantry but found out only after my trip to the store that we didn't, I browned the meat  (my choice was the spicy Italian sausage) a little longer, removed from the skillet but left the brown bits behind, then reduced tomato puree in the same skillet to add some depths to the flavor. 

Despite the absence of tomato paste, the dish turned out great and needless to say, last night's dinner was a treat. Please remember to check out other FFwD members' hachis parmentiers this week.

Last night's hachis parmentier brought back wonderful memories of the Brazilian dinner party in Paris, and I felt inspired to inject a little global flair into our dinner yesterday evening. Here's what we had for dessert: 

Indian Rice Pudding

And here's a video on how to make the rice pudding

Foods from around the world without having to leave your kitchen. We've come a long way, haven't we?!