Homemade Potato Casserole and Smoked Salmon Salad

Growing up with the beautiful taste of Soul Food was a certainty, thanks to having family in the south – more specifically, Memphis, Tennessee. That soothing, comfort food will always bring back warm memories of cooking together, learning family recipes, and creating shared experiences between generations. I now reside in Sweden, which means those Soul Food experiences and tastes are unfortunately not very attainable. But, I’ve learned that the concept of comfort food and the feelings it creates can easily be translated into any culture.

In a pandemic, the role of food has been more than just nourishment. For me, it has been a new act of self-care and an added sense of security. Since March, I’ve spent more time than ever before in the kitchen –trying everything from perfecting homemade Salsiccia pasta, baking French-style baguettes, making hot sauce from scratch, and brewing craft beers. 

Even though it is almost 8 000 km (5 000 miles) between Stockholm, Sweden and Memphis, Tennessee, spending so much time in the kitchen and experimenting with my own little family has allowed me to emulate the feeling of Soul Food in a new sense – Soul Care. 

Soul Care recipes can be described as those magical recipes where the secret ingredient is love. You know the kind of foods that sit just right with your soul and add that sense of warmth, comfort, and easiness that we long for during the winter. It’s about added joy and caring about the food we put on our plates, by creating something memorable together. So here is one recipe that is easily made together in the kitchen, cost-effective, and comforting –all at once!

Potato Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 kg of potatoes 

• 1 leek

• 3 garlic cloves

• 100 g of spinach

• 4 eggs

• 2 dl of heavy cream 

• 200 g of Gruyére

• Olive oil 

• Salt and pepper

Served with a shredded smoked salmon salad. Recipe inspired by Sofia Wood, ELLE Sweden.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C (400º F).

2. Rinse and cut the potatoes in half. 

3. Place the potatoes on an oven sheet and sprinkle over some olive oil. Add a generous amount of salt and other preferred seasonings, such as rosemary and pepper. Place the potatoes in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the potatoes are soft and golden. 

4. While the potatoes are in the oven, peel and dice garlic cloves as well as the leek.

5. Warm a pan on medium/high heat with some olive oil and fry the leeks. When the leeks are soft and have received some color, add the garlic - be sure to reduce to heat to not burn the garlic. Fry for a couple of minutes and then add the spinach. The spinach doesn’t have to cook for very long, only soften. Turn off the heat and let this cool.

6. Crack the eggs in a bowl and add heavy cream. Add salt and pepper, then whisk together until even. Shred the Gruyere and add almost all of the cheese to the bowl. (Keep a handful on the side for serving) Add the spinach, leek, and garlic to the bowl as well.

7. Take the potatoes out of the oven and transfer them into a casserole form. Pour over the egg mixture and then gently toss everything together so that it’s equally spread out.

8. Adjust the oven to 180 C (350º F) and place into the oven for approximately 35 minutes. If the form starts to brown easily, place the tinfoil onto the form. 

9. Take out the form and top off with the saved handful of Gruyere.

Homemade Croutons

Ingredients

• 400 g of smoked salmon 

• 1 lettuce head, preferably Romaine Lettuce 

• 1 Green Onion

• 1 Lemon

• Chives 

• Olive oil 

• Salt and pepper

1. Dice green onion and chives 

2. Rinse and gently shreds apart the lettuce head and place as a base on a plate/salad bowl

3. Use your hands to break the smoked salmon into pieces and place upon the lettuce

4. Add the green onion and chives

5. Wrinkle some olive oil, salt, pepper, and the zest of a whole lemon. Press half of the lemon onto the salad for extra citrus.