Now that the weather’s getting cold and wintery, potatoes hit the spot. I recently made a hundred-year-old recipe for Alphonso Potatoes which are diced potatoes and green pepper are in a milk sauce, and topped with Parmesan cheese. This dish is very attractive and makes a nice presentation. The green of the pepper and the white of the potatoes made a visually appealing combination. The Parmesan cheese topping added flavor to the dish, and it was very nice.
Here’s the original recipe:
When I made the recipe, I cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch cubes prior to cooking. Perhaps cooks a hundred-years-ago often had left-over boiled potatoes that could be diced and used in this recipe, but since I didn’t have any left-over potatoes it seemed easier to just dice them into small pieces prior to cooking. I boiled the diced potatoes for a few minutes and then added the green pepper pieces to the simmering potatoes. It didn’t seem like a separate pan was needed. After the cubed potatoes were soft, I drained them, and then added the milk. I salted the water when cooking the potatoes, but did not add additional salt when I added the milk. I cooked for a few minutes more minutes, while occasionally gently stirring (but it was substantively less than 15 minutes). Some of the milk evaporated, and it began to thicken. I then removed from the heat and put into the casserole dish.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Alphonso Potatoes Recipe
5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes
water
1 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon salt (if desired)
1 medium green pepper, diced into 1/8 inch pieces
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375° F. Put the diced potatoes into a saucepan; cover with water and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the diced green pepper and simmer for an additional 6 minutes. Remove from the heat, and drain. Pour milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt (if desired) on the drained potatoes and green pepper in the saucepan. Heat using medium heat while stirring gently occasionally (do not cover). Simmer for a few minutes until some of the milk evaporates and the liquid thickens a little. (Use care that the milk and potatoes don’t burn.) Remove from the heat and put into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Put in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the Parmesan cheese is lightly browned.
That looks good, though I suspect I might prefer red peppers.
Red peppers would also work well in this recipe.
I’m not sure about the peppers, but otherwise it looks good.
I liked the peppers in this recipe. Actually, the Parmesan cheese had a more prominent flavor than the peppers.
Not having heard of Alphonso potatoes before, I attempted to look them up. On the Internet, not a single thing came up other than Alphonso mangoes, which come from India and were named after some Portuguese general. Newspaper archives turned up the same recipe as the one you shared, and occasionally, adding in black pepper as well. It seemed strange that since the recipe was in newspapers from the early 1900s to as late as the 1970s that there was no other information. Makes me wonder who is credited with creating this recipe!
I have not ideas regarding possible origins of the the name of this recipe. It’s fascinating that you were able to find versions of this recipe up to the 1970s in newspaper archives. Apparently it has gone out of favor in more recent years.
It may just be a classic! Potatoes, cheese, and something green! I kept thinking I would find some chef or restaurant that took credit, but the closest I found was a recipe that said a “famous” restaurant served these.
Could be. I also thought that maybe the original recipe author thought that the recipe would be more impressive if the name sounded international.
And there you go: Alphonso = impressive and international!
Wow, that’s amazing. Together we’ve better at figuring how these recipe puzzles.
I’ve never heard of these, but it looks really tasty. Thanks Sheryl!
It was yummy.
I’m sure my husband would love this!
It’s a nice recipe.
These look so yummy!