Almond Skordalia Recipes

Steps:

• Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water by 2 inches and season generously with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until very tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let cool slightly.
• Rub the skins off the potatoes and discard them. Coarsely chop the potatoes and puree them through a food mill or ricer into a medium bowl.
• Meanwhile, on a cutting board, lightly sprinkle the garlic with a generous pinch of the salt and smash it into a fine paste with the side of a cook's knife.
• In a food processor, combine the garlic, almonds, and oil and puree into a paste. Mix the oil mixture into the potatoes until incorporated; then mix in the 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon salt, water, lemon juice, and vinegar and season with pepper, to taste. Serve.

Steps:

• Trim the crusts from the bread and spread the slices out on a tray to dry for about 24 hours.
• In the container of a food processor, place the almonds, garlic, and cooled potato. Process until smooth.
• Mix the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Fill a large bowl with cool water. Drop the dried bread into the water, 1 slice at a time. When it is soaked, squeeze about half the water from the bread between the palms of your hands. Add the bread to the ingredients in the processor, alternating with the lemon-juice mixture, and process until smooth. Since the skordalia has a tendency to stiffen and become pasty as it chills, the mixture should be quite loose at this point. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Scrape the mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for several hours to allow the flavors to mellow and blend. If the mixture seems too stiff, beat in a little water before serving.

Steps:

• 1. In a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Cook the potatoes until they are tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes. Drain, *reserve a little bit of the liquid*, peel, then pass the potatoes through a ricer into a medium bowl while they are still hot.
• 2. In a blender, combine the olive oil, almonds, water or potato cooking water, garlic, lemon juice and zest and puree until very smooth. Add more olive oil to help blend the ingredients well.
• 3. Stir the almond mixture into the potatoes until smooth.You can also stir in some plain yogurt at this point if desired, too. Season the skordalia with salt, a drizzle of olive oil, fresh herb garnish if desired and serve warm or at room temperature.