Fav Ideas/Recipes Using a Mandoline

I just got a mandoline and I was wondering if anybody has any favorite uses/ideas/recipes to put this gadget to work. Thanx!

[LA Buckeye Fan]

Hothouse cucumbers, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, dark sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, pinch of sugar. One of my favorite salads.

[Bcakes]

Any new ideas out there? My new mandoline is on my doorstep at home :-)

[Ruth Lafler]

Mine has a julienne blade that's a good size for making french fries. Like other tools, I find if Ieave mine out (propped against the back of the counter), I use it a lot more. Like, "well, I could use a knife to slice that, but the mandoline is right there...." So, for example, I used it the other day to slice some onion really thinly to go on my burger.

[TampaAurora]

Caramelized onions and French Onion soup.

[buttertart]

I use mine to slice firm hot chilies for salsa, etc. Less likely to end up with capsaicin-bearing juices ouch all over myself that way. Also v good for slicing onions as thinly as possible for later browning or other use (or frying to darkish golden brown for use in / on curries). Cucumbers and fresh fennel for salad (good together by the way, dressed with vinaigrette and with some thinly-sliced red onion - or the fennel alone with fresh grapefruit sections, onions, black olives). Apples for cakes or pies. Garlic to be fried golden brown and used as garnish (lightly salted after frying). Also a great help if you should ever be restricted in the use of one hand because you can steady the handheld ones with whatever functional part of your arm and still get the prep work done.

Here's a salad we ate in Firenze this summer. They prepared it with fresh porcinis, but at home we use any good fresh mushroom we find in the market that day. Criminis work well...

Mushrooms
Celery heart
Xtra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
Parmigiano Reggiano

Slice mushrooms thin with mandolin. Slice celery hearts to same thickness. Arrange sliced mushrooms and celery hearts on plate, using a 2:1 ratio of mushroom to celery (twice as much sliced mushroom as sliced celery heart).

Dress with extra virgin olive oil and season with your favorite salt and pepper. Shave curls of Parmigiano Reggiano generously over salad and serve.

Pommes Anna.

I take daikon radish, zuchinni and carrots, and make long, julienne strips, then blanch them for a minute or two in boiling water. Viola, vegetable "noodles." Then I dress them with some rice vinegar, sesame oil and a dab of chili paste and serve cool or at room temperature. Other vegetables and dressings work well, too.

Peanut sauce on carrot or zucchini julienne is especialy good.

Likewise, julienned zucchini or summer squash sauteed for 2 min. in olive oil and tossed with your favorite pasta sauce makes a "eat your vegetables" spaghetti substitute.

Julienned zucchini, summer squash, and carrots sauteed in butter, salt and pepper is a classic restaurant side dish.

great for roasted beets to add color and taste to all sorts of salads

Potato Gratin.
You can try multiple variations- try it with all your favorites. I often add bacon, leeks, or chives.

White turnips and celery root substitute well, and cut well on a mandoline, in any potato gratin recipe.

Potato chips. You can get them as thin as possible with a mandoline.

Hi Wendy,

I just bought a mandoline and am searching for a cookbook or recipes that offer some suggestions for its use. I printed a couple of yours that sound very nice. Do you know of a book or other recipes? Thanks!