This is the first entry to my new food blog. I'm putting it out here and if you like it let me know and I'll do another one. This is all about a left over bowl of mashed potato and a movie. I went round to a friends house to watch a film called Julie & Julia that has just been released on dvd, if you don't know anything about the movie follow the link over on the right. This foodie film surprisingly gave me a much needed motivational prod. I had been pontificating about what I should do next on this site which was overdue for an injection of enthusiasm. Blogging little excerpts from my lifetime affair with all things culinary could be just what I have been yearning for ......
Throwing food away I discovered during my Masters in Food Policy is absolutely not on for lots of different reasons but let's take climate change and emissions from landfill sites for starters. We've all it seems got a bit full of ourselves since the end of food rationing and the slow ride into this era where food is so relatively cheap that we can literally afford to chuck tonnes of it that is still perfectly safe to eat in the bin. Campaigns like 'Love Food Hate Waste' are trying to make us stop adding to landfill by being so wasteful but it's hard to do if you are not a natural in the kitchen. It just so happens that I pride myself with a little expertise in making leftovers luxury.
Now back to that bowl of left over mash.
It was Saturday morning and I wanted to have a civilised breakfast with the Guardian.
Here is what evolved! I like to think of this as a cooking sketch rather than a rigid recipe. At the end you'll find a list of variations.
There was just enough potato for one person which I estimated was around 2-3 x 15ml spoons. To this I added, 1 x 10ml spoon of instant polenta, 1 x 10ml spoon of half fat creme fraiche, a pinch of Maldon sea salt a twist of black pepper and a 1x5ml spoon of freeze dried chives (use fresh if you have them).
Mix this up with a metal spoon (a desertsoon is perfect) and then let it sit so that the polenta can absorb some of the moisture.
Meanwhile get a small non stick pan and let it gently heat. Add two rashers of dry cure bacon (not that nasty water injected stuff) and let it slowly brown whilst releasing its fat into the pan. While the bacon is cooking form the potato mix into a ball using the spoon by scraping the edges of the bowl to gather up as much of the mix as possible. Then sprinkle all over with some more polenta to form a crusty coating
Put your oven on low and put in a plate to warm. Once the bacon is cooked transfer it to the plate and stick it back in the oven while you cook the potato cake.
Place the cake into the hot pan
Take a traditional shape fish slice or similar and press the cake flat
Now this is usually where the novice cook goes wrong. Dont mess around with the cake! It has a delicate structure because its just potato and a few other bits but it will hold together perfectly ok as long as you dont toss it around and keeping flipping it over. Cook for 8 minutes on each side on a medium heat. Too hot and it will burn - manage that heat and all will be ok. The rule here is only flip it once - got it? Whilst your potato cake is cooking put a small pan with some water on to boil to poach an egg. You can always fry your egg but I like them gently poached.
This is the colour you are aiming for;
Now if its all going a bit too fast for you turn the heat down and cook it for longer at a slower heat whilst you sort all the other bits out.
It just happened that we had some lovely free range Clarence Court blue eggs in which not only are rather fab to look at they have the most wonderfully intense orange yolks which are akin to royalty on a supermarket egg shelf.
I wanted something green to go with it and these alfalfa sprouts were perfect.
Take the warm plate out of the oven and place the hot potato cake on it. Top with alfalfa sprouts and the bacon. Place the poached egg (today I got a double yolk) on top and serve immediately.
The perfect start to a hectic weekend.
Variations
Don't be put off a cooking idea like this because you don't have the same ingredients. Think about alternatives that don't involve going shopping again.
Left over mash is a key ingredient here. Creme fraiche could be replaced with ricotta, mascarpone, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. The chives could be replaced with finely chopped salad onions or parsley or just left out. Polenta could be replaced with ground almonds, breadcrumbs or matzo meal. Instead of bacon a couple of slices of smoked salmon, jamon serrano or smoked ham would be just as good or leave it out completely. The alfalfa could be replaced with any salad leaves particularly rocket or spinach. You could also pan fry some sliced mushrooms instead of or aswell as. Veg at breakfast is a healthy bonus.
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