the maiden voyage of the le creuset!

breaking in the le creuset under the guidance of Nigel Slater (who happens to write about food with such a powerful tenderness you can hardly believe it's snack-related.)

Potato cakes with chard and Taleggio
(adapted from Nigel Slater's Tender)


makes 4, enough for 2
1 bunch chard, kale or other sturdy green, stems removed
5 ounces Taleggio, Wigmore, Waterloo, St. Andre or other soft cheese
2 1/2 cups cooked potatoes (russet are best for this kind of cake, as the waxy flesh of red or yukon potatoes will be reluctant to maintain their shape in the pan)
1 tablespoon flour
1 egg white
4 tablespoons parsley, chopped
6 tablespoons cornmeal (polenta) coarse grained is imperative, don't use the finely ground corn that resembles flour
vegetable or olive oil for frying

fistful of fresh sage leaves

1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

wash the greens and steam until tender. drain. coarsely chop, reserving four beautiful leaves. set aside.

cut the cheese into small dice and mix with the coarsely mashed potatoes. (Slater mentions leaving the potato mash quite coarse and irregular as this makes for a more interesting texture of the finished cakes.) season with salt and pepper and then stir in the flour and the egg white. the mixture should be moist but not runny. not enough moisture and then patties won't hold together, too much and the cakes won't keep their shapes in the pan but will instead spread. set aside.

meanwhile, process the lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, sage and olive oil in a food processor  until uniform and brilliant green.

divide the potato mixture into fourths, and shape each portion into a patty roughly the same proportions as a hamburger.

lightly season the polenta with salt and pepper and pour into a shallow plate. dredge each potato patty in the cornmeal mixture taking care not to accumulate too much as it this will have a tendency to fall off the patties once browned.

warm a slick of olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet (such as a le creuset!) or cast iron. fry the potato cakes in batches of two until golden and crisp. about 4 minutes per side. drain briefly on kitchen paper.

to serve the cakes drizzle each with a fourth of the sage oil mixtures and one of the beautiful leaves you'd set aside earlier.

magic.

tasty additions to the garnish are chopped olives, hemp seeds or toasted pistachios. (as always, hemp seeds should never be heated as this damages the fragile, super-nutritious omega compounds found in their oils.)

additions to the potato mixture could include a few roasted beets or parsnips or roasted tomato. 

thanks Nigel