Raid the Fridge Fridays: Mashed potato cakes and fried eggs
I’ve only just come to the realisation that it’s not that common to eat two varieties of potato with every roast lunch. But it was a regular phenomenon in our house. I’m struggling to remember if there was ever a time when just one appeared on the table along with the roast chicken or beef, the gravy and vegetables. It’s not as though we had a surplus of potatoes that we needed to eat, or that we had a potato patch in the garden, it was simply because my mum really loves mashed potato. And it’s a love, combined with her appreciation of leftovers, which has been passed down.
Naturally, roast potatoes - most people’s potato go-to - were essentials. For a while in my childhood, I heartily disagreed with this logic after a traumatic Christmas put me off roast potatoes for about 10 years. Of all the foods to be defeated by my childish fears… it was a sad time. Although, thanks to my mum, I had an alternative and could even today declare it as my favourite potato as I still seem to mistrust those roasties.
Mashed potato is just exceptional at soaking up gravy! When it comes to inferior (yes, I said it) roasties, I find I have to mash them up just for them to absorb the chicken juices on my plate. Forget the nectar of the gods, think of a plate sporting a variety of beige foods and a spoon in hand in order to eat it all properly.
With all this darned potato to choose from, there was always some left over. This would be scooped up into a plastic tub, and then, at some point within the next few days, my mum would make fried mashed potato cakes and fried eggs.
There is nothing more to potato cakes than just squashing leftover mash into patties and frying them, maybe adding a splash of milk to loosen the potatoey clumps. But they really come to life with a sunny-side-up fried egg balanced on top. Burst the yolk and the mash does what it does best - soaks it right up.
Yesterday, Gaylord and I were actually living with a surplus of potatoes (Lidl really needs to sell smaller bags of them, I had to buy 5kg for one pot of leek and potato soup). So, Gaylord made bangers and mash one night, and in a repeat of my childhood, there was leftover mashed potato (mainly because, when it comes to carbs, his perception of quantities is flawed). It was comforting for me to pile it all into a plastic tub as I knew exactly what I was going to make the next day.
So, here’s your Raid the Fridge lunch: potato cakes with fried eggs - and in an act of really raiding the fridge, I chopped up some tomatoes and onion and cooked them with a little leftover curry paste, a jar of which we opened last week. There was an open tin of sweetcorn in the fridge too so I tipped the kernels in with the mash for little nuggets of sweetness. Personalise as you wish - something tells me potato patties stuffed with crumbled feta would be a spectacular lunch.
It’s a plate of food which may not be much of a looker - and the other plate in the background bears a butchered fried egg which just refused to play ball - but those potato cakes are soft and creamy and are the perfect vehicle for spicy tomato sauce, a dollop of crème fraiche, and all that runny yolk.
Maybe everyone should start eating two types of potato with their roasts. Thanks Mum!
Mashed potato cakes, spicy tomato sauce and fried eggs
Without any flour, egg or breadcrumbs, mashed potato cakes tend to either break up in the frying pan or are too floppy to flip. However, I find with all these binding ingredients we lose the point of this celebration of mashed potato. So, I simply add a little milk or crème fraiche to loosen and then they are easy to shape into patties. Fry in oil or butter, or both.
If you don't have leftover curry paste, curry powder is a great alternative. Instead of a tablespoon, just add a teaspoon.
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Course: Breakfast, brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: British
Keyword: curry paste, fried eggs, mashed potato, patties, spicy tomato sauce
Servings: 2
Ingredients
1 shallot or ½ a small onion
1 tbsp curry paste - I used korma
2 medium tomatoes
½ tsp cumin
Leftover mashed potato - to make 4 patties, I had around 250g
Milk to loosen the potato
2 eggs
Toppings ideas include crème fraiche, coriander and feta
Salt and pepper
Instructions
Finely chop the shallot or onion, and heat some oil in a saucepan - coconut oil or anything flavourless. Once warm, add the onion and gently fry for a couple of minutes. Add the curry paste and cook for minute or so, so that the aromas are released.
Meanwhile, dice the tomatoes, and scoop everything, juicy insides and all, into the pan. Add the cumin and a little salt, then stir everything together, lower the heat and leave to cook gently. The tomatoes will break down and absorb all the flavours. If it ever looks dry, add a dribble of water.
Use your (clean) hands to shape the mashed potato into balls. It might need some milk first so that it is easier to shape. Add herbs, cheese or corn to the potato if you wish, and season if necessary. Flatten the balls and heat some flavourless oil (and/or butter) in a frying pan on medium. Once sizzling add the patties and fry for 5 minutes without moving them.
Slide a spatula underneath each patty and carefully flip them. Their squidginess will make them a bit precarious but persevere! At the end of the day they don't have to be perfect. Cook on the other side for another 5 minutes.
Remove them from the pan and then fry your eggs as you like them. Pile the potato cakes onto plates, top with spicy tomato sauce and then your fried eggs along with any garnishes you like.