Like a Potato Rosti or Hash Browns
Great with a traditional British Breakfast
How many potatoes you do really depends on whether you are doing this as a small side for a full breakfast for a few, or as the main staple for one or two with an egg or a bit of bacon or a sausage instead of bread. One decent sized potato (what I would call a medium size for baking) will do this as a guide.
Grate the potato (I use Maris Pipers) and then squeeze the liquid out.
I just squeeze small amounts at a time and use my hand, but you can also put it in a (clean) tea-towel to squeeze. (But I reckon I'll be washing my hands anyway and I don't want bits of potato in my washer! You can use kitchen roll instead of a tea towel, but you may end up picking bits of paper out of your mix.) I would recommend squeezing it over a bowl, otherwise you can clog the sink up (to say nothing of losing half the potato down it if you try to do too much at once). The starch in the water is quite interesting for kids to play with later too
Put the potato in a bowl and sprinkle on a small pinch of salt and grind on some black pepper and mix it in (If you can see the pepper is well distributed, you can assume the salt is too).
Lightly oil a frying pan and then press the potato into the pan. Push it down firmly and go round the edges pushing them in and down.
Cook gently for about 5-10 mins (depending on how thick the potato layer is) pushing it down all over and in and down at the sides again a few times, until you can see no more raw potato on the top. Have a quick check underneath that that side has gone crispy, if it hasn't turn up the heat for a quick blast and keep pressing it down.
Turn over to crisp off the other side. This will only take a few minutes, as the potato is already cooked through. (If you have thicker layer, you might want to quickly turn it back over to the first side to give that another quick recrisp)
This is a basic potato cake, and while good as is, you can add any herbs, seasonings and fillings you fancy. Parsley and/or thyme is good, so is garlic, chillies and/or onion (onion does make it a bit wetter so takes slightly longer to cook and crisp) or chop in some cooked bacon, ham or gammon (probably won't need any salt)
You might also like:
Spicy Chicken Drumsticks
Mushroom Rice
Burgers
For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas
