- 1kg floury potatoes such as Desiree or King Edward, quartered Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 40g butter 500g Savoy cabbage, shredded 1 tblsp chopped chives or parsley about 50g plain flour Olive oil, for frying 8 very fresh hen’s eggs
Chappit tattie cakes with fried eggs (Burns Night)
Gary Robinson
28th January 2020
Chappit tattie cakes with fried eggs (Burns Night)
90 min
Makes 8 cakes.
All chappit tatties are are simply mashed potatoes, but for a more formal occasion, we tend to turn the mashed potato into potato cakes. With the addition of something green and some herbs then topped with a really good fried egg, you have an unexpected accompaniment for many a great Scottish centrepiece. You wouldn’t normally see this alongside haggis, but if you can have haggis with your fried breakfast, then how could this not work for dinner?
Ingredients
Method
Boil the potatoes in a large pan of salted water for anywhere from 12-15 minutes, until just tender. Drain, then return them to the pan over a low heat for 1-2 minutes to dry out.
Remove the skins, if you want, then add the butter and mash well. Meanwhile, blanch the cabbage for 2-3 minutes until al dente, drain and refresh under cold running water. Pat dry with kitchen paper.
Mix the mashed potato, cabbage and chives (or parsley) together with seasoning to taste. Leave until cool enough to handle, then shape into 8 round cakes.
Tip the flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Coat the potato cakes in the flour, tapping off any excess.
Heat a thin layer of oil in a large frying pan and fry the potato cakes for a couple of minutes on each side. Drain them on kitchen paper, then transfer to a lined baking sheet.
Pass through a hot oven at 190C until piping hot in the middle and golden and crisp on the outside.
Meanwhile, heat a thin layer of oil in a non-stick sauté pan over a medium heat. Carefully crack the eggs into the hot pan and fry for 1-1½ minutes, until the whites are opaque and set, but the yolks are still quite runny.
Remove them carefully from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Serve the potato cakes warm from the oven with an egg on top.
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