Potato Cakes

We move to Latin America, the home of the potato, to sample a great dish from my Latin American Vegetarian Cookery book by David Scott and Eve Bletcher - Potato Cakes or Llapingachos from Ecuador.  LATIN AMERICAN VEGETARIAN COOKERY.

Now I have cooked quite frequently from this book but I never tried this wonderful recipe.

Serves 4

900g potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
salt
2 medium onions, peeled and finely diced
50g butter
225g Cheddar cheese, grated
veg oil

1. Cook the potatoes until tender in boiling water, drain and mash.
2. Saute the onions in the butter until softened.
3. Stir the onions and cheese into the mashed potato and mix well.
4. Form the mixture into 12 flat patties about 2.5 cm thick. 
5. Set aside in the fridge for 3- minutes.
6. Shallow fry the potato cakes, in batches, until golden brown on both side.
7. You can instead put on greased baking sheet and brown under the grill.

I served it with a lightly chill-fied vegetable mixture with courgettes and sweetcorn. Arrange the potato cakes on the plate and place a good scoop full over them.  Scatter some cheese over.  

Bridgewater Beans

I am catching up with all my food blog writing.... I have all these wonderful pictures and no words... so here goes.

Bridgewater Beans are a revelation.  I was giving these beans by someone from Frome who in turn got them from the Heritage Seed Library who got them from an old bloke in Bridgewater... hence the name. They are in fact a type of French climbing pole bean that are excellent for keeping for the cupboard in winter.  I found that they were excellent fresh or store cupboard kept for my perennial favourite re-fried beans (a mexican dish that accompanies tortilla or tacos).  I was very impressed. So impressed, I didn't take a picture.  So impressed was I that I thought they were superior to pinto beans (Mexicans all over the world are swooning in disbelief, I know!)

Head out to your local seed swap and see if you can grab a few of these great beans.  And next season I will take a picture!

Perennial Vegetables

Rarely has the Radio 4 Food Programme been so enlightening as a recent episode on perennial vegetables and forest gardening.  Mark Diacono's Otter Farm featured with it's mix of fruit trees and bushes and perennial vegetables.  An inspiration.  I have been moving in this direction for a time now.  Less digging, more serious preparing of the ground to contemplation of planting arrangements and a serious re-consideration of what I plant.

Listen to the Food Programme at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010xy3g#synopsis

Check out Mark Diacono's wonderful blog at
http://www.otterfarmblog.co.uk/