comfort foods; potato leek and kale cakes.

This week is going to be my last week of over-filling my free time.  Over the last week I have been so lucky; I have been able to see almost all of my favourite people, one day after the other.  And this week is looking much the same.  Friends are visiting from all around in this last, pre-baby time.  I feel spoilt knowing that my busy, working friends are taking the time to mostly watch me nap.  But I am exhausted.  As much as I am looking forwards to this week, I am looking forwards to the next one.  Burrowing in a hibernation and hiding from the world until the baby boy arrives.

I am tired but cosy.  I feel like my whole body is slowing down for this last stretch.  And in the moments of quiet I am enjoying in my home between guests I find all I can think about is food.  Warming, autumnal dishes to feed James and I as the evenings get darker.  Whilst this blog isn't a food blog, the focus of my days is the kitchen, so for a while this might be what I have to share.
These kale & leek potato cakes are the perfect simple supper, plus they freeze beautifully (I have smugly stocked several into the freezer for after babies arrival).



Ingredients

~500g of potatoes (floury or baking spuds)
2 leeks
a big bunch of kale
1 chilli (the ones we have grown are so hot only one was needed for all of the cakes)
3-4 tsp of bobbly mustard
2 egg yolks
a good amount of butter
2-3 tbsp of creme fraiche
salt and pepper
And to serve: smoked cheddar, or poached eggs and grated cheddar, or crumbly blue cheese, or goats cheese, or whatever your heart is craving.

Peel the potatoes and boil until they are mashable.  Drain and let them dry slightly before putting them through a potato ricer (it is important that they are well mashed).  Dice the leeks and kale and fry in a good knob of butter until they are soft.  Add the finely chopped chilli and cook for another minute or so.

Mix the vegetables into the potato and mix in the mustard, yolks and creme fraiche all together.  Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Shape into little patties; I made 8 from this recipe, and flour on both sides.  At this point if you want to freeze them, make sure they are well floured and lay on a baking tray and whack them in the freezer.  Once frozen you can take them off of the tray and put them into a sandwich bag so they take up less room.

When you are ready to eat them (make sure if using frozen cakes that they are fully defrosted before cooking), heat a good knob of butter in a little olive oil in a large frying pan.  Cook the potato cakes on both sides until dark golden and crispy.  I served ours with poached eggs and grated cheese on top but I imagine they would be pretty good topped with slices of goats cheese or blue cheese and thrown under the grill for a minute.  

Perfect with an autumnal slaw.




Also - look! A double yoker!  How clever are those lovely chucks.