CHIVE POTATO CAKES

Feeling much better and more vibrant than yesterday, I decided to cook a snack/lunch as soon as I got up this morning. I settled on making potato cakes, something my Babushka (Russian for Grandma) used to make for me as a special treat years ago when I lived close to her. She will still make them up for me when I make a special appearance in Melbourne. Whilst I adore her potato cakes, she uses a outrageously large amount of oil when cooking them, something that I wanted to do without when I fashioned my very own today. Whilst you cannot take oil out of the picture entirely to make these cakes, you can use a relatively small amount, being 1 tablespoon grape-seed oil as I did, or you could use coconut oil instead. Using a sizeable amount of fresh chives is imperative to this recipe. Make sure you do not overdo the salt, as the potatoes will taste great just with the eggs and chives mixed in. You can make the recipe sans (without) cheese if you prefer- it will mean less calories!

INGREDIENTS

• 900g - 1kg of any kind of potatoes (I recommend sebago potatoes, as they are inexpensive and readily available)
• 3/4 cup or 1 whole bunch of fresh chives, snipped into 1cm pieces 
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, finely grated 
• sea salt & pepper
• 1 tablespoon grape-seed/sunflower/olive oil 
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten 
• a grater

COOKING

1. Wash and peel potatoes. With a fine grater, grate all of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl (the potatoes will turn mushy). (It is very important that you do use a fine grater for this step.)

2. Add the eggs to the potato mixture and stir well. Add the freshly cut chives and parmesan cheese, mixing well to combine. Season with salt & pepper. 

3. Heat a small or large frying pan over low to medium heat and add oil. If you use a small pan, you can make 2 potato cakes and will use 1/2 a tablespoon oil for each cake. If you use a large pan, add 1 tablespoon oil as you will only be making one potato cake. Swirl the oil around to cover the whole pan and then pour in the potato mixture, spreading evenly across the pan. Wait 5-7 minutes before gently turning the potato cake over, using a spatula. You will know when to turn the potato cake over as it will be golden brown on one side. Cook for around 5-7 minutes on the other side and then remove, serving immediately. (If you are making 2 potato cakes, repeat this process again using 1/2 tablespoon oil). 

Serves / 2 for lunch or 4 as a snack/side 

Adapted from Stephane Reynaud's '365 Good Reasons to Sit Down & Eat' 

x E