POTATO LATKES, SMOKED TROUT, HORSERADISH & WATERCRESS
If you have time on a slow Sunday morning, this is one of the best breakfasts you can make: crisp chewy latkes, with onion, garlic and rosemary, a properly fiery horseradish sauce and smoked fatty trout. The harmony of this dish is bliss – it’s a classic for a reason and a joy to eat. I must implore you to make your own horseradish sauce, it couldn’t be easier and the difference is monumental. If you ever need a favour, to apologise or express your love for someone, bring them a plate of this as breakfast in bed and consider yourself absolved.
Serves 5
FOR THE HORSERADISH SAUCE
1 FRESH HORSERADISH ROOT
400G CRÈME FRAÎCHE ½ LEMON
SEA SALT
FOR THE LATKES 1.2KG MARIS PIPER POTATOES
1 BROWN ONION
1 WHOLE EGG AND 2 YOLKS 3 CLOVES OF GARLIC, FINELY CHOPPED
A SMALL BUNCH OF FRESH ROSEMARY, LEAVES STRIPPED AND FINELY CHOPPED
40G BUTTER, MELTED OLIVE OIL, FOR FRYING
FOR SERVING
2 BUNCHES OF WATERCRESS A LITTLE LEMON JUICE AND OLIVE OIL, FOR DRESSING HOMEMADE HORSERADISH SAUCE
Ofnd GENEROUS AMOUNTS QUALITY SMOKED TROUT
1 Start by making the horseradish sauce. Get ready to cry. Peel the skin off the bottom half of your horseradish root and grate finely until you have 80g. You’ll wish you had goggles. Combine the horseradish with the crème fraîche, and add a little lemon juice and a generous pinch of sea salt. Mix well and taste to check your seasoning. It should be fiery and fantastic but be careful with the lemon – you don’t need much.
2 Now move on to the latkes. Peel the potatoes and skin the onion, then grate on the coarse side of a box grater into the centre of a large clean tea towel. Twist and twist the tea towel over the sink, squeezing as much water from the potato and onion as possible. Transfer to a colander and season generously with salt. Leave for about 10 minutes so the salt has a chance to draw even more water out of the potato, then give it one last squeeze and transfer to a large bowl. Add the egg, yolks, garlic, rosemary and melted butter, season with pepper and mix well until combined.
3 Place a large non-stick frying pan on a medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add 3 or 4 dollops of the potato mixture, gently press into shape and fry in batches until they are wonderfully golden, roughly 10 minutes per side.
4 Dress the watercress with a little lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt and serve with the crispy latkes, horseradish sauce and thickly cut smoked trout.