Homity baked potatoes

Go back to basics with this primal way of cooking potatoes.

“Everyone loves baking potatoes in the embers of a fire, especially kids. It’s exciting for them to get involved,” says Gill Meller.

“Give them a stick, so they can prod and poke at the hot coals and roll their potatoes over when they need turning. While the spuds are cooking, get them to prepare the homity onions and leeks. It’s simple cooking, but they’ll learn so much from helping you.”

Ingredients (Serves 4 or more)

8 baking potatoes

1tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

150g butter

2 leeks, sliced into rounds

2 onions, halved and sliced

1tbsp wholegrain mustard

100g mature cheddar, finely grated Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. You’ll need a big fire going for this recipe. Let the wood and charcoal burn back, so you have a broad bed of chunky embers. Make sure the coals aren’t too fierce otherwise the potatoes won’t cook evenly.

2. Give the potatoes a scrub, but only if they need it. Rub them all with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle them generously with salt and pepper. Wrap each potato in a double layer of foil. Use a pair of tongs to clear some potatoshaped hollows in the embers and nestle the spuds down into these gaps. Make sure they have a significant amount of heat surrounding them. You don’t need to cover them as such, just pile up the embers around their sides. Turn the potatoes every 10-15 minutes using your tongs, until they feel soft – about one hour.

3. Meanwhile, set a large pot over the fire and add one third of the butter. When it’s bubbling away, add the leeks and onions and season with some salt and pepper. Sizzle them, stirring regularly until they are soft and they smell lovely and sweet.

4. Unwrap the soft potatoes and cut them in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the middle of the flesh into the pot with the leeks and onions. Leave enough potato in the skins so as not to tear them. Add the remaining butter, the mustard, half the cheddar and season with some salt and pepper.

5. Mix everything together. You can leave it all quite chunky.

6. Pile the homity potato mix back into the jacket halves and scatter over the remaining cheese. Eat hot.