Weekend breakfasts to warm the heart and belly
I’ve recently been trying to teach my nearly 5-year-old son, Max, to ride a bicycle, with little success. I could possibly blame Max for our tardy progress, but I must take the responsibility myself.
I’m the one who hasn’t been tremendously excited about going to the park in the freezing cold to assume the crouch-and-waddle pose behind the bike and wait for the “balance and pedal” instinct to kick in. I’m the one who has yet to figure out how to adjust the valves so that the tires aren’t permanently flattish.
My sense of inadequacy isn’t helped by the fact that my own father was extremely engaged in teaching his children, and the first lot of grandchildren, how to ride a bike. Dad managed to make running after a runny-nosed toddler who’s struggling to pedal and face forward at the same time seem like a breeze. Ditto pumps, valves and flat tires: These were all things my dad was just able to adjust, find and fix.
As bad as I may feel about failing to get my kids on bikes, I know that, sooner or later, they’ll get it. But in another area, I am far less confident that I will finally manage to catch up with my folks and give my children the important heritage and life skills that I took in as a kid: breakfast.
My mother was, and still very much is, the queen of breakfast. When I was young, she would get out of bed well before anyone else; 6 a.m. was the standard. By the time we all finally huddled up around the table, oranges had been squeezed, bread had been toasted, cheese arranged on a platter, vegetables sliced, jams decanted and coffee brewed. Everything was there, school lunches included.
The 6 a.m. scene in my house today, on the other hand, is one of pandemonium. For some reason, it is just impossible
to escape the perpetual cycle of washing kids, dressing kids, dressing myself, distracting kids with tablets, defusing fights, brushing hair, brushing teeth.
My coping device for this conundrum, at least on the breakfast front, is to concentrate my efforts on the weekend. Without the time constraints and general frenzy of work and school days, there is far less pressure to get things done in the morning. With this kind of freedom, I can spend time in the kitchen pretending to be my mother.
Getting started while the others are still bedded down under duvets, I make sure everything is just so, preparing food for ourselves, and often also for guests, which I wouldn’t dream of on a weekday morning. Recently, I have been cooking cheesy frittatas loaded with herbs and wintry vegetables like leeks, pumpkins and kale. I have been baking sticky buns and quick loaf cakes. I have been making crepes, pancakes and hot cakes, and I have been braising eggs in every sauce I can think of.
On weekends, as I sit around a table laden with the fruit of my hard work and surrounded by my nearest and dearest, what starts off as breakfast naturally slips on to lunch, without anyone noticing. Without the time constraints, any sense of parental guilt or domestic inadequacy vanishes into thin air. The day rolls along smoothly, almost effortlessly.
In fact, it’s a bit like riding a bike — without having to face the winter cold.
Potato Hot Cakes With Cheddar Cream and Salsa Verde
Yield: 4 servings Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
For the hot cakes:
1 1⁄4 pounds (about 6) all-purpose potatoes such as Yukon Gold or Maris Piper, halved lengthwise Finely grated zest of 2
lemons
2 teaspoons freshly
squeezed lemon juice 2 eggs, beaten
Salt and black pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil,
more as needed
4 to 8 eggs at room temperature, for serving
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds, lightly toasted in a frying pan without oil just until fragrant (optional)
For the cheddar cream:
3 ounces cheddar cheese, preferably aged, freshly grated into shreds (about 1 1⁄2 cups shreds)
1⁄2 cup sour cream
(soured cream) Freshly ground black
pepper
For the salsa verde:
1 1⁄2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
1 1⁄2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon leaves
2 teaspoons capers,
finely chopped
1⁄4 garlic clove, minced or
crushed
1⁄3 cup olive oil Pinch of salt
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Arrange potatoes, cut side down, on a large parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes or until crisp and golden brown on the outside and soft inside; cooking time will vary depending on the size of your potatoes, but you want the flesh to be soft enough to mash.
Make the cheddar cream: In a small bowl, combine cheddar and sour cream. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Make the salsa: In a bowl, mix the herbs, capers and garlic with about 1⁄3 cup/60 milliliters of oil and a generous pinch of salt.
Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle (about 15 minutes), peel away and discard (or eat) the skins, being careful not to lose too much flesh. Use a potato masher to mash the flesh until smooth or chunky, as you like. Transfer about 1 1⁄4 cups/230 grams of the mashed potatoes to a mixing bowl. (Save any extra mash for another use.)
Add lemon zest, beaten eggs, 1⁄4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper and mix until eggs are completely incorporated. Your batter will look like glossy, runny mashed potato.
Fry the hot cakes: Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large nonstick frying pan and place over medium-high heat. Spoon about 1⁄4 cup of batter per hot cake into the pan and fry for 4 to 5 minutes, turning over once, until crisp and golden on both sides. Set aside on a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm. If you have more batter, add a final tablespoon of oil to the pan and fry the remainder in the same way. You may want to turn the heat down for the second batch if the oil is getting too hot.
When ready to serve, fry the eggs in the same pan, using additional oil if necessary.
Stir lemon juice into salsa. Divide the hot cakes between plates and top with the eggs, the cheddar cream and then salsa verde; the salsa should cover a bit of the cream but not all of it. Sprinkle with the mustard seeds (if using) and serve.