Eleanor STEAFEL

ELEANOR STEAFEL

The shift in seasons and return of hearty meals means getting inventive with delicious spuds

Well, it’s official: mash season is back. It always feels like a turning point that, doesn’t it? That moment when, after a few weeks of light summer fare, you finally decide enough is enough, forage in the cupboard for the big casserole pan, and begin assembling a hearty dinner. On Monday night, with the unreasonable prospect of “100 per cent rain” approaching on the weather app, I decided there was nothing else for it – mash was the only answer. I didn’t go full winter indulgence, keeping the skins on and making more of a crushed potato affair than a full blown mash, using olive oil, garlic and lemon rather than butter and milk. I’m pleased to report it more than hit the spot.

Whenever I make mashed potatoes, I like to make extra. There is something reassuring about having pre-cooked potato in the fridge – steamed new potatoes ready to be fried or leftover mash just asking to be made into potato cakes.

These little patties make for the best kind of dinner/brunch. The potatoes are roughly mashed, with lumpy bits and potato skin making uneven cakes, all the better for crisping up in the pan. Chunks of cheddar in the mix makes them deliciously savoury, with pockets of melting cheese. They’re topped with spring onions, cooked in a nutty brown butter spiked with cayenne. The crispy chilli oil isn’t essential – I’m just addicted to it.

You could have these with a fried egg, a green salad with a lemony dressing, or with some sautéed, garlicky cabbage.