Tonight’s recipe

Cheesy potato cakes with brown butter spring onions and crispy chilli oil

SERVES 4 INGREDIENTS

60g butter

600g cooked and cooled maris piper potatoes (skin on)

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp salt

90g cheddar, roughly chopped 1 egg, beaten

Olive oil, for frying

A pinch of cayenne

125g spring onions, sliced into 2-inch batons

A few chives, snipped Crispy chilli oil, as much as you like

METHOD

First, make the brown butter. Set a small saucepan over a low-medium heat and melt the butter. Cook it for about 11 minutes, maybe a bit longer, or until the butter is browning and smells sweetly nutty and toffeeish. Watch it while it’s cooking, coaxing the foam out of the way occasionally so you can check what colour the milk solids are turning. Don’t let them burn. When the liquid is golden and the solids pale brown, turn the heat down, add the cayenne, swirl the pan and remove it from the heat. You’ll use it later for the spring onions.

In a large bowl or pan, roughly mash the potatoes. Some chunks are good – you want the potato cakes to be uneven so they crisp up well.

Add the flour and salt along with plenty of black pepper to the potatoes and mix well. Then add the cheese and mix so it’s evenly distributed. Finally, add the egg and mix so the potato comes together. Use your hands to form into patties about the size of a burger. This should make 8 patties.

Set a large frying pan over a low-medium heat and add a good glug of oil. Fry the patties, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. I tend to fry three or four at a time in a large pan. Cook them slowly, for about four minutes on each side, not flipping them until the base has turned golden brown. Set aside on a warm plate while you cook the rest.

Meanwhile, cook the spring onions. Put the butter back on the heat and, when it’s hot, add the onions. Cook for two minutes in the hot butter, then remove from the hob.

To serve, spoon warm buttery spring onions over the potato cakes, the chives and a couple of teaspoonfuls of crispy chilli oil.