All About David’s Pan of Pottage Recipes

All About David’s Pan of Pottage and a spot of Bubble & Squeak!

            Inspired by the mention of a potager in last month’s newsletter David very kindly put fingers to keyboard and sent me his recipe for Pottage – turns out it is the perfect solution to stave of grey winter days & come in to the delicious smell of dinner almost ready… and easy-peasy too. So in his words for your own Pan of Pottage

“just chop a load of onion, carrot, and celery, and soften them in a bit of oil. Then add generous amounts of red lentils and pearl barley and some black pepper, bay leaves, and whatever other herbs you fancy. Then add some water and bring it to a simmer.  Add the beans (if you are using dried beans then you will have had to soak them and boil them in advance). After some time add some chopped potatoes.  You can add other vegetables as liked: we like to add some quartered mushrooms and shredded kale or cabbage towards the end of cooking. Season to taste. Serve with bread or dumplings, and pickled beetroot.  (I like to add some Worcester sauce or Hendersons relish.”

This is one-pot cooking at its best, I have recreated David’s pottage in a large saucepan and the slow cooker (if you are leaving the house whilst cooking then I recommend a slow cooker).  I am not a fan of adding salt so the Worcester sauce was perfect, I was given beetroot relish for Christmas and that was lovely with crusty bread on the side.

And one-pot cooking led me back to the forgotten joys of Bubble & Squeak which, according to the wonderful Wikipedia is one of the "great peasant dishes of the world".  If by this it means not wasting food then I am all for it, a feast of easy ingredients that won’t break the bank or can be found at the bottom of the veg basket!  There are so many variations on this meal, there are no rules (apart from mashed potato), and the possibilities for flavoursome deliciousness are almost limitless. 

So the basics are mashed potato (or mashed up cold roast potato or crushed boiled pots – about 400g or two-thirds of your mix), an onion and (traditionally) cabbage but these days any leftover veg can go in and add flavours with chopped herbs or be brave and add spices.  Melt some butter and soften the onions then add everything else.  The starch in the potatoes will bind it all, pat & poke everything into a flat layer and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until a lovely golden crust starts to form underneath. Fold the crispy bits back into the mash, then pat and flatten down. After about 10 minutes turn over to cook the other side. Serve up and enjoy… extra variations include adding some grated cheese, serving with a fried egg, including stuffing to the mix, serving with gravy and if you are a meatlover then add bacon (or ham…). 

Enjoy some great food and please carry on sharing your own recipes.

PS David, I’m still on crutches but getting there.