small dishes for cold days

25th March 2013

Sourdough Potato Pancakes

I thought I would contribute this small brunch dish to the ‘what shall I do with my old starter’ conversation.

Not everything in life needs a recipe and these are a prime example.

I had some old starter in the fridge from when I had been away and when I stirred it up it had a bit of life in it still. I dipped a finger in and had a taste, sour but not unacceptable.

It was so cold yesterday that I thought we had better have something warm for lunch.

So I dry fried a couple of slices of Lindsays of Cockermouth’s best dry cure middle cut bacon, no nasty white stuff coming out of this like the supermarket rubbish, and not very salty either, a little black pudding for Brian and a few tomatoes with a splash of balsamic vinegar to give them a bit more taste than they have at this time of year.

I then found a small bowl of mashed potatoes from last night’s supper in the fridge and thought oh why not…

So here is the method. Forgive the quantities.

In a large bowl

Pour in your old starter
Add a couple of large spoonfuls of cold mashed potato
A glass or two of milk (skimmed is fine)
A couple of spoonfuls of flour
Two large eggs
A pinch of salt

Whisk it all up, but don’t worry too much about the little lumps of mashed potato.
Heat a small pan on the hob.
Put the oven on a keep warm setting and pop a plate in.
Chase a fingernail’s worth of butter round the pan once it is hot.
Tip little ladles of mixture into the pan and swirl them round.
Cook on one side, till nice and golden brown, flip and cook the other side.
Stack on the warm plate in the oven.

Sourdough Mashed Potato Pancakes with Brown Sauce