Bubble & Squeak

Last night for supper we had a kind of bubble and squeak. Except that I also used eggs so it might have been an omelette. Or perhaps by combining potatoes and eggs fried it was really tortilla. Don't know exactly what to call it but it was very tasty.

Bubble and squeak as a dish it has been around for generations - even Mrs Beeton had a recipe. It's about frugality really, using leftovers from the Sunday roast on Monday. Maria's cafe at Borough is famous for her bubble at breakfast. Basically you mash cold roast potatoes, mix them with yesterday's cooked cabbage then flatten it into a heavy based pan and fry in dripping/butter/oil till the bottom crisps. Flip over and crisp the other side then serve. The name comes from the sound of the dish - bubbles from boiling the cabbage, the squeak from the frying. My pan doesn't squeak when it fries so much as spit though I don't imagine many people would queue for bubble and spit.

The only time I ever made 'proper' bubble & squeak was the christmas before last when I'd read a recipe from Matthew Fort in the Guardian that involved leftover roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts fried up in beef dripping and topped with stilton. Reading that now makes me wonder why I thought it would be fabulous - stilton and beef dripping? I had even bought dripping specially. Not likely to be a light supper but I guess it's the xmas effect. It is impossible to be too excessive as you feast or perhaps just to be rational when all about is frenzy.

I had some boiled new potatoes left over from dinner on Sunday and, as I'd already made a brown rice salad to go with cold pork for lunches didn't need them for salad. I toyed with the idea of vegetable curry but didn't really fancy it. I had eggs and a pale pointy headed cabbage and the last of a rochetta that needed using so melange it was.

A Sort of Bubble & Squeak

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

1 tbspn olive oil

1 tbspn butter

200g/1/2 lb cooked new potatoes, roughly chopped

200g/1/2lb cabbage, roughly shredded

1 tbspn rosemary, finely chopped

3 eggs, beaten

100g/4oz soft cheese

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter into the oil and fry the onion till soft and translucent. Add the cabbage and cook till it starts to wilt then add the rosemary and potatoes. Fry till they are a little crispy. Pour in the beaten eggs and cook over a strong heat till the bottom sets.

Preheat the grill to hot as it will go.

Season the vegetables/egg and add the soft cheese in small dollops over the top of the pan. Put the pan under the grill for a few minutes till the egg sets and the cheese bubbles (!) and becomes golden. Serve onto warm plates.

We had this with bread from Saturday that I had heated through to freshen it up. Hot crusty bread was the perfect accompaniment - and frugal too.