Mishmash or Hash

We have so many different “leftover” potato dishes from all over the UK – I suppose the most common in England is bubble and squeak – there are many more variations with some brilliant names too, so I thought I'd introduce you to a few.

The beauty of the following leftover dishes is that armed with your frying pan suitable for use in the oven - they are one pan suppers.

Adults and kids alike aren't keen on the green stuff like sprouts and cabbage and these days I'd bet that there are many out there who've never eaten swede or turnip! The beauty of swede, in particular, is that it's texture lends itself to mashing.

To kick off, if you'll pardon the rugby analogy, here are a couple of fine Irish examples and both recipes given are from scratch, just in case that's your preference :

Colcannon

Savoy cabbage, finely shredded – half a cabbage

approximately 350g in weight

30g butter

Bunch of spring onions finely chopped

1.5kg Maris piper potatoes,

Salt and black pepper

Cook the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, peel and mash. You could use a ricer for guaranteed lump free.

Put the cabbage in a pan with the butter and cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes until tender, stirring frequently.

Add the spring onions and cook for another minute or two.

Mix with the mashed potato and season well.

If you've cooked your potatoes ahead or are using leftovers, pop the completed dish into a pre-heated oven (200c/180 fan/Gas 6) for 20 minutes. You could use oven-proof ramekins and serve straight to the table.

Pea and Spring Onion Champ

1.5kg Potatoes, scrubbed

100g butter

500ml/18 fl oz milk (or if a richer consistency

75% milk to 25% double cream)

450g frozen peas

75g spring onions, chopped

4 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and black pepper

Cook the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, peel and mash. You could use a ricer for absolute “lump free”. Add half the butter – 50g, after mashing or ricing.

Place the milk/cream in a pan with the peas and onions and boil, gently, for 4/5 minutes. Add the parsley, take off the heat.

Add the potatoes, keep some of the milk back – you may not need it all.

Season to taste and beat until creamy and smooth – add more milk if required.

Serve piping hot with a knob of butter melting in the centre.

N.B. If you wish you could add grated mature cheddar cheese.

Personally I'd never cook a dish like these from scratch – I have a “always cook more vegetables than I'll use” policy – it makes sense to have the wherewithal to create a quick “froven” (meaning frying pan to oven) supper. You can be healthy or not, depending on your mood – and the weather! As a vegetarian these recipes suit me well, but they are practical in that for those who like their meat you can serve with sausages, bacon, corned beef or gammon. You can be fancy if you want to and serve in rings and top with a poached egg, you can be as rustic or not as you wish but the result is the same, bags of flavour and ticks all the boxes.