Day 76: Sweet Potato, Courgette & Feta Fritters with a Poached Egg

inspired by Brother Marcus

I’ve decided that Monday Brunch should be a thing.

As we ease out of lockdown and more people are heading back to work, for some reason Mondays are starting to feel a bit eurgh again. I have no idea why I’m feeling like this, as I’m not back at work yet (I wish).

OK well maybe I have a small idea why I’m feeling a bit deflated this morning. It was Aidan’s birthday this weekend, so I’ve consumed far too much wine. And eating a lot of baked goods. Aidan’s not a huge fan of cake but he had birthday biscuits and birthday scones instead.

So as I sat down this morning with another birthday shortbread and a cup of tea I decide I needed some brunch. Fair to say by the time I had been to the shops and then got it ready it was well past brunch time. Well past lunch time too. I was starving.

I’m carrying on with Meat Free Monday so all I know is that I want to cook something veggie. And I’ve found a sweet potato that I really do need to eat soon.

Then these fritters pop into my mind.

“Step Sister – Sweet Potato, Courgette & Feta Fritters, Avocado & Spinach, Crispy Kale, Turmeric Yoghurt & A Poached Egg”

Not entirely sure why it’s called The Stepsister. All Brother Marcus’s dishes seem to have funny names. Yummy Mummy, Bob’s Your Uncle, Sugar Daddy…. It all sounds delicious though!

I’ve not eaten at one of these restaurants (Angel, Balham and Spitalfields) so this is another time I’m making up a dish as I go along.

This photo from Instagram gives me some clues. I’m assuming the paper plate is because Brother Marcus is now doing brunch to take away (and their on deliver apparently…. sadly not in my area though).

The sweet potato patties look a bit smoother than the Sweet Potato Cakes I made before, inspired by Grind.

Then I simply grated the raw sweet potato finely and let it cook in the pan once the patties were shaped.

This time I’m trying a different method. I pop the sweet potato in the microwave, making sure to prick the skin with a sharp knife first. I don’t want another small explosion. My microwave smelt like chicken gravy for days after making Carrot Cooked in Chicken Fat.

Four minutes on each side and the potato is soft. I pull off the skin and the steaming orange flesh goes into a bowl. I add grated courgette, an egg white (another leftover egg white? what am I doing with all these yolks??) and a bit of chipotle paste. I mix it all together really well and season. Finally I stir through feta, gently this time so the cheese stays in nice little lumps.

Onto all the garnishes.

The avocado gets mashed with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Frozen spinach is defrosted in a frying pan with some chili flakes for a bit of a kick.

I don’t have any kale but I do have some cavolo nero. I roughly chop a little of this and then fry in really hot oil until it’s crispy.

Finally I stir some turmeric into natural yoghurt. It’s not as yellow as the picture from Brother Marcus but oh well.

As I fry the patties I also poach an egg. I can honestly say it’s one of the weirdest poached eggs I have ever seen. It looks like the yolk is trying to run away from the white, as the yolk is on one side and all the white on the other. No idea how I did that. It will taste fine though….

All that’s left to do is plate up. As I stack up the layers of sweet potato patties, spinach and avocado I realise perhaps I should have made them a little thinner. It’s quite a tall stack.

This isn’t helped by the fact that my decidedly lopsided egg just doesn’t want to stay put. I manage to snap a few pictures but before I can tuck in it slides off the patties into the turmeric yoghurt below.

But wow it tastes so good. A really colourful plate of food, with at least 4 portions of veg in it. What more can you ask for?

Perhaps for an egg that stays on top. Must make the patties a bit flatter next time.

Oh, and a tip about the turmeric yoghurt. Just make it half an hour before you want to eat it. By the time I went to wash up the leftover yoghurt was luminous yellow.

Sweet Potato, Courgette & Feta Fritters

served with a poached egg, turmeric yoghurt, spinach, avocado & crispy cavolo nero

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 40 mins

Course Breakfast

Servings 1 person

Ingredients

  

• 1 sweet potato
• ½ courgette
• 25 g feta
• 1 egg white
• ½ tsp chipotle paste
• 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 50 g frozen spinach
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 1 small avocado
• 1 piece cavolo nero (or kale)
• 1 egg
• olive oil

Instructions

 

• Grate the courgette, season generously with salt and leave in a bowl for at least half an hour. Then squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
• Make the tumeric yoghurt by adding the tumeric to the natural yoghurt and stir. Set aside for at least half an hour before serving so it can go a lovely yellow colour.
• Prick the skin of the sweet potato with a sharp knife and then microwave on full power for 3-4 minutes on each side until the potato is soft. Peel off the skin and mash the potato flesh in a bowl. Add the egg white and the grated courgette and mix well. Gently stir in crumbled feta and shape into three patties.
• Fry the cavolo nero in olive oil on a high heat until really crispy. Leave to drain on kitchen paper.
• Mash the avocado with salt, pepper and a little olive oil and set aside.
• Put the frozen spinach in a frying pan with the chili flakes and let it slowly defrost. Take the spinach out of the pan, add some olive oil and then use this pan to fry the fritters. They should need about 3 minutes on each side, until golden.
• Finally poach the egg for 2-3 minutes until you have set white and a runny yolk.
• Plate up by adding yoghurt to a plate and put half the spinach in the centre. Then stack each fritter with more spinach and avocado and top with the poached egg. Scatter around the crispy cavolo nero and it's ready.

Keyword avocado, baked eggs, breakfast, brunch, cavolo nero, fritters, poached egg, spinach, sweet potato, yoghurt