24.11.11

Brightened up bubble and squeak


Tell anyone in Spain that you live in Scotland and you will instantly hear two things: "lucky you, all that scenery" and "poor you, that horrible food".

Wrong , and wrong.

Mountains don´t really do it for me, and lakes and moors are only useful for a picnic, which, since it´s usually wet and windy, they aren´t.

British food, on the other hand, is lovely, and is just what you need for British weather, which is, well, awful, really. Tact is all very well but what can you say?


So anyway, they have this thing called bubble and squeak, which is a hash of the cabbage and potatoes left over from a Sunday lunch, usually livened up by a fried egg. It is awesome.


But, through one of those fridge foraging flukes, I have come up with a version that is just as good, but feels lighter, newer, and is very pretty on the plate: sweet potatoes and broccoli. Gurgle and squeal? Screechy and foam?


Never mind. Here´s how it goes.


You will need some cooked sweet potatoes. This is an irritating start to a recipe, I know, but there you are. I usually roast them in peeled wedges, but they can be microwaved in four or five minutes.


Once you have those, you make some pan steamed broccoli (again, yes, I know. This is a core lobstersquad recipe). A few cumin seeds and perhaps some mustard seeds will go very well, and chilieas, if that is your thing. When the broccoli is almost done, add a bit more oil and the cooked sweet potatoes, and, after swirling it around the pan, leave it alone: the idea is to let it catch a little, caramelize and get a crust.


The broccoli will probably cook a little more than is fashionable, but this is not a problem in this dish.

It is colourful and very good with almost anything.

5 comentarios:

Pia dijo...

i'm nodding at the bit about the mountains, lakes and moors. pretty, yes. but also pretty unusable most months of the year.
your version of the bubble and squeak - now, that sounds highly usable. sweet potatoes and broccoli! yes, definitely.

kitchen afternoon dijo...

that sounds nice and light - it's thanksgiving, if I see one more sweet potato pie I'll......

Steph dijo...

I always add just a touch of the Spanish smoked paprika to mine as well as cumin & chilli. :)

Amy @ Tasty Top dijo...

You can tell anyone pretty much anywhere you live in Scotland and you'll usually get a poor you. Great People, Nice Scenery .. worst weather and its so dark. Everyone is pasty white.

Unknown dijo...

I used to live in Madrid and that was when I first found your blog, which I found most useful for discovering new places to eat. Rey de Tallarines was a favourite and not far from where we lived near Quevedo.

I am from Scotland, and was born in Aberdeen in fact so was very surprised to read you are there now! I grew up in Edinburgh so I don't remember much of Aberdeen though. My mother is Spanish and my father Scottish so I completely identified with what you said about people in Spain thinking British food is rubbish.

It always used to make me (and my mum) so angry when people said that because there is a lot of nice food here but people seem unable to see past fish and chips.

I look forward to reading your blog again, it's as entertaining as I remember it being before.

Carla :)

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