Warm Potato Salad

Hello everyone! Apologies for my long, unexplained absence. It's been a while since I cooked anything really blog-worthy. But now things are back in full swing and I will be bringing lots of new and exciting dishes.

My cousin Nerea and I have things called PCJ dates where we come together to eat potatoes, bok choy and jelly. It is a time-honoured tradition and the things we eat never change. However, we are always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to dress up those delicious potatoes. We've done scalloped potatoes, hashbrowns and all sorts of things!

She made this for us on Friday night and it was so delicious that I had to make it for Michael and myself on Sunday.
I've adapted the recipe (and by adapted I mean added anchovies and chives) from the original found in Women's Weekly.

The first thing you will need is about a kilo of waxy potatoes, the recipe suggests nicola. My supermarket only carries the washed and still-dirty varieties and doesn't tell you whether they're floury or waxy. I think the ones I ended up getting were called...I dunno...Courtesans or something. They were definitely floury though, or I may've just overcooked them. But I'm a busy lady! I'm not going to neglect my favourite web comic just for some damn potatoes.
So boil the potatoes for 10 minutes or so until they're cooked but still firm. Drain and cut in to large bite-sized pieces. (I also forgot to mention that you can peel them but I didn't bother. It's not a coronation for goodness sakes, it's my dinner!)
While the potatoes cook, fry some bacon. I know that's infuriatingly vague but the original recipes says to use panchetta and I wasn't making a special trip to the deli. I used six shortcut rashers but it wasn't enough so I'd recommend getting more. Start the bacon in a cold pan and cook it over medium heat until it's really crispy, turning occasionally. This took me about 20 minutes or so. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, crumble and set aside.

Put the bacon pan back on the heat and add about 1/8 cup chopped capers (I like the big caperberries with stems on them, not baby capers), 6 chopped anchovies and a dash of the anchovy oil, 6-8 finely sliced gherkins (you don't know the meaning of the word 'menial' until you've sliced gherkins) and 1-2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard. Stir everything around until the mustard's mixed with the bacon fat and everything's nicely coated. Add 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar and stir to combine. Gradually add 1/3 cup olive oil, stirring well as you go (it sounds like a lot but it's just the right amount for this much potato.)

Add the potatoes and bacon back to the pan, stir and heat through. Add a generous handful of roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley and chives and gently toss everything together. Season with salt 'n' pepper and set aside.

Now to poach an egg. This was a first for me. Though my dad makes perhaps the best poached eggs on the planet I've never asked him to teach me so I was at a bit of a loss. I decided to copy my cousins method and cook it in a bit of Gladwrap. Line a little bowl or ramekin with the 'wrap and crack the egg inside. My cousin managed to tie a knot in it but I couldn't so I just twisted the top. If you're going to do it this way make sure you liberally spray the inside of the Gladwrap with non-stick spray. Make sure the water's only at a low boil and if you're concerned about the thickness of your plastic wrap, do two layers.

A sad looking egg parcel.

Cook one egg per person for about 4 minutes or until they're cooked to your liking.
While the eggs are cooking, serve the potato salad into bowls (this is supposed to serve four...or two if you really like potatoes which we do.) Top with a poached egg and garnish with some extra herbs and freshly ground pepper. I tried to garnish with an extra anchovy but there's no way to make a limp, dead, hairy little fish look decorative.
ENJOY!

If you're wondering whether this was FREAKIN' DELICIOUS, it was! I want to eat it all the live long day! If you'd asked me a year ago which foods I hated I would've said capers and anchovies but now I love them! I just never knew how good they could be. If your only experience of anchovies is those crusty salt explosions on pizza then how could you like them?!
The sweetness of the gherkins really compliment the salty bacon and anchovies.
Everything in the salad is in harmony. To paraphrase Iron Chef: "I think the [potatoes] are happy."

Anyway, both Michael and I highly recommend that you try this out. Your tastebuds will thank you!

Next week: An Apricot Chicken recipe that doesn't make me want to vomit a bit in my mouth!