A grater signals a rough-and-tumble, happy-go-lucky approach to cooking. It suggests scatterings and handfuls and textured meals that can be cobbled together and wolfed down in minutes. And while a grating doesn’t usually allow for precision, it can – as a sprinkling so often is – be beautiful.
The winning recipe: Grated cured egg yolk
While waiting for these TwinnyDip beauties to cure (four days – making this recipe by far the longest prep the Swap has thus far encountered), I was plumping for the expedient simplicity of Lauren Kisby’s rosti (to follow) as winner. But then, when the yolks were at last ready to grate and sprinkle, their glowing canary hue lighting up my kitchen, I was torn. For flavour and looks, it is the perfect garnish. I used it to make a homemade furikake (savoury rice topping), adding yuzu chilli flakes, black sesame seeds and tendrils of nori. I was so excited, I had to call my mother.
Makes 4
220g sugar
275g salt
4 large egg yolks
1 Combine the sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
2 In a small, lidded container (big enough for all four yolks to sit in one layer without touching each other), spread half the sugar-salt mixture. Carefully make four egg yolk-sized hollows in it. Then, one by one, separate the eggs, setting the white aside. Place a yolk in each hollow, ensuring they stay intact – be very careful not to break the yolks. Ensure there is salt and sugar all around each yolk, then sprinkle the remainder – very gently – on top of the yolks, to cover them completely. Cover the container with the lid and refrigerate for 4 days.
3 Take the container out of the fridge and carefully take each yolk out, removing as much of the sugar-salt mixture as possible. Run each yolk for no more than a couple of seconds under a cold tap to remove any excess sugar-salt mixture stuck to the surface of the yolks. Pat dry carefully using kitchen towel. Grate on the fine side of a box grater atop seafood, soups, garlicky braised veg, bitter leaf salad – essentially, wherever a poached egg might do. The cured yolks will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Sweet potato rosti
With a single tuber, Lauren Kisby has delivered the ultimate emergency meal. The grating creates texture, while radically reducing cooking times. The secret to a good rosti or fritter – as opposed to a panful of sauteed, grated mess – is to let it cook thoroughly on one side before gently turning, and to let it cool in the pan before serving.
Serves 1
1 sweet potato, peeled and grated
Salt and black pepper
2 tsp plain flour
Coconut oil, for frying
1 Microwave or briefly steam the sweet potato until slightly soft – about 1½–2 minutes. Season, stir in the flour to bind, then set aside.
2 Heat a little coconut oil in a heavy-based pan. When hot, add the sweet potato. Gently turn after 5-10 minutes and cook for the same amount of time on the other side. You want it firm and golden on the outside.
3 Leave it to rest in the pan for 10 minutes before serving with the accompaniment of your choice: shredded ham, spring onions, sweet chilli peppers, a poached egg …
Carrot and goat’s cheese fritters
Smooth, pleasingly filled with cheese, with fragrant pops of flavour from the nigella and fennel seeds, Val Pendleton’s recipe is an exemplar of the basic grated veg and cheese fritter.
Makes 12
300g carrots, peeled and grated
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds
Salt and black pepper
65g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 egg, beaten
200g soft goat’s cheese
2 tbsp sunflower or other light oil
1 In a large mixing bowl, combine the grated carrots with the fennel and nigella seeds, a little salt (depending on how salty your cheese is), and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
2 Add the flour, baking powder, lemon zest and garlic. Add the egg and mix again till combined. Crumble in the goat’s cheese and fold everything together.
3 Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low-medium heat, then carefully place scoops of the mixture into the hot oil, about 4 at a time. Flatten a little with a spatula, then cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Keep warm on kitchen roll to drain off any excess oil until you’ve cooked them all.
Parsnip and ginger cake with maple icing
ColonialCravings has come up with a very pleasing alternative to carrots (everyone’s favourite cake vegetable): parsnips do their orange relatives proud, particularly when paired with ginger. The real beauty here is the maple icing.
Serves 6-8
100g unsalted butter
A pinch of salt
150g soft light brown sugar
3 eggs
200g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1½ tsp baking powder
100ml buttermilk
2 medium parsnips (about 250g), peeled and grated
1 apple, peeled and grated
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
For the frosting
50g unsalted butter
125g cream cheese
2 tbsp maple syrup
125g icing sugar
1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Lightly grease and line a couple of sandwich tins.
2 Beat together the butter, salt and sugar until they are pale and fluffy. Beat the eggs into the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour between each addition and beating well.
3 Sift together the remaining flour and raising agents, then stir this into the batter. Very briefly beat in the buttermilk, then fold through the parsnip, apple and ginger. Make sure everything is well combined, but don’t overmix the batter.
4 Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins and smooth off the tops. Bake the sponges for 30 minutes, by which time they should be well risen and golden brown with a slight bounce to them. Leave the sponges to cool on a wire rack.
5 For the icing, beat together the butter and cream cheese. Mix in the syrup, then beat in the sugar. The frosting should be quite thick and creamy. Spread half of the frosting on to whichever sponge you want to use as the base of the cake, then sandwich the other one on top. Swirl the remaining frosting on top.
Courgette and cheese toastie
As those smoked applewood biscuits from a few weeks back made abundantly clear, Bobby Ananta knows his way around a piece of cheese. And this is a four-cheese toastie. Grated veg bulks it out, and sourdough toast holds it handsomely.
Serves 4-6
320g courgettes, grated, excess water squeezed out
190g carrot, grated
125g red leicester, grated
100g parmesan, grated
100g feta, grated
80g edam, grated
A sprig of mint, chopped
A handful of parsley, chopped
1 large red chilli, finely sliced
2 tsp garlic powder
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 tsp of cracked black pepper
4-6 slices sourdough bread
50g butter
1 In a large bowl mix together the veg, cheeses, herbs, chilli, garlic, spring onion and black pepper.
2 Assemble each sandwich and, one at a time, place them in a hot, lightly greased griddle pan (assuming you don’t have a panini toaster). Place a frying pan on top of the sandwich and weigh it down with a couple of tins. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until the crust starts to brown and the cheese melts. Flip it a couple of times, so it cooks evenly.
Potato crust quiche with lardons, creme fraiche and marjoram
DetoutcoeurLimousin has done a French classic mashup – a quiche lorraine filling encased in a rapée de pommes de terre base. Lighter than pastry and wonderfully flavoursome.
Serves 4-6
For the base
600g floury potatoes, grated
1 egg, beaten
Salt and black pepper
1 tbsp butter or oil
For the filling
250g bacon lardons or bacon, chopped
3 eggs
150g creme fraiche
1 handful fresh marjoram, chopped
50g comté, or other mature hard cheese, grated
½ tsp nutmeg, grated
Black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Squeeze out the excess liquid from the grated potatoes, then mix with the egg, salt and pepper.
2 Grease a 20cm-diameter quiche dish or deep baking pan with butter or oil, then spread out the grated potato over the base, pressing up the sides of the dish. Bake the potato base for 25 minutes, or until the potatoes have softened and are turning golden.
3 Prepare the quiche filling by frying the bacon lardons until they start to go crispy. Beat the eggs with the creme fraiche, marjoram, grated cheese, grated nutmeg and black pepper. Pour into the part-cooked potato base and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until the filling is just set. Remove from the oven and serve hot or cold.
