Homity Potatoes

Method

Boil the potatoes until tender. Chop the onions, then sauté in the oil until really soft. Combine the potatoes and onions. Add the butter, parsley, cheese, garlic, milk and season well to taste.

Bake in oven at 220º for 25 minutes or so, until golden.

Maybe sprinkle over a little more fresh parsley before serving.

Whatever the weather threatens to bring, be it snow, ice or floods and however empty the larder appears to become, so long as there are a few potatoes in store, there’s a meal in the house and no cause to worry. During conversations with several of you in recent weeks about potato recipes, it’s become apparent that we all share a warm affection for this basic vegetable. I cannot think back to the meals I grew up on without remembering the (rather huge) heaps of light, buttery whipped potato puree spooned onto our plates – my mother remains the best mashed-potato-cook in the world.

What can be more welcoming on a freezing cold day, than a fluffy baked potato with the luxury of a golden knob of melting butter or a handful of grated cheese or a generous spoonful of cottage cheese or a ladle of leftover chilli or some tinned tuna from the cupboard or … the list is endless! To my taste, roast potatoes perhaps with rosemary and garlic, are even better than the actual Sunday roast, especially while I am still cooking them in fat from the Christmas goose. Before long, spring will eventually set in and herald the appearance of the Cornish new potatoes – I could eat those “till the cows come home”, as they say, even the cold leftovers with a sprinkling of salt are a real treat.

In the meantime, I would heartily recommend Homity Potatoes as a way of enjoying the spuds at your disposal; it’s been a firm favourite for years at Whitsend.

Mrs Trewhitless