These freeze pretty well, so you can make up a batch of them any time you have an overabundance of spuds and store them for future use. Just make sure you defrost them thoroughly before cooking.

Ingredients:

12-15 potatoes – I’ve done a little messing around with varieties and find that firmly textured potatoes like Desiree seem to make for the best results
50g plain white flour
3 eggs, separated
100g breadcrumbs (I find it easiest to freeze a few slices of bread and then break them up in a food processor)
½ a head of cabbage
4 rashers of streaky bacon
3 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
20g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
salt & pepper
teaspoon of mustard powder

1. Peel the potatoes and chop into large pieces, about 3-4cm across. Put into a large pan of boiling water, and cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft.

2. Drain the potatoes, add the butter and olive oil, and mash thoroughly. Set aside to cool.

3. Finely shred the cabbage and blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, until slightly wilted but still crisp. Grill the bacon until crispy, then chop it into small pieces.

4. Get your hands dirty! Add the cabbage, bacon, flour, egg yolks, spring onions, salt & pepper and mustard powder to the potatoes and mix the whole lot together. You should end up with a doughy mixture that holds together pretty well – add more flour if it’s too wet.

5. Form the potato mixture into golf-ball sized pieced and flatten them between your hands. Dip first into the egg whites, then into the breadcrumbs, and ensure they are fairly well coated.

6. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan – make sure it’s good and hot. Fry the potato cakes in batches of two or three at a time – any more than this and the temperature differential will reduce the heat of the oil, meaning that the potato starch will absorb the oil instead of being sealed by the heat. You may need to add more oil, or refresh it partway through cooking if it starts to fill up with bits of singed bread.

7. Once cooked, decant the potato cakes to an ovenproof plate covered in kitchen roll, and keep warm in a very low oven until you have finished frying. Served with a green salad.