Bubble & Squeak

Recently we had a roast chicken catastrophe in the kitchen. OK so catastrophe might be a strong term, but I was tired and when I roasted the chicken upside down, leaving the breast sort of raw in the middle it felt like a catastrophe. Especially since I didn't realise it was upside down until we went to carve it.

Honestly since I started cooking for myself (and others) I've made countless roasted chickens. Its easy, that's its whole draw.  Except after work when your stuffing herbs and lemons into a chicken's backside at 5pm, after cranking through another balls to the wall day during our busy season at my 9-5, with my mind on 700 other things. When my boyfriend came home at quarter to eight and pulled the bird out of the oven he asked if it was deformed...In these cases sometimes you want to cry, and it feels like a catastrophe. We all make mistakes, and sometimes we all eat chicken legs and mashed potatoes while the rest of our dinner roasts in the oven for lunch tomorrow.

Even better: sometimes delicious miracles come from kitchen catastrophe.

Bubble & Squeak is a traditional British dish typically made from the leftovers of a Sunday roast, mashed potatoes with a little egg and flour and whatever leafy green you roasted or boiled a side dish. In this case (and every case really?) I made some substitutions and additions so that it suited our palates, and what we have in the pantry.

I started with the leftover smashed potatoes (skins on is how we roll in this house, and we whip them with a good old fashioned hand masher, skim milk and local butter) I used kale chopped into ribbons and in place of the egg and flour I used a few tablespoons of nonfat cottage cheese and matzo meal (we're multicultural like that)

A quick spin in a warm pan sprayed with just a little olive oil, a flip and then i topped them with a spritz of thyme vinegar and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Its a warm, filling and surprisingly delicious lunch, or supper (I'd add a side salad).

Kitchen miracles can happen.

Bubble & Squeak

2 cups of leftover mashed or smashed potatoes
2 cups of kale, stems removed, sliced into thin ribbons
1/4 cup nonfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup of matzo meal
garlic powder, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flake to taste*

Mix everything above together, checking that the texture is not too wet or too dry to make patties if you need to add more matzo or cottage cheese to supplement, everyones leftover potatoes are different.

Form patties and chill while you bring a large skillet to medium heat, add a small amount of oil evenly to the pan and drop in your potatoe cakes. when you acheive a crusty brown bottom, flip them over and dio it again on the other side. Pull them from the pan and rest them for a minute before seving alongside your favorite condiments, we like thyme vinegar and salt, or spicy ketchup. Creamy horseradish sauce would be fabulous too. More...

Roasted Kale and more Eggplant

In the middle of a week of cold rain, I've been wrestling with a cold. My ‘first of the season’, as they say...except its usually much further into the 'season' IF I get sick at all. This one is a doozy, its been a week since I first started feeling it, and its not giving up yet. Not an evening has passed where I have seen ten o'clock, more often than not, I'm asleep by nine. As a result, the eating and cooking going on in our kitchen has been limited. Over the weekend we ate salads, sandwiches, and leftover meatballs. Monday night we ate baguette, cheese, and an heirloom tomato while standing at the butcher block. (not the worst of our dinners I assure you). Tuesday I was determined to do something with our produce, and to turn on the oven to chase away the chilly air hanging around our house. Something hearty and healthy, that was also warm and comforting. Enter the roasted vegetables.

I've waxed nostalgic about eggplant before, but last night this eggplant was not destined for stir-fry or any kind of Asian application. I needed something a bit closer to home. Kale is another comfort food of mine, a hold over from early college vegetarian adventures. We eat it often, and even the man was heard to utter "I love kale" last night. Do you know what made the difference for him?

I roasted it.


Yup. After reading all those blog posts about kale chips, I succumbed. I didn't roast it to a chip level, only enough to reduce it (by almost a third) and to crisp its edges. The flavor is deepened, and it retains its texture. Prior to roasting it I tossed it in olive oil and crushed red pepper, which gave it quite a bite. All in all I probably used a bit too much since I have cold and my taste buds are off, so if you don’t like spicy, I would suggest halving the red pepper, or omitting it completely. The eggplant I roasted whole, turning the formerly dark, firm vegetable to something that resembled a giant raisin. (I find a bread pan worked really well, you don’t have to worry that your aubergine is going to roll out of its pan and into your oven) Once roasted our purple friend slips out of his skin very easily. Mashed slightly and combined with a bit of pasta water, lemon zest and a small handful of fluffy grated Romano (use a micro planer, you will get a very fine, quick dissolving shred) he makes a lovely, (if not slightly grey,) and toothsome sauce. What could be better to dress some whole-wheat penne? You can pile the quickly roasted kale up on top of your little eggplant-sauced pasta, and pretend for an instant, that its acceptable to eat your dinner while standing in front of the open oven door.



Roasted Kale and Eggplant ‘Sauce’
Serves four (or two, with lunches)


1 medium eggplant

½ bunch of kale washed and torn to quasi-bite size chunks (keep in mind it shrinks)

½ box whole wheat penne cooked to package instructions, ½ cup of pasta water reserved

¼ cup olive oil divided

Zest of a small lemon

¼ cup finely grated / shredded romano cheese

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Kosher salt, to taste

Black pepper to taste

Coat eggplant in a tablesppon of oil, salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

When the eggplant begins to resemble a giant raisin, toss kale in olive oil, salt peeper and crushed red pepper, lay on a baking sheet and roast for 5 minutes. Remove the veggies from the oven. In a large bowl, cut the top from your eggplant and remove the skin by peeling it back in strips, it should come off very easily. Using a wooden spoon combine the roasted eggplant flesh, zest, and cheese. It should be a rather ugly, greyish paste. Thin as desired with pasta water, and combine with hot pasta. Top with a healthy pile of roasted kale.

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