You alright there, Matt?
You alright James?
How's it going?
Yeah not too bad, thank you.
Autumn season's with us, and I'm looking for a really nice salad potato
Any ideas?
Yeah, I think you've come at a perfect time because I'm digging up these Pink Fir Apple potatoes as we speak.
Okay.
These are great, because these are slightly unusual
These are heirloom or heritage potato and really old, date from the mid-19th century, from France
and they're completely different from a potato you buy in a supermarket because you see they've got an unusual shape
but the reason they're still popular is because they taste fantastic
got a really waxy texture to them and a nice nutty flavour
they should be really good in the kitchen.
Okay perfect, yeah, exactly what I'm looking for, could we harvest some then?
Yeah definitely, we can dig some plants up, you can have a go if you want?
Yeah, why not?
Looks like you've got the right shoes on.
It's a pretty easy job really, but we do have a special tool for it
and this is a special potato fork and it's different from a digging fork
because as you can see it's got really wide tines
and that means we've got less chance of spiking the potatoes when we dig them up.
Just a little top tip for anyone who's digging up lots of potatoes is one of these is really handy
but other than that it's exactly the same process as digging them up with a normal fork.
Rather than coming right on top of the plant
where we're more likely to damage the tubers
what we want to do come in by the side of the plant and the tines go in vertically
So what we want to do is go in and get underneath the plant
and lift them out the ground from below, and they've got less chance of damaging them basically
So, I think you should be able to manage this.
Let's give it a go.
Right up and underneath it.
So, Matt, when do you know that they're ready?
Well, when the stock tops of the plants are completely died back like this,
you know that they're not going to do any more growing
So that's a sign that you can lift them.
They are a main crop, so have a long growing season
So I tend to leave them all the way through until the tops have died.
That's it.
But on the whole, when the potato starts to flower, that's a sign that the tubers are forming
So, a couple of weeks after flowering would be about right.
Right, gotcha.
But yeah, this is their maximum size they're going to get.
I'm out of breath mate, what's going on?
You'll break sweat in a minute, James.
Don't even do that in the kitchen anymore.
That's a pretty good harvest off one plant, I'm pleased with that.
So what are you going to use them for today?
Yes, I'm thinking a nice warm niçoise salad will work really well with this potato
with panko poached egg and pan fried sea bass
You wouldn't have any red onions or green beans around, would you?
I think we can manage that.
I've got some red onions in the polytunnel drying out that you can have,
and I'm sure we've got a few beans we can pick, that shouldn't be a problem.
Perfect, let's have a look.
Perfect.
Brilliant.
Alright James?
Alright there Matt, you scrubbed up well.
I make an effort.
You nearly look the part.
Got my chef's hat on.
You ready to cook?
Yeah, let's go for it.
Okay brilliant. So, we've got a lovely sea bass fillet here that's already been prepped
so I've been busy doing the mise en place so that's been filleted, boned and scaled and pin boned.
We've got your lovely potatoes we got from the garden, they've cleaned up well
I've blanched them off as well as the green beans that we got from the garden
Panko poached egg is ready, we'll go through that a little bit later.
Some red onions, again from the garden, some capers and some sun blushed tomatoes.
I'll talk you through it and we'll cook it together yeah?
Let's go for it.
Okay, so we've got a sea bass fillet.
So we're gonna lightly season with salt and pepper.
Our oil's nice and hot, so you want to just grab it from the tail and put it skin side down
and as you drop it down you want to press down on the flesh of the fish.
All the time? Yep.
Okay, now in the other pan we're gonna do our warm niçoise salad.
Alright.
We've got your lovely Pink Fir Apple potatoes that have been blanched ready to go into the pan
a good tablespoon of red onions
Okay, so we just want to sauté them off
The fish is working
Alright Matt, we're going to add some sun blush tomatoes,
some green beans, again they've been blanched and refreshed
and our capers.
Looking nice!
Give them a toss, want to give it a go?
Don't want it ending up on the floor.
That's about as good as you're going to get out of me I think.
Just like me with the garden fork.
Okay, and then we'll finish with a little bit of lemon juice,
a little bit more salt,
Ok, so the niçoise's done.
Happy? It's that straightforward. Even I can do that.
Time to deep fry a panko poached egg.
So, what is a panko poached egg?
Okay, so we've poached an egg for two to three minutes
and then refreshed it in an ice cold water,
and that stops the cooking process
and then we just panéd it, so flour,
I always recommend you use just egg whites
because if you use the yolk as well, the fat content burns your crumb too quick
and then a panko poached egg is
it's a Japanese breadcrumb basically that it's coated in
It should complement the dish really really well
So we'll drop it into the fryer
and that'll literally, you just want to cook it till it's golden brown
You're looking at about one minute.
It's gonna look delicious.
Perfectly golden brown.
Okay Matt, fish is more or less there
So we're just gonna finish with a little bit of butter.
I like this, salt and butter, it's the way to cook.
Okay, we're ready to plate.
So this is the pretty bit.
It is.
We'll let you plate up, you feel confident?
Not when anything comes to pretty, no, but we'll give it a go.
All of this?
Yeah, try and hit the middle of your plate, that's it.
That alright?
Perfect!
And then your sea bass on top and just use your fingers on top.
On top?
Yeah, and then your panko poached egg.
On top again? Yep go for it. Even I can manage this.
Perfect.
Okay, we'll finish with a little bit of baby watercress
and a drizzle of olive oil.
There you go. Lovely. All you've got to do now is try it.
Okay mate, best part.
Perfect. Dig in, let's go for it.
Potato first for me.
Potatoes work well?
Nice and waxy.
Exactly the potato we're looking for for this dish.
That's really nice.
Good.
Saturday Kitchen eat your heart out.