Purple Spuds

I bought some purple spuds last Friday at the Farmers Market in Clonakilty. Even though we still have spuds from our own garden at home I couldn’t walk past them. Curiosity got the better of me.

They had been relaxing in our vegetable basket until I arrived home from work this evening, hungry and reluctant to cook, I peeled them and chucked them into a frying pan with some onions, peppers and garlic.

Potatoes, peppers, onions and garlic fried in olive oil with a bay leaf is one of those blissful combinations. They’re known as ‘Patates al Pobre ‘in Spain which translates to’Poor mans Potatoes’ It’s great dish to cook as once the veg are chopped and in the pan they require very little effort.I hung around the kitchen chatting on skype to our daughter,  giving the pan an occasional stir

The potatoes were an intense bright purple when I peeled them and stunning when they hit the pan but they cooked up a rather sludgy browny purple. This is not as bad as it sounds, just a little disappointing on the colour front. They are quite dense, kind of waxy and floury at the same time and have a good flavour.

The new hens have just begun to lay these very cute little eggs

so I fried up a couple of eggs and ate them on top.  I cracked the soft yolks and let them run down over the spuds.

Yum!

Here’s the recipe, and if you see any purple spuds around I recommend you give them a whirl!

Patates a lo Pobre – enough for 4 people

3 onions

2-3 peppers

2 bay leaves

3—4 cloves garlic

1kg waxy potatoes

About 150mls olive oil

Salt and pepper

A splash of good quality red wine or balsamic vinegar

Peel the onions, cut into half and slice thinly. Heat the frying pan or skillet, add half of the olive oil and the sliced onions, Season with a little salt and when the onions are sizzling away turn the heat to medium and cook gently without browning. Wash the peppers, remove the seeds and cut into 1 cm strips then stir into the onions together with the bay leave. Peel the potatoes then chop them into small chunks or slices, adding to the pan as you go. Add the remaining olive oil Peel the garlic and cut into quarters and stir in. Season everything with salt and pepper.

Cook for about thirty minutes, or until the potatoes are tender, giving regular stirs so that they don’t stick to the pan.

Serve with a splash of good red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar.