Bubble and Squeak? - I don't see any bubbles! I don't hear any squeaks!
As I begin to come to the end of the countries that start with A, I come to Australia. I was hoping to actually find an Aboriginal Australian pancake, but I didn't have much luck with that. Instead I found that Australia has a couple of different types of pancakes that come from their English heritage. The first one is called a pikelet. This is a more traditional flour type of pancake. The other one is called a bubble and squeak, which is more similar to the Andorran trinxat and made from potatoes. I decided to go for the potato pancake version. I made this decision for two reasons: 1) I've had the flour version of pancakes for a few weeks now, and I wanted to mix things up a bit, and 2) New Zealand also eats the pikelet as their pancake, so I thought it would be best to save the pikelet for then.
As I searched for bubble and squeak recipes, I discovered the reason why they're named bubble and squeak. Apparently the vegetables are supposed to squeak as you fry them. I'm not sure about this, as I didn't hear any vegetables squeaking when I fried them. Also, I discovered that there are many different ways to make bubble and squeak. Most of them use the base of potatoes and cabbage, and then add any additional vegetables you want, such as carrots, peas, etc. Since I'm not a huge fan of peas, I opted not to put any in. Also, one of the recipes I found called for cheese, so I decided to throw some cheese into mine as well. Here's what you'll need to make Australian bubble and squeak:
500 grams potatoes
200 grams cabbage
20 grams butter
1 carrot, julienned
2 generous pinches of salt
1 generous pinch of pepper
Grated cheddar cheese
The original recipe called for peeling the potatoes. I chose not to peel the potatoes as I was using a fairly thin skinned yellow potato. If you are using a potato with a thick skin, such as a russet, I would definitely take the peel off first. If not, leave the peel on for the extra fiber and nutrients the skin adds. First scrub the potatoes, then cut into cubes and place in a large pot that will cover all of the potatoes.
I'm including this picture because Sam was not in the room as I first began making them. As I weighed them, I knew he would probably want a picture of me actually weighing them. Sure enough, as soon as he walked in, the camera was pointed at the scale and snapping away. It made me laugh! Anyway, here's what the chopped potatoes and water looked like:
I had just begun the chopping phase. I think Sam was a bit anxious to get the picture taking done. After the potatoes are all chopped and put in the water, chop the cabbage as well and add it to the potatoes and water.
Bring the water to a boil and continue to boil until the potatoes are soft and the cabbage is cooked. While the potatoes and cabbage are cooking, peel and julienne the carrot and shred the cheese. I cut the carrot into thirds, and then julienned it.
We then shredded the cheese. I estimate we shredded enough cheese for about 1 1/2 cups of cheese.
After the potatoes and cabbage are cooked, drain the water off in a collander.
Return the potatoes and cabbage to the pot, and steam off the excess water over low heat (just as was done when making trinxat).
Once the excess water has been steamed off, add 2 generous pinches of salt and 1 generous pinch of pepper, and the butter. Then mash the mixture together.
Mix in the cheese and carrots. Once everything is mixed together, you're ready to start frying spoonfuls of the mixture. First heat your favorite cooking oil in a skillet or frying pan. My cast iron skillet worked fine for this, but I think a nonstick frying pan might have worked a little bit better. If you use a cast iron skillet, be sure to keep the heat no higher than medium once the oil is heated. I didn't on the first batch, and they almost burned. Once the oil is nice and hot, add spoonfuls of the potato mixture to the pan and press them flat with a spatula.
Flip them when you see that the bottom edges are brown at about 3-4 minutes. If the bubble and squeak seems like it's going to start to fall apart as you lift it out, it's not ready to be flipped. Let it fry a couple of more minutes before flipping it. They should be golden brown once flipped.
Continue frying until the other side is golden brown as well, and then allow the excess oil to drain off. We used a cooling rack placed on top of a foil lined cookie sheet for this.
Once all of your bubble and squeak has been fried up, you're ready to eat. We opted to keep them warm in an oven while we fried up some eggs to eat along with it. We thought these would be the perfect thing to help soak up the runny yolk from the fried egg, and we were right. The bubble and squeak soaked up all of the excess yolk nicely!
This version of potato pancakes was quite tasty, but it still doesn't measure up to latkes. Now that I'm finally all caught up, I can say join me again next Sunday as I visit Azerbaijan to finish up the list of A countries!
As I searched for bubble and squeak recipes, I discovered the reason why they're named bubble and squeak. Apparently the vegetables are supposed to squeak as you fry them. I'm not sure about this, as I didn't hear any vegetables squeaking when I fried them. Also, I discovered that there are many different ways to make bubble and squeak. Most of them use the base of potatoes and cabbage, and then add any additional vegetables you want, such as carrots, peas, etc. Since I'm not a huge fan of peas, I opted not to put any in. Also, one of the recipes I found called for cheese, so I decided to throw some cheese into mine as well. Here's what you'll need to make Australian bubble and squeak:
500 grams potatoes
200 grams cabbage
20 grams butter
1 carrot, julienned
2 generous pinches of salt
1 generous pinch of pepper
Grated cheddar cheese
The original recipe called for peeling the potatoes. I chose not to peel the potatoes as I was using a fairly thin skinned yellow potato. If you are using a potato with a thick skin, such as a russet, I would definitely take the peel off first. If not, leave the peel on for the extra fiber and nutrients the skin adds. First scrub the potatoes, then cut into cubes and place in a large pot that will cover all of the potatoes.
I'm including this picture because Sam was not in the room as I first began making them. As I weighed them, I knew he would probably want a picture of me actually weighing them. Sure enough, as soon as he walked in, the camera was pointed at the scale and snapping away. It made me laugh! Anyway, here's what the chopped potatoes and water looked like:
I had just begun the chopping phase. I think Sam was a bit anxious to get the picture taking done. After the potatoes are all chopped and put in the water, chop the cabbage as well and add it to the potatoes and water.
Bring the water to a boil and continue to boil until the potatoes are soft and the cabbage is cooked. While the potatoes and cabbage are cooking, peel and julienne the carrot and shred the cheese. I cut the carrot into thirds, and then julienned it.
We then shredded the cheese. I estimate we shredded enough cheese for about 1 1/2 cups of cheese.
After the potatoes and cabbage are cooked, drain the water off in a collander.
Return the potatoes and cabbage to the pot, and steam off the excess water over low heat (just as was done when making trinxat).
Once the excess water has been steamed off, add 2 generous pinches of salt and 1 generous pinch of pepper, and the butter. Then mash the mixture together.
Mix in the cheese and carrots. Once everything is mixed together, you're ready to start frying spoonfuls of the mixture. First heat your favorite cooking oil in a skillet or frying pan. My cast iron skillet worked fine for this, but I think a nonstick frying pan might have worked a little bit better. If you use a cast iron skillet, be sure to keep the heat no higher than medium once the oil is heated. I didn't on the first batch, and they almost burned. Once the oil is nice and hot, add spoonfuls of the potato mixture to the pan and press them flat with a spatula.
Flip them when you see that the bottom edges are brown at about 3-4 minutes. If the bubble and squeak seems like it's going to start to fall apart as you lift it out, it's not ready to be flipped. Let it fry a couple of more minutes before flipping it. They should be golden brown once flipped.
Continue frying until the other side is golden brown as well, and then allow the excess oil to drain off. We used a cooling rack placed on top of a foil lined cookie sheet for this.
Once all of your bubble and squeak has been fried up, you're ready to eat. We opted to keep them warm in an oven while we fried up some eggs to eat along with it. We thought these would be the perfect thing to help soak up the runny yolk from the fried egg, and we were right. The bubble and squeak soaked up all of the excess yolk nicely!
This version of potato pancakes was quite tasty, but it still doesn't measure up to latkes. Now that I'm finally all caught up, I can say join me again next Sunday as I visit Azerbaijan to finish up the list of A countries!
They look yummy and I'm proud of you trying different foods. Now if you could get me to it would be great
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