The recipe: p16, "Warm Potato and Broccoli Salad"
A new book for the Random Kitchen project this week - we've nearly dipped into all 22 of them now! It's from the same pocket-sized series as 101 One-Pot Dishes from way back in Week 4, when we were young and innocent and hadn't yet heard of Spiced Cucumber.
As will become clear, 101 Cheap Eats suffers from the same "uninspired recipe name" issues as its sibling. Specifically, in a dish that involves bacon as a key ingredient, why would you not mention the bacon in the title to try and draw me in?
Although phrasing this dish as a "salad" is already asking for trouble in the first place. Say "warm salad" to me and only one thing springs to mind:
Still, this looks like a straightforward and potentially pleasing bite for a bank holiday lunchtime (and the "cheap" part doesn't hurt either), so let's get cracking!
The prep: I need to buy in pretty much everything but the onion (♫ And I miss you, like my storecupboard misses white wine vinegar... ♫).
That means broccoli, which I accidentally (no, really) scan through as bananas at the self-service checkout - it's a saving of pennies, so sue me - and a jar of wholegrain mustard, as well as a dozen rashers of streaky bacon (I opt for smoked) and the titular potatoes. "This salad looks most attractive when you use Desirée or Romano potatoes", the introduction to the recipe informs me. I don't particularly care, so I just grab a bag of generic baby new potatoes. I imagine they'll do.
The making: The potatoes are halved and parboiled for five minutes, with the floreted broccoli added for the last three ("to floret" is totally a verb, right?). They're drained, then olive oil is heated in a pan and a chopped onion and the parboiled potatoes are "cooked for 8-10 minutes until golden". Inevitably, even with the occasional judicious sprinkling of water, the only thing gets truly golden is the bottom of the pan - but the spuds end up looking okay too. The broccoli is added at the end and warmed through, then the contents of the pan are deposited in a serving bowl.
In the meantime, I've been grilling the bacon until nice and crispy. I then let it drain on kitchen paper because discarding a fraction of the fat officially makes bacon a healthy option.
Finally, more olive oil, white wine vinegar and wholegrain mustard are heated and mixed in the golden pan. Once they've taken on a dressing-like consistency, they're poured over the vegetables and the whole thing is gently mixed together. "Serve with the bacon rashers on top", the recipe says, so I do.
The eating: It won't surprise you to learn that this is a pretty sturdy and satisfying lunch option. Wholegrain mustard and vinegar ensure that the ingredients have a pleasingly tangy coating (if anything I'd prefer it a bit more mustard-y, but that's easily rectified), the broccoli interloper provides some useful freshness and bite (though I acknowledge it wouldn't be to everyone's taste), and ultimately I suppose this is basically just a variant on bratkartoffeln with some greenery added to the bowl. And "salad" optimistically added to its name.
"Bratkartoffelsalat". I guess that works.
The only real sticking point (other than the bottom of the pan) is the bacon: as I mentioned, the recipe calls for it to be served on top of the rest of the "salad", and I'm sticking to what the recipe tells me in this case, but common sense suggests it'd be far better crumbled up and stirred through.
Come to think of it, the Cheap Eats concept doesn't actually stretch to a target price per portion, merely a commitment to "[keeping] the cost to a minimum without sacrificing flavour or quantities". Since a 160g pack of smoked pancetta cubes and a 300g pack of streaky bacon are apparently basically the same price (thanks, internet. Thinternet) and the former would have far more impact than the latter in this particular case, quantities notwithstanding, I'm calling that an official Random Kitchen recommendation.
It's certainly what I'll be doing the next time I make this dish, anyway - and I will make it again, because frankly why wouldn't I? Aspirationally speaking, it's a million miles away from the pretention of last week's Nigella overload. But it makes for a straightforward lunch (or side dish, I suppose), it's effective enough in its execution (mustard 4EVA), and it is quite easy on the pocket. That's a wholly acceptable combination.
One-word verdict: Tangible.
If you think I could do with some exercise to work off all those calories, whether pancetta- or bacon-induced, you're in luck - I'll be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in early October to raise money for Parkinson's UK, and if you're enjoying The Random Kitchen, I'd be very grateful if you'd consider donating to my fundraising page. Thanks!
This looks really yummy! I may rustle it up soon.
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