Smoked Bacon Hash Cake with Fried Duck Egg and Gooseberry Ketchup

Nigel Barden
2 hours ago
2 min read

by James Mackenzie from On the Menu Seasonal Recipes for a Culinary Life (Face Publications)

Photography: Jason Lowe

A versatile dish that can be enjoyed at brunch, supper, or as a starter if you've got a healthy appetite. You can vary the ingredients too, as it’s a little bit like bubble and squeak, a great way of using up some leftover mash. The cakes also make a great garnish for roast game, and the gooseberry ketchup makes a great addition to mackerel or sardines.

Serves 4

Ingredients

12 rashers smoked streaky bacon

1 large white onion

rapeseed oil

fresh thyme

salt & pepper

4 large red spring onions

bunch of fresh chives

flat leaf parsley

fresh lovage (optional)

400g mashed potato

½ tsp ground cumin

plain flour

100g butter

4 duck eggs

For the ketchup

1 large white onion

500g fresh gooseberries

250g caster sugar

200ml white wine vinegar

½ tsp ground mixed spice

1 clove

chervil for garnish

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°c/gas mark 4.

To make the cakes, lay the bacon out onto a flat greased baking tray and bake in the oven at 180°c/gas mark 4 for about 15 minutes until crispy. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking tray. Peel and cut the onion in half and slice thinly, place into a saucepan with a drop of oil, a few leaves of fresh thyme and a touch of salt and pepper. Sweat the onion with a lid on for about 30 minutes until they are soft and translucent, remove from the heat and cool.

Thinly slice the spring onions, chop the chives, parsley and lovage. Place the mash in a mixing bowl, drain off any liquid from the sweated onion, and add to the mash with the herbs, spring onion and cumin. Take 8 rashers of the cooked bacon and chop into lardons, add to the mash and mix it all together, season with some black pepper and a little salt if needed. Divide the mix into four and make them into cakes using a dusting of flour. They should be about 2.5cm thick and big enough to sit the fried duck egg on top. Place them on a tray and put in the fridge until required: they can be made well in advance.

To make the gooseberry ketchup, peel and chop the onion, pick the stalks off the gooseberries and place all of the ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer for about 1-2 hours, until the gooseberries become a shiny chutney consistency. Blitz the cooked gooseberries in a food processor and pass through a sieve, then pour the ketchup into a squeezy bottle.

Shallow fry the hash cakes in some rapeseed oil and a good knob of butter, cooking for about 4 minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Fry the duck eggs in a little oil and a knob of butter, and warm the remaining 4 crispy smoked bacon rashers.

To serve, place the duck egg on top of the hash cake in the centre of a plate, and garnish with the ketchup, some sliced spring onion, the bacon and some chervil.

Drinks tasted on air, alongside the dish: