I was looking in the cupboard for something for breakfast, something more inspirational than toast, when I spied some potatoes and thought about sautéing them.
Using leftover cooked potatoes for breakfast is a common usage, especially in Ireland. A critical part of the famous Ulster Fry is the tattie cakes, also called potato farls, made from mashed potato. Sautéed potatoes may seem a bit posh, until you realise that you are really just making chips!
The best potatoes to sauté are fully boiled ones that have been allowed to cool, so leftovers straight from the fridge in the morning works well. If you don't have leftovers, which I didn't, then you can par-boil them before frying, but that means more mess and another pot to wash. So I thought of a slightly different approach.
This was just for me, so I just used two small-to-medium sized potatoes, which I peeled, flattened off the ends, and cut each into three scallop sized rounds.
I put the rounds into a small non-stick pan, added a good pinch of salt, and poured in about 1/3 the height of the potatoes in boiling water from the kettle. I put the pan on a medium-high heat, put a lid on, and left them for 10 minutes.
After the 10 minutes I removed the lid and set aside. I turned each of the potato slices and then left them to boil with the lid off. You do need to keep a watch here as the water will boil off pretty quickly.
Just as the water has boiled off, add in a couple of tablespoons of oil. Move the potatoes about so that they have a good contact with the oil, and fry for a few minutes, turning a couple of times, until golden brown.
Serve with a little sea salt (not too much as they should have seasoning from the water), some freshly ground black pepper, and your favourite condiment.
Great for breakfast or brunch. Actually, awesome any time of the day!