Crispy potato cakes

This makes four biggish ones, enough for two helpings. You will need:

• 4 potatoes
• 1 shallot
• Salt (I use Maldon Sea Salt because I'm a bit of a wanker)
• Pepper (Black, freshly ground - see above)
• About a teaspoon of nutmeg (best to grate it from a whole nutmeg - again, see above)
• 1 egg (battery farmed)
• Groundnut (or veg) oil and a splash of olive oil for shallow frying.

Grate the potatoes, then squeeze the moisture out of them in big starchy fistfuls over the sink. Try and grate the shallot on the smaller grater holes - you'll get a kind of shallot paste, then finely chop the stuff you can't get through and add it all to the potato. Add a hefty pinch of salt, an equally hefty pepper fix, then quite a bit of nutmeg.

Beat the egg, then add it, and mix it in well. Resist the urge to add flour - trust me, it'll come together in the pan.

Get a centimetre or so of oil hot in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Dollop in the mixture in quarters, shaping and flattening them into a sort of patty then leave them to brown. Okay, maybe the bold was a bit much, but don't play with them at this point or they'll break up. Leave them to brown for a good few minutes, then turn them. After another 6-7 minutes when they're done, transfer them to some kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil. A bit more sea salt and you're away.

I had them with cold ham and a fried egg. No picture, they went down too fast.