Spring Forward Sunday: Poached Egg on a Sweet Potato Cake

We entertain quite a bit. Saturday night at our house is often filled with good friends and good food. It usually starts off with conversation and drinks in and around the kitchen before we make our way to the dining room. We sit down, sit back and sink in. And the night usually flows.

Each Saturday when we have guests over it takes on the same attire as most others. Conversation, dinner, drinks and more conversation. Times is lost living in the here and now and it seem to shift from early evening to late night in the blink of an eye. And the later the night goes, the later the next morning starts.

Most Sunday mornings start without the help of an alarm clock and in a haze. The routine begins with squinted eyes trying to locate the clock and get accustomed to the light breaking through the curtains. And a conversation in bed about the night before and the day ahead.

My wife usually starts a pot of coffee and I take over from there. No matter how much we ate the night before we're usually famished as soon as our feet hit the ground and i'm quickly in the kitchen working on breakfast.

Like everything else, we have our weekend routines for breakfast but we tend to break for change from time to time. Today was the perfect day for that. We sprung forward so our normally late start to the day was particularly late. By the time we cleaned up from the night before it was pushing brunch. Maybe lunch. But there's something about breakfast on a Sunday morning that just feels right.

My wife loves omelettes and she sticks with that as much as possible. I, on the other hand, prefer mixing it up with different flavours. I've professed my love of potato cakes and latkes and eggs benedict, so I thought I would play with all three by making this for breakfast. Soft poached eggs on a sweet, crispy bed of sweet potato cakes and asparagus. Spring forward done right.

There's great texture differences on the plate and a great flavour when the yolk breaks and mixes with the asapargus. Breakfast was later than usual today, but it was just what we needed.

From my kitchen to yours, happy eating!

Poached Egg on a Sweet Potato Cake

The Goods:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and grated
• 1 egg white
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• sea salt and cracked pepper
• oil for frying
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 4 asparagus spears, cut at the end and broken in half

Prep:

1. Using a mixing bowl, add in the sweet potato, egg white, shallot and salt and pepper. Mix well.
2. Heat some oil in a large pan over medium heat add a 1/4 cup of the sweet potato mixture. Press down softly and cook for 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Remove to paper towel.
3. Steam your asparagus and while that's happening, boil water in a deep pan. Once boiling, add in the vinegar. Crack each egg into a bowl and carefully slide into the water. Poach for about 3 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon. Carefully blotch dry.
4. Top the sweet potato cakes with half asparagus spears and a poached egg. Hollandaise sauce is optional.