Potato Bread and Creamy Peppercorn Sauce

Next in the series of “tastes of home..” Of course, it's all carbohydrate-based.

I had this as the most delicious starter in a little restaurant back in Belfast, and I was blown away by the taste. The full starter also had strips of steak, which I recommend pairing with this! Steak is personal though, so I’m leaving it to your discretion as to how you like it cooked.

I love potato bread, it is simple to make and reminds me of home. Another quick to prepare Irish bready staple. Basically, it is full of carbohydrates and then fried, what isn’t to like (for a little treat!).

I’ve written the two methods out separately, but you can easily be making the sauce while the potatoes are boiling. I don’t mind darting from pan to pan and having a few things cooking at once, but if you don’t, make the sauce first, set aside, do the spuds, and reheat the sauce just before serving.

Assembly is simple: potato bread on the bottom, strips of steak on top, and drizzle the peppercorn sauce on top. Dinner done!

serves 2

Ingredients for the potato bread

• 250g floury potatoes
• 25g butter
• 50g flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• Salt and pepper
• Extra butter for the pan

Ingredients for the black pepper sauce

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 3 tbsp mixed peppercorns
• 2 tbsp black peppercorns
• 2/3 cup beef stock
• 1/3 cup red wine
• ¼ cup cream
• 2 tbsp water + 1 tbsp cornflour

Method

Begin with the potatoes, peel, cut into chunks, place in a pot full of salted water and boil until cooked (normally about 15 minutes).

Drain, then put back in the pan on the heat with the butter. Stir until the butter has melted all over the potatoes, and season. Mash the spuds!

In case you didn't know what mashed potatoes looked like..

Add the flour and baking powder and mix through. The dough should come away from the sides of the pot. This is a WET dough which isn’t easy to handle. It’s ok. It will all come together.

Set aside for a few minutes until cool enough to handle comfortably.

Form the dough into a ball. Roll out to a circle of a thickness of half a centimetre, and divide into quarters.

Heat a pan, add some butter, and cook the potato bread for 3 minutes on each side until crispy on the outside.

For the sauce, melt the butter and add the mustard powder, then add the shallots and fry off for 2 minutes.

Grind the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar (I didn’t do this, whole peppercorns are not that delicious I learned..).

Add the coarsely ground peppercorns and cook for 3 more minutes.

Add in the wine and cook for 5 minute until reduced by a half, then add in the stock and summer until reduced by a third.

Add the cream and cook for 5 more minutes. Whisk in the cornflour and water and cook for 3 more minutes until thickened.

Serve, drizzled over the food of your choice.