Homemade cheesy hash browns, fried egg and roasted tomato brunch

If I owned a cafe, I would strive to make the best breakfast in the area. Being a bit of a foodie, I am awful to eat out with as I just pick apart the meal and moan about how they could have done better. Breakfast is definitely a meal that I have rarely found a cafe that is close to the homemade meals my partner and I can cook. I'm not saying I am a better cook than the professionals, I just think that breakfast is often pushed to the side, and not given the limelight it deserves.

Homemade hash browns are one of the most wonderful additions to a breakfast. They are 100 times tastier than shop bought hash browns, and are well worth the little bit of effort. They will make an average breakfast something special, and you won't want to return to that over processed sorry state of a potato you thought were the don before.

Homemade cheesy hash browns, fried egg and roasted tomato brunch

Serves 3

4 small-medium potatoes

1/4 onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, finely diced

25g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

25-50g plain flour

4 eggs

3 tomatoes

Olive oil

Spinach, rocket and watercress

Ciabatta

Butter

1. Heat the oven to 220 degrees.
2. Grate the potato into a colander over a mixing bowl. Press the potato and try to squeeze as much liquid out as possible.
3. Pour away any liquid extracted from the potato and add potato to the mixing bowl. Mix in the diced onion, garlic, cheddar cheese and 1 egg.
4. Season with plenty of salt and pepper (you need more than you think) and mix well.
5. Place the whole tomatoes onto a roasting tray, drizzle with a little olive oil and season. Place in the preheated oven.
6. You may notice there is a fair bit of liquid now in the potato mixture. Drain off about 75% of this liquid. Sprinkle about 25g of flour on the potato mixture and mix well. The egg, liquid and flour should make a thin batter that should keep the hash browns together.
7. Heat about 4tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and mould the potato mixture into flat patties. Squeeze out any excess liquid so they keep their shape, and place into the hot pan. Depending on the size of your pan, you should be able to fry 3-4 at a time. Once the hash browns have browned on one side, flip to brown the other side, adding more oil if needed. If you are cooking them in batches, place the cooked hash browns in the oven with the tomatoes to keep warm.
8. Cut 6 slices of ciabatta and place in the oven to warm. Wash the salad and divide onto 3 plates.
9. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and crack the other 3 eggs into the pan. Once it has cooked on one side, season in the pan with salt and pepper, and flip to seal the eggs.
10. Place the hash browns, tomato and ciabatta on the plates, butter the ciabatta and place the eggs on the hash browns.