The Artist Eats An intersection of art, food, and culture.

Giant in the Kitchen: Sweet Potato Griddlecakes with Field Greens and Poached Eggs

For me, the one unifying trait shared by all great food writers is their ability to inspire culinary creativity in their readers. I've found that reading stuff by Molly Wizenberg or Francis Lam can really help me to get out of my everyday cooking ruts. It's easy for me to get stuck futzing with a specific dish and never actually getting around to making a well-rounded meal. This past winter, I was completely focused on baking breads and sort of skimped on cooking real meals. Arianna is patient with me experimenting in the kitchen, but for some reason she doesn't seem to think that bread and cheese is a meal. Maybe I need to throw in a box of wine to round things out?

My point here is that I was reading the aforementioned writers the other day when I suddenly got a wild hair to abandon the computer for a pint of seltzer and the company of my cast-iron skillet. As I sipped my fizzy drink, the muse of culinary inspiration struck me across the head with her magic wooden spoon, and before I knew it I had created a pretty kick-ass, well-rounded lunch.

Sweet Potato Griddlecakes with Field Greens and Poached Eggs

What you'll need:

For the Griddlecakes:

1 sweet potato

1 cup white flour

1 cup coarse cornmeal

Pinch of salt

1 tsp dried basil

½ tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 cups milk (roughly)

For the Field Greens:

This is just an estimate, but let's say 2 cups of field greens per person.

For the Eggs:

1 or 2 poached eggs per person, whatever is right for you.

Give your skillet a healthy swig of olive oil and preheat it over medium-low heat.

Slice the sweet potato into 1 inch cubes and nuke for 8 or 9 minutes, until soft (Slow Cooking Option: roast them in a 400° oven with a good coat of olive oil until soft and caramelized).

Mix your dry ingredients while the potato is cooking. Mash the potato thoroughly and add to your dry mix (I left the skin on the potato, but if you aren't a fan of skin, it should come off easily when you mash the potato).  Stir in the egg and add the milk ½ a cup at a time. The amount of milk you use depends on the size and moistness of your sweet potato. You're going for a thick, fairly chunky batter. Spoon the batter onto your skillet making cakes 5 or 6 inches across. Brown on both sides, and top with the greens and a poached egg. Give it a drizzle of your best olive oil (or truffle oil if you're feeling adventurous) and you're good to go!