Sometimes it’s the simplest things that are the best things and like most people I have loved egg and chips ever since my foodie sister took me to a greasy spoon when we were teenagers. At home we were used to eating European food and this was the best kind of British food and a revelation on every level, and something my mum would never have cooked us, so it felt rather exotic. It’s still up there in my memory as one of the best meals I ever had in a restaurant. However, I thought I’d ramp up the flavours a notch and create a newer version using olive oil, truffle oil, parsley and Burford eggs. You can use coconut oil, and there is a taste free version now in health food stores. I’m just eating this now having photographed it for this post, and all I’m thinking is it’s so delicious I can’t wait for Ralph to try it, and it is a perfect date night dinner.

Recipe

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 large potatoes (floury types work best, like Russet, Desiree, King Edward or Maris piper)
3 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil
Very finely chopped parsley (optional)
2 tablespoons of truffle oil (now available in supermarkets at around £3.50 a bottle which will last for ages) or truffle salt
1-2 eggs per person
Salt and pepper to taste

How:
Preheat the oven to 200°C and get a large non stick oven proof pan at the ready.
Peel the potatoes and cut into chip shapes. I cut mine into medium sized chips, the size of your little finger, but you might like them thicker or thinner, bear in mind this can alter the cooking time in the oven.
Place in a saucepan of salted boiling water and gently simmer for three minutes. Drain the chips completely and tip onto the oven proof pan in a single layer.
Coat the chips in two tablespoons of the olive oil and gently toss till they are coated and then roast for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden and crispy, oven temperatures vary.
Remove from the oven and tip into a bowl and season with salt and pepper and add the parsley and truffle oil and gently combine.
Meanwhile, fry the eggs in one tablespoon of the olive oil for a few minutes on a medium heat till the white is set and the yolks are still runny. You can drip a bit more truffle oil on the eggs if you want.
Plate up and eat straight away…preferably with a nice cup of Assam or builders tea.

Lastly…I prefer the flavour of black truffle to white. There are truffle oils in both kinds of truffle and I think the black truffle has a better flavour because it’s slightly sweeter. You could also use truffle salt if you prefer it to the truffle oil, they now stock it in supermarkets and it’s around £4.00 a jar, which will last for ages too. I nearly always put truffle oil on my eggs now.