Fried rice cakes with leeks and poached egg

We're in a post-Paris slump at the moment, trying to forget how gorgeous the croissants were, and how hot and sunny it was.

This revived our spirits no end. You'll need:

enough cooked rice for 2 (we use a mugful of dried rice, and 2 mugfuls of water)
1/2 teaspoon of saffron powder
50-60g grated cheese (mature cheddar is good, feta or parmesan would also be nice)
a couple of leeks, sliced
250ml stock
50ml cream
a pinch of dried tarragon
3 eggs

Dissolve the saffron powder in a tablespoon of water, then mix into the cooked rice. Add the cheese, some salt and some black pepper. Bind all this together with 1 of the eggs.

Meanwhile, fry the leeks in a little olive oil for a couple of minutes. Add the stock, cream, tarragon and more black pepper, and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the leeks are soft, and the sauce has reduced.

Heat a little olive oil in a non-stick pan, and sling in a couple of good spoonfuls of rice - flatten it down with a spatula. It should be about 1cm thick, and maybe about 5-7cm across (it really depends on the size of the spatula/fish slice you're using to move it around in the pan!). Fry for at least 5 minutes on each side, so the rice goes crispy and lightly browned.

Transfer to a warm place, while you cook the other cakes. Top with the leeks and sauce, and a poached egg (crack an egg into a pan of boiling water, and leave to cook for about 1 1/2 minutes - or until the egg white has stopped being wobbly!). A fried egg would also be good - as would some chorizo.