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Fried Mashed Potato Cakes

November 21, 2010 by 1 Comment

Our power just went out! How exciting. I’m glad I was sitting safely here on the couch when it happened instead of wielding a knife somewhere. That could’ve ended in disaster, and we’ve had enough of those today; I almost baked cupcakes without eggs, I somehow managed to get cookies stuck to the baking sheet, and I may or may not have sliced my thumb with my chef’s knife.

I’ve seriously spent so much time in the kitchen today, it’s like I’m cooking for 30 people all the time instead of just the two of us. I use SO MANY dishes, there’s an endless amount to wash. Plus today I had to bake for work tomorrow [the almost-eggless cupcakes] and I wanted to use up some of the leftover mashed potatoes that I had from Franksgiving. Franksgiving, you say? Why yes! One of my lovely friends hosts a friends Thanksgiving every year before we all do the family thing. Friends + Thanksgiving = Franksgiving. I know, it’s cutesy enough to make you want to puke, but it’s a good time with friends and delicious food.

This year and last year, I’ve made mashed potatoes, and will likely continue to do so for the rest of our lives. My husband says it’s because everyone praises my mashed potatoes and I enjoy praise. Which… fair enough. So anyway, I made 15lbs of potatoes and have a bunch in my fridge that I’d like to use up. The obvious answer to this is fried mashed potato cakes with dill sour cream.

Fried Mashed Potato Cakes

2 cups mashed potatoes, cold
1/3 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Place a cookie sheet lined with paper towels in the oven and preheat to 200. Heat the oil in a small pan. Take 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes and form into a hamburger size patty. Dredge the patty in the flour and place in the hot oil. Let fry for 3 – 4 minutes until golden brown on the bottom and flip over, cooking an additional 3 – 4 minutes. Remove the mashed potato patty from the oil and place on the cookie sheet in the oven, to keep warm and absorb some of the oil while the other patties are cooking. Repeat with the rest of the mashed potatoes, making a total of four patties.

Dill Sour Cream

1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped dill
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

Serve each potato patty warm with a dollop of the dill sour cream.

These are really simple and really good. The outside of the potato is nice and crispy and the inside is warm and slightly oozy. This works best with mashed potatoes that aren’t made with a ton of cream; I make mine with sour cream, cream cheese and butter so they hold their shape really well when cold. If your potatoes are too loose, add an egg to the mixture as a binder and follow the rest of the instructions. There’s so much you can do with these – I served them as a side, but you could easily make this the main component of your meal by adding a protein or some veg in there. Just chop it up pretty well and add it to the cold potatoes before making the patties.

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Lemon-Dill Roasted Potato Salad

July 26, 2010 by 11 Comments

I know, I know; posting about potato salad during the summer. How novel. Next thing you know, I’ll be waxing poetic about hamburgers and hot dogs. But I just can’t help it – this is the first thing I’ve cooked in quite awhile that I’ve felt excited enough about to post on here. I made it for poker night this past Tuesday, and if left to our own devices, I’m sure my friend and I would’ve been able to eat the whole bowl ourselves.

There’s something about potato salad that I love, no matter how it’s made. It’s such a comfort food, and since I’m still lacking a stove, I’ve been lacking some of those comfort foods. I was kind of bummed out for awhile, because I like making potato salad, but not being able to boil the potatoes is obviously going to gum up the works. Luckily, I got my head out of my ass and realized I could just roast the potatoes and then treat it like I would any other potato salad.

That realization, along with the fact that I got an amazingly beautiful bunch of dill for $2 the other day, was the impetus for this potato salad. I love dill yet I rarely cook with it, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to do something different.

Lemon-Dill Roasted Potato Salad

2.5 lbs baby red potatoes, diced
1/8 cup of roughly chopped fresh dill
3/4 – 1 cup of mayo, to taste
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons freshly cracked lemon pepper seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat oven to 425 F. Toss diced potatoes with oil and lemon pepper seasoning, try to evenly cover all the potatoes. Put in the oven to roast, about 40 – 50 minutes, depending on how well done you’d like the potatoes. Thoroughly mix the mustard, mayo and dill. Chill for about 20 minutes, to allow the flavors to combine. When the potatoes are done, put them in a large bowl and let them cool for a few minutes. Add in the mayo/mustard mixture and distribute evenly among the potatoes. Best served warm, although honestly, just as tasty room temperature.

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Potato salad … with bacon.

August 25, 2009 by Leave a Comment

I feel like I should declare it “Bacon Month” here at Food Shenanigans, since this is my second dish with bacon thus far, and I have something planned with pancetta at the end of the week [and pancetta is basically just Italian for "expensive bacon"]. But we aren’t gimmicky like that, and it’s kind of weird to declare it anything month when the month in question is almost over. Regardless, be on the lookout for the gnocchi pan fried in pancetta fat with garlic that I have envisioned in my head for later this week. Maybe with asparagus? Mmmm….

Ahem. Anyway. Sorry; it’s poker night and I’m distracted by the guys bitching about me watching Legally Blonde on ABC Family. I have to watch this movie every time it’s on. I’m not really sure why, but it’s just one of those movies for me. And before anyone mocks me too much, my husband has watched at least a portion of Pearl Harbor every time it’s been on lately.

On to the food! There aren’t that many pictures, because it’s a pretty basic dish. Even Smitten Kitchen doesn’t have that many potato salad pictures! It’s a simple food, with few ingredients, and those ingredients are just tasty, not particularly attractive. Also, I realize everything I write is rife with commas, but I just can’t help it. It’s a disease.

In keeping with my theme of non-Mexican food, I decided to make kielbasa and potato salad for poker night this week. The kielbasa was easy – pan fried, with half of it doused in Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, the other half plain. For the potato salad, I wanted something creamy, but not overpoweringly so, because that’s not how I roll. I can appreciate mayonnaise in small doses, but not big globs of it. It’s kind of gross looking.

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The recipe I used is below:

3 pounds baby red skinned potatoes
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 teaspoons garlic powder
6 celery stalks, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
8 oz bacon, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes whole, with the skin on. Cook until fork tender, then drain and set aside to cool. Dice celery and onion. While potatoes are cooling, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard and garlic powder. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut raw bacon into small pieces and fry until crisp. Set aside. Once potatoes are cool, add mayonnaise mixture and mix thoroughly. Add celery, onions and bacon. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Chill at least two hours; if serving next day, you may want to add the bacon the following day, so it doesn’t get soggy.

I thought it was really good. The husband, who is not a fan of potato salad, said it was “all right” before having his second helping. My indicator that it was good? There’s about half a pound left, out of the three pounds made, and there are only five people that ate here tonight.

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