Thursday, November 11, 2010

Indian Summer, firewood, and potato cakes

Last week was quite chilly... with daytime temps in the 40s and nighttime in the 20s.  This week, however, we welcome our Indian Summer with sunny weather and temperatures in the upper 60s!  Nevertheless, we must continue to get ready for winter's fury.... firewood and more firewood.

I had some leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge, and decided to whip up a batch of mashed potato cakes.  I'm not real sure if this is a common dish to everyone else, but I do know that it was a REAL treat at our house growing up.  Anytime Mom made mashed potatoes for supper, she usually made sure she had enough for leftovers, and the leftovers always ended up being potato cakes for the next day's meal.  I usually do the same.  If you've never made them, you don't know what you're missing!  Take your cold, leftover mashed potatoes, add an egg and some flour and mix until they are nice and stiff.  I usually add a sprinkle of onion powder and a dash of cumin, but they taste fine plain.

Next, you add dollops of the potato mixture to a skillet of hot oil. 


Fry the cakes in the hot oil, turning once when they are brown and crispy on one side.  The idea is to have a solid crispy outside, and a soft middle! 

Mmmmm... a true delicacy!