Crispy Potato Cakes


I love having leftovers around for easy lunches, or a quick supper, but sometimes there's leftovers of leftovers...do you know what I mean? Like you've eaten that roast beef and potatoes for 2 meals in a row now, you've polished off the meat and gravy and you are still left with those pesky mashed potatoes that you feel guilty throwing away.

Or the other day I was making Potato Skins and just couldn't possibly throw away the insides of the baked potato I was scooping out.

I came up with a solution to solve this problem. I know it's been done before, but I was pretty proud of myself for creating a recipe that uses up all those leftovers I feel guilty about throwing away...and instead turned it into a delicious side dish.

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Makes 4 servings

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, etc
1 green onion chopped
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp basil
1 egg
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp oil

May need: 1 tbsp of butter, couple tbsp of milk, bread crumbs

Most recipes for making these use mashed potatoes that had been mashed with butter and milk. Since mine were plain from making Potato Skins I threw my potatoes in the food processor with a tbsp of butter and a couple tbsp of milk and pureed till I had mashed potatoes. Go easy on the milk, since I added a little too much and didn't have a really stiff potato.

Add to the mix 1 egg, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and if it's too gloppy some bread crumbs. Mix together. Add more breadcrumbs if needed to make them more stiff. If they already are stiff don't bother with the breadcrumbs. Mine were really mushy so I added about 1/2 cup. Stir in some chopped green onion.

Preheat a non-stick skillet to medium heat and add 1 tbsp of oil. You should be able to form this mixture into 8 patties (don't worry if they seem sticky...mine were really sticky and still worked out). Put 4 patties into the hot pan, put on the lid and let get brown and crisp up for 4-5 minutes. Carefully flip them over and continue to brown and crisp for another 3-4 minutes. Remove to a plate and cover with tin foil to keep warm. Add the last tbsp of oil to the pan and add the remaining 4 potato patties. Cook the same as the first batch. Garnish with more chopped green onions and sprinkle of salt.

Click here for printable version of Crispy Potato Cakes
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THE RESULTS?
I was pleasantly surprised by these potato cakes. As I made the patties and they were still sticky and soft I wasn't sure how they would hold together or how they would turn out. But they were perfect....golden and crispy on the outside and warm and creamy on the inside. The flavor reminded me of our favorite upscale restaurants Potato Pancakes. I will definitely use this recipe again when I'm looking for something to do with leftover potatoes.