Mashed Potato Pancakes

When one has leftover mashed potatoes, one should make mashed potato pancakes.

If you have leftover mashed potatoes, that is, but hey, a girl can only eat mashed potatoes on the side for so many meals.

So as I perused the internets for a new way to get my carb fix on, I couldn't find a recipe that called to me, so I winged it.

First, I added some egg white to thicken the potatoes.  No yolk, as I didn't want the pancakes to turn yellowish. I beat the whites first and tried to fold them into the potatoes.  No go.  It was still pretty runny.

Then I just started adding flour to thicken.  That helped a bit, but I was tired of adding flour and went "I'm frying these suckers up now, I'm hungry."

So I did.  And they came out pretty well - delish.  They had the consistency of a pancake in that soft, flaky manner, but with the flavor of mashed potatoes.  I could taste all the butter.  Butter....

Cook them as you would any other pancake, and enjoy.  I ate them plain, as I was in a hurry.  Syrup may be a bit weird, but I wouldn't object to gravy.

What?  It's still potatoes!  Just in pancake form!

Mashed Potato Pancakes, a'la me.

Ingredients:

• Leftover mashed potatoes (perhaps 1.5 cups here?)
• One egg white
• Flour, to thicken.

Directions:

1.  Beat egg white until slightly fluffy, and fold into potatoes.  Determine how thick your batter is.  If it is thin, use flour to thicken.  If it's thick enough for you, commence cooking.

2.  In a skillet over medium heat, heat your oil (or butter.  Or bacon grease...) until hot.  Drop batter by the two tablespoons full, depending on the size of pancake you desire.  (Obviously my first pancake I went for the gusto, and it was a bit difficult to turn over.  I recommend smaller pancakes.)  Cook until it begins to bubble, and flip over.  Press lightly to flatten.  Flip over again after one minute, and determine doneness.

3.  Serve with your favorite mashed potato accompaniment, or eat as is, which is just as delicious.

I almost want to make mashed potatoes just to make pancakes!

Mashed Potatoes

To complete this week's recipes, on the side of my chicken and biscuits were mashed potatoes.

I love potatoes.

Very much.

Mashed potatoes, french fries, home fries, hash browns... I'm starting to sound like Samwise Gamgee.

Mashed potatoes from scratch are very easy.  Sure, nothing is as easy as the instant potatoes, but with just a little time, you can have mashed potatoes from scratch, and none of the weird additives.  And way less salt - those packets are loaded with sodium.

I once again went to the America's Test Kitchen well for my recipe, but my main problem is that I do not own a ricer.  I had to mash these by hand with... a whisk.  Yes, I don't own a potato masher either.  It's not really an issue, you adapt, but there were definitely some lumps.  I tried to flatten every lump I could find with a fork.

I found that I needed to add more butter and salt to the recipe, BUT I used 2% milk instead of half and half or whole milk, as that was all I had on hand, which probably led to the addition of more butter.  Mr. UoC said they were bland, so I added a few more pinches of salt after I added the milk and butter.  Add a little bit of salt, and taste as you go along, as it is really easy to oversalt.

Would I make this again?  Probably, as it is relatively quick and easy.  Mashed potatoes are so easily adaptable though, so I'm sure there are many other recipes out there that can also be used with similar results.  This is a great, basic recipe that is very easy.  You can't mess it up!

Yummy though.  Yay potatoes!  

Mashed Potatoes by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients:

• Two pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed clean (because I'm a dirt freak like that)
• Salt
• 1 cup half and half or whole milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Pepper

Directions:

1.  Place whole potatoes in salted water in a large pot.  Make sure the water covers the potatoes.  Bring to a boil over high heat and then simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

2.  Drain and peel potatoes.  (You can use your hands - you don't need a peeler.  The skin easily comes off from the potato, but be careful, it's HOT.)  

3.  Put potatoes through a food mill or ricer into a warm, dry saucepan.  

4.  Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan until warm and butter is melted.

5.  Pour milk/butter mixture onto potatoes and mix well.  Season with pepper to taste and serve.  At this point, also test for salt.  If you don't feel it's buttery enough, add a half of a teaspoon at a time until you are happy with the taste.

Biscuit, chicken, and potato.  Mmm a great meal!

Gamja Jorim

When I lived in Los Angeles, the banchan (side dishes) we would receive at Korean restaurants included a winter salad of potato and apples mixed in mayo.  When I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, I discovered a new potato side dish - gamja jorim.

I love the simple flavor and would nearly fill up eating just the gamja jorim and japchae (a Korean fried noodle dish) before my entree would arrive!

Gamja jorim is a great item to put in lunches, as you can heat it up, or serve it slightly cold.

Today's recipe is courtesy of Maangchi, which is a great resource for cooking Korean food.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium potatoes (or one monster baking potato)
• onion, white or yellow
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 - 2.5 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1.  Wash the potato, peel the skin, and cut into one inch pieces.

2.  Rinse the potato in a colander to remove the starch and allow to drain.

3.  Cut half of the onion into one inch pieces.  Reserve the other half for another use.  (or make a double recipe!)

4.  Heat a large pan over medium heat and add 1-2 tablespoons of oil.  I used vegetable oil, Maangchi used olive oil. Either one will be fine.

5.  Add the potato and minced garlic to the pan, and cook until the potato looks translucent.

6.  Add the water, soy sauce, sugar, and corn syrup to the pan.  Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on the pan, until the liquid has evaporated.  You can check with a knife to see if the potato is soft after about 8 minutes - if the knife goes into the potato easily, the potato is done.  Check occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn and stir.

7.  Remove from the pan, add a little sesame oil (optional) and sprinkle sesame seeds (also optional.)  I prefer not to add these to my gamja jorim since I'm not used to that flavor.

Overall verdict:  Delicious.  I made a lot so we were eating it as a side dish with our dinner for a few days.  I almost wanted to make some galbi, some kimchi, some gamja jorim and have a full on Korean meal!  

This recipe is also very easy to make, and a good, basic introduction to Korean cooking that doesn't have a lot of ingredients.