Last weekend, my younger daughter, Alex, brought home two books that she borrowed from the school library. The books feature her favorites. cheese and potatoes. She lost no time in showing me the books and, sometime after midnight, we leafed through the pages together while she pointed out which dishes she’d like to try at home.
Adaptations of recipes
The next day, Alex slept through most of the morning. I decided to surprise her by cooking two dishes from the 50 Ways With Potatoes cookbook by Rosemary Wadey. My adaptations of recipes, anyway. The first dish is potato fritters. The recipe does not include any meat but since we had leftover sauteed ground beef and sausages, I decided to incorporate meat into my potato fritters. And, to make Alex even happier, I made a cheese dip to go with the fritters.
Ingredients
1 and 1/2 c. of plain mashed potatoes
1/2 c. of cooked meat (ground meat, sausages, bacon, ham… whatever you have)
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper, to taste
finely chopped herbs (I used thyme and parsley but you can substitute whatever you prefer and whatever goes well with your choice of meat)
1/2 c. of cooking oil for frying
For the dip:
1/4 c. of grated cheese (any kind that melts well)
1/8 c. of milk or cream
salt
pepper
chili flakes
Instructions
Mix together the mashed potatoes, meat, egg, salt, pepper and herbs. Form into seven to eight balls.
Heat the cooking oil. Place a potato-meat ball into the hot oil. Using the back of a spoon, flatten into a disc about half an inch thick. Cook two to three patties at a time so as not to overcrowd the pan. When the underside is nicely browned, flip the patties over and brown the other side. As each patty cooks, transfer it to a plate lined with paper towels to get rid of the excess oil.
Arrange the potato fritters around a plate and keep them hot. Make the dipping. In a small bowl, pour in the milk or cream. Add the cheese. Put in the microwave, and cook on high for 45 seconds or just until the cheese melts. Stir until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Serve with the potato fritters.
