Cheese and Mashed Potato Fritters

I have always been a "foodie."  I've always loved food, eating, recipes, etc.  When I was between the ages of 5 and 9, my best friend in the world was a girl named Susan Warburton.  



Here we are at the end of Grade one, we would have both been six years old.  She is on the far left and I am right beside her.  It was the awards ceremony at the end of the year.


Anyways, every Sunday night her mother would make potato pancakes for supper and they would have canteloupe melon with ice cream for dessert.  I would gobble down my supper at home and then race my bicycle over to her house so that her mother would take pity on me and invite me in for potato pancakes and canteloupe and ice cream.    I know . . . what a glutton.




I love, LOVED those potato pancakes.   They weren't made of grated potato . . .  they were made from mashed potatoes and were all pancakey.   They were crisp on the outsides and soft on the insides and they were so delicious . . .  53 years later I am still thinking about them.

 

I got to thinking about them the other day . . .  and salivating . . .  and I thought to myself, I am going to try to replicate them.   I cooked some potatoes and mashed them up and then let them cool down.   Into the cooled potatoes I stirred some flour, seasonings and chopped spring onions . . .  and cheese . . .  just because by then I was thinking that some cheese would be very good in these.  I was right.  It was.



And cheese and onion are a fabulous flavour combination anyways.   I flattened balls of it into pancake shapes, coated them in flour and then fried them in some oil until they were crispy brown all over. . . .

 

I served them . . .  hot and crisp . . .  topped with some sour cream and some more spring onions and for a little while I was six years old again and sitting at Susan Warburton's dining room table grinning from ear to ear because I had just tasted something fabulously delicious.   Every bit as good as the memory . . .  or maybe even better.  I was happy.  You will be too.   Make them.  TODAY!

*Cheese and Mashed Potato Fritters*

Makes about 12

Printable Recipe  

These are really easy to make and very tasty.  Kind of like a cheesy potato pancake.  The potato needs to be cooked ahead and chilled so plan accordingly.

3 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

120g of grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup)

3 spring onions, trimmed and finely minced

1 medium free range egg, beaten

3 TBS plain flour (plus more for coating)

vegetable oil to fry

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

To Serve:

Dairy Sour Cream
chopped spring onions  

Place the potatoes into a pot of lightly salted water to cover.   Bring to the boil.  Cook until tender.   Drain well and then return them to the pot, shaking them over the residual heat of the burner to dry them out well.  Mash them well or put them through a potato ricer.   Scrape them into a bowl and set aside to cool.   Once cool, cover and chill in the refrigerator until really cold, preferably overnight.

When you are ready to cook them, stir together the cooked potato, the grated cheddar, spring onions, salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste and beaten egg.   You may not need all of the egg.  You just want a mixture which will hold together well without being gloopy.  Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions.  Roll each into a ball.  Flatten into a pancake shape about 1/2 inch thick.   Coat each fritter well in plain flour.

Heat several tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large shallow frying pan.  Add the potato fritters a few at a time, cooking them on one side until they are crisp and brown before flipping them over to the other side and browning them on that side too.  Remove to a paper towel lined baking sheet.  Keep any cooked ones warm in a slow oven  until you finish cooking them all.   

Serve hot with some sour cream and additional chopped spring onions.   Delicious!