Did I mention I love potato cakes?
Well I do love potato cakes! Mixed with salmon or fennel or brussel sprouts or just a sharp cheese - love ‘em! So I couldn’t resist a recipe in a recent edition of my local rag The Canberra Times and it was soooo good I wanted to share with those of you who don’t regularly read my local paper.
These contain feta and parsley and are served with a garlic yoghurt. Yum! The recipe is courtesy of Diana Lampe who writes a column called vegetarian kitchen (but I read it anyway). Her short description reads:
Patato-keftethes, or potato and feta patties, are comforting home-cooked food from Greece. They are easy to make and will disappear quickly. Serve them with yoghurt sauce or tzatziki, hummus, salad and flat bread for a delicious meal.
Patato-keftethes (potato and feta patties)
Makes 12 patties
3 medium (500g) potatoes
extra-virgin olive oil
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
125g feta cheese, crumbled
3 tbsp chopped dill or flat-leaf parsley
freshly ground black pepper
plain flour
lemon to serve
Yoghurt sauce
250g Greek yoghurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
sea salt and hot paprika or cayenne
Boil the unpeeled potatoes in salted water with a bay leaf until tender. Peel them while hot. Hold each potato with a tea towel as you peel it so you don’t burn your hands. Mash or pass through a ricer. Mix in a tablespoon of olive oil. When cool, add the egg, feta, herbs and pepper and mix well. Prepare the yoghurt sauce by whisking the yoghurt with garlic and seasonings. To make the patties, scoop up the potato mixture with an oiled 1/4 cup measure. Form into round flat cakes or fingers and roll in seasoned flour. Pan-fry in olive oil over medium heat until golden brown. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon and the yoghurt sauce or tzatziki.
I followed this pretty closely. I used desiree potatoes, lots of fresh-picked parsley and a Bulgarian feta. I used two bay leaves when boiling the potatoes but then I’m always pushing the envelope :-). The oiled measuring cup was bypassed as this doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of potato cakes to me. (If you’re a serious internet foodie you will know that there’s a whole internet sub-culture based around cupcakes - perhaps it’s time for the potato cake revolution!)
We had these with sautéed courgettes, grilled lamb cutlets crusted with whole cumin, the yoghurt and a slice of lemon.
These will be made many more times (and maybe I’ll get some slightly sexier photos in the future).
3 comments June 11th, 2008
