Potato Cakes With Bacon and Cheddar

Mashed potatoes, fried with bacon and cheese.  What could
possibly go wrong?

Looking for a way to use up those leftover mashed potatoes from your St Patrick's Day feast?  While you could just make a huge batch of corned beef hash, why not do something a little more elegant?  These potato cakes with bacon, cheese, and snipped chives are perfect for brunch, lunch, or dinner, served with some greens and your favorite veggie.  They're also extremely easy to make, and are a convenient way or using up leftover mash (I always make too much).  If you don't have a lot of extra mashed potatoes sitting around, you are, of course, welcome to make a fresh batch for this recipe, but keep in mind they'll be too sticky if they don't have a chance to cool a bit before mixing in the bacon.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
• 6 strips of bacon
• 1/2 cup grated white cheddar cheese (I used Dubliner)
• 2 tbs snipped fresh chives
• Flour, for dusting
• 1 tbs butter

Instructions:

First, fry the bacon in a medium or large frying pan until crispy.  Remove from the pan and place on paper towels to cool.  Reserve the fat in the pan.  While the bacon cools, grate the cheese and wash and cut the chives.  Mix them with the potatoes in a medium bowl.  When the bacon is cool, crumble it and add it to the potato mixture.

With lightly floured hands, form the mixture into six 3-inch diameter, 1 inch thick cakes.  Dust each cake lightly with flour.  Reheat the bacon fat and butter on medium heat.*  Fry the cakes in batches so they have plenty of space in the pan until golden brown, about seven minutes per side.  Serve hot.


These are an absolutely delicious appetizer, or serve portions of 2 cakes alongside a salad of spring greens and watercress for lunch or a light dinner.

*Chef's tip: you don't want to start cooking in fat that isn't hot enough yet, because the cakes will absorb the fat, stick to the pan, and fall apart.  You can tell when it's ready by dropping a small piece of potato in the pan.  If it sinks to the bottom, the fat isn't hot enough yet.  If it doesn't sink, and the fat bubbles up around it, you can put the cakes in the pan.