Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted by Dave Kessler 

 

Back in the day we used to eat leftovers quite often, and that wasn’t all bad. In fact, the flavors often were better when food was leftover and had some refrigerator time.

I had some fried potato cakes in an Ohio restaurant recently and they reminded me of the ones we used to have from time to time.

We had varieties of potato cakes, including just plain fried, some fried with chopped onion in them, some with Longhorn cheese inside and some which were covered with crushed Corn Flakes.

While searching through old family recipes I found one that sounded delicious. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the kind we had, as I don’t remember ours having any cornmeal in them.

After one try, I liked them enough to make sure I can find this recipe again.

Potato Cornbread Cakes

1 cup self-rising buttermilk cornmeal

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1-1/2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup minced black olives

1/2 cup minced mushrooms

2 cups milk

Fry in 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix all the ingredients except the vegetable oil together in a large bowl. Rub the oil on the bottom of a nonstick skillet.

Use a tablespoon to drop the mixture into the lightly oiled skillet.

Use a thin spatula to turn the cakes over so they’re nice and brown on both sides.

Test to be sure they’re cooked in the middle.

We usually had fried ham with our potato cakes, but they go well with most any meats or sides you might enjoy.

Readers with questions or comments for Dave Kessler may write to him in care of this publication.