Day After Veggies

If you are anything like me, portion control can be a bit hit and miss. So I often end up with left over veggies. In the old days I may have just thrown them out, or given them to the dog. But that is a dreadful waste and it's something I try and avoid doing now. Though I still haven't quite got to grips with how much mash to make!

One of my earliest memories as a child is Sunday breakfast, we used to shop for it on Saturday on the way to my grandma's house and we sometimes were rewarded with potato cakes or oatcakes from the market to go with our eggs and bacon on Sunday. Now I would love to share the recipe for oatcakes with you, but I am assured that it's a secret recipe! (Though you can now buy the mix online and make them yourselves in your own home) But I can share my potato cakes recipe with you. There are other recipes out there, in various cookbooks. I will hold my hands up here and admit I haven't looked at them, so I have no idea how much my recipe resembles others...though I suspect it doesn't a jot!

This is a left over recipe, although you could, if so inclined, make it from fresh. But the whole point of it really is to use up what you have. This is often a Monday or Tuesday lunch or tea, following on from having mash for tea on Saturday or Sunday. And I don't stop at the mashed potatoes either, any left over veg can be added in to the mix.... mummy tip here - it's a great way of getting extra veggies into your little ones if they are a little bit reluctant.

I haven't specified quantities here. This is because I want you, like me, to go with what you have, not to make up fresh. The whole point is to use up what you have left over at the end of a meal.

For this recipe you need mashed potato. Obviously. Any kind of potato will do as long as it's a mashing variety. We use cheap as chips (no pun intended) normal every day white potatoes. But the choice is yours. I haven't used sweet potato but if you do then please let me know how that one goes!
You also need flour. Any kind of flour, I use plain, but self raising works just as well. Again I haven't fiddled with using other varieties like wholemeal or wholegrain. I'm not sure these would work in this situation, but if you have them in, give it a try, it won't hurt.
You can add any other variety of veggies that were left over from the day before too...broccoli is a favourite here, the ones in the pictures have mashed carrot in, you could add swede, sweetcorn, peas, cabbage....petty much anything, though I would personally avoid things like courgette unless you make sure they are really dry. You can even add grated cheese, mustard... whatever your imagination (and your fridge) tells you to. Of course you can just leave them as plain potato too.


On a floured surface, make a pile of the mash and/or veggies and add a cup of flour, mixing it in well. Keep adding flour until you get a dough like consistency, that doesn't stick to your hands, without cracking, a bit like a scone dough. . Now you can roll it out, although I prefer to flatten it out with the heel and palm of my hand Not for any other reason than it saves on washing the rolling pin unnecessarily. You are after a depth not more than the width of your thumb, if you prefer thin pancakes then make them thinner! Cut them out with a biscuit cutter. Again the choice is yours And it depends who you're serving them to. My children like shapes, and I make them smaller than I would if they were just for the adults.

 

The next step is to fry them over a medium heat, in a decent non stick frying pan, with or without a little oil, depending on your pan and your personal choice. Fry until golden on both sides.

 



These can be served immediately, or covered and chilled in the fridge (eat within 24 hrs) or frozen and used in about a month. You can cook them from frozen though I prefer to defrost first. If you don't want to eat these for a couple of days, I would suggest not making them straight away. Covered in a suitable container in the fridge, the mash and veg will last 2-3 days, much longer than the made up potato cakes do in the fridge.

Serve with baked beans, eggs, as part of a fry up, or on their own with butter and/or cheese on... not the healthiest food but one that disappears quickly and a good way of ensuring that left over veggies aren't wasted.