Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

Yesterday I finally used up almost all of the leftovers from Thanksgiving. All that’s left are two types of stuffing: the Brizee family recipe with sausage and the cornbread stuffing made by cousin Lisa.

I didn’t host the dinner at my house, but I did make a turkey and transported it in an ice chest (without ice) to my cousin’s house in Woodland. The turkey and the gravy I made were still piping hot when it was time to carve the turkey four hours later.  

My brother-in-law has been in charge of the mashed potatoes for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for several years and earned the nickname “Spud.” The people helping him peel are members of “Team Spud.” This year our hosts had a spud station ready and waiting for team spud. As always, Spud’s mashed potatoes were great. 

Team Spud, Ready for Some Peeling Action

The Spud Station

As with all of our family gatherings, there was enough food for twice the number of guests, therefore each family took home Ziplock bags full of leftovers. My bags of leftovers were hauled to our cousin Becky’s house in Yuba City where we all stayed for a couple of days. The leftovers eventually made it to our house in Livermore, where I decided to use the last of our Ziplock bag of mashed potatoes to make potato pancakes. I must say these potato pancakes were the best I have ever made and probably the tastiest. 

The potato pancake recipe I used as the basis for my recipe was found in the USA Weekend magazine section of my Sunday newspaper and was created by Christy Jordon author of a cookbook titled, “Come Home to Supper.” 

Here is my version of her recipe:

Potato Pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups cold leftover mashed potatoes*
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup all-purpose or self rising flour
• 2 tablespoons finely diced onion
• 2 shakes of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil or vegetable oil
• Leftover gravy or sour cream for topping

Directions

In a medium sized bowl, mix the egg and the mashed potato with a fork until well blended. Add the flour, onion, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix well.

Pour a couple of tablespoons of oil into a skillet to coat the bottom and heat the skillet over medium heat. Line a plate with paper towels.

Working in batches, scoop the mixture out by a heaping tablespoon and drop it in the hot skillet. Dip the back of a spoon in oil to keep the mixture from sticking to the spoon and then use the spoon to flatten and shape the mixture to 1/4″ inch pancakes. Continue adding spoonfuls of the mixture and shaping the pancakes until you have a pan full. Leave enough space between the pancakes to flatten them and flip them.

Fry the pancakes until they are lightly brown on the bottom, about 3 to 5 minutes. Flip them and lightly brown them on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the cakes to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Add oil to the skillet as needed while you continue to cook the rest of the mixture. Keep the pancakes in a warm oven while you continue cooking the rest of the mixture.

Serve warm topped with gravy or a dollop of sour cream.

*Be sure the mashed potatoes are cool or the raw egg will cook as you add it. 

~merry~