Potato Scallion And Kale Cakes
I’ve been reading through the new Genius Recipes cookbook from Food52’s Kristen Miglore. Of all the recepies that tempted me to go the kitchen and start cooking, and there were many, I went for the simplest and most kid/husband-pleasing last night: Bert Greene’s Potato Scallion Cakes, to which I added kale, not, for once, because I was trying to coerce the kid into eating more greens but because I’m the one who’s fallen off the iron wagon.
Greene was the New York Daily News longtime food columnist, cookbook author and he even had a gourmet take-out store in the Hamptons long before Ina Garten. This recipe showed up in 1984’s James Beard award-winning Greene on Greens as a simple way to give new life to leftover mashed potatoes, which tend to be floury and not especially pleasant to rewarm. These are their highest calling — a golden, crisp-edged flavorful fritter that would be as welcome with a crispy egg on top for breakfast at any time of the day, to a side dish for something more hearty (flank steak and kale salad for us, see above: iron!). Could you put cheese in them? Could you add more thinly shaved vegetables? Could you freeze them for future meals? Could you tuck them in a school lunchbox? Yes, yes, yes and yes, and you should.
Ingredients:
- 12 scallions
- 1 handful kale leaves, rolled in a stack and sliced into very thin ribbons
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (I totally skipped this)
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt (use less if your mashed potatoes are already seasoned)
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs or panko (plain and lightweight)
- 1 1/2 cups cold leftover mashed potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil