When I was growing up, my sister and I spent our Thanksgiving vacation with our Gram at her house on Prairie Lake in Chetek, WI. This particular holiday meal is etched in my mind like a piece of glass art … turkey breast (no one in the family ate dark meat); mashed potatoes with gravy; “dressing,” (stuffing, in the northern Wisconsin vernacular); the ubiquitous green bean casserole; Brown ‘n Serve rolls; pumpkin pie; and a cranberry salad, which Gram made using a charmingly old-fashioned manual grinder that attached to the countertop in her cozy kitchen, with its big, blonde-wood-framed windows that overlooked the lake. (This is the closest dish I could find that resembles my memory of the actual recipe.)
The next day, when there were various leftovers wrapped up tightly in the fridge, Gram would use the cold mashed potatoes to make what she called “potato patties:” essentially just small portions of the leftover potatoes pressed into pancake shapes in a skillet, and fried golden-brown in a little dab of butter (or, being that this was the 80s/90s, it’s more likely that it was margarine. Blech).
This was one of those Gram recipes that was just so shining in it’s simplicity – quite a lot like her grilled cheese sandwiches, which she always referred to as “toasted cheese;” they were the most basic combo of her favorite English muffin bread, Kraft singles and her little toaster oven, but they were somehow the best grilled cheese sandwiches in the universe.
We had a heap of mashed spuds leftover after Thanksgiving, so I used them to make Gram-style potato cakes for a quick weeknight meal. I decided to deviate from the OG potato patty by adding two beaten eggs, 1/4 cup of flour and some dried chives to the mix, just to create more binding action, and stretch the potatoes a little farther.
I pulled out the griddle for convenience (it WAS a weeknight, after all), but in hindsight, my beloved Lodge cast iron skillet would have given the cakes a much better golden crust.
Regardless, they turned out delish, and we had them topped with sour cream and applesauce. I made some roasted chicken breasts as well, but these could definitely be a meal in themselves – or good with some spring greens in vinaigrette on the side.
Either way, I’m thinking Gram would be proud. 🙂
A Life, Untitled. 