Wot to do with leftover mashed taters

[lsanderson]

Almost Heaven: Leftover Mashed Potatoes, Uplifted
By MELISSA CLARK

THANKSGIVING is the one meal of the year when I’m happier about the leftovers than the dinner.

The day itself is too hectic for an alpha cook like myself to sit down and eat. I’m constantly jumping up to deglaze the turkey pan or whisk the salad dressing while simultaneously catching up with a dozen long-unseen relatives and friends. By the time I reach my plate, I face tepid turkey, lukewarm green beans and pasty mashed potatoes.

But a leftover turkey sandwich on grainy whole wheat with mayo, gravy and cranberry sauce? It’s heaven between bread slices. Cold pumpkin pie? An ambrosial midnight snack. Even the candied yams get their postprandial moment, topped with Greek yogurt the next day.

The losers are the mashed potatoes. Gluey when reheated and even worse cold from the fridge, the trash can is their inevitable fate.

But this year, my leftover mashed potatoes are destined for a higher purpose: Spanish-influenced potato croquettes with smoked paprika and piquillo peppers — a recipe I had been dying to try since my last trip to Barcelona — and crisp-fried potato, salmon and spinach patties with a garlicky dill cream. More

Recipe: Potato, Ham and Piquillo Pepper Croquetas (November 19, 2008)
Recipe: Potato, Salmon and Spinach Patties With Garlicky Dill Cream (November 19, 2008)
Times Topics: A Good Appetite
Times Topics: Thanksgiving

Comments

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

I was quite taken by something encountered in several British B&Bs as part of the Full English Breakfast several years ago. Left-over (I assume) mashed potatoes -- warmed up to the point of having a bit of slightly-browned crust, in a waffle-iron. (The Swedish kind, with heart-shaped segments, should be even better.) They still tasted like mashed potatoes, of course, but something bland and not-rich is a plus in a meal like that, as is the visual interest they add.