Mexican potato cakes

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You can probably use more oil, but I like to keep it down as these can be sponges for fat

Firm dough, ready to rest

When these pancakes are made large they are good as a main course, topped with spicy chicken & sour cream, grilled cheese, guacamole, grilled vegetables, refried beans, ceviche, etc. Make lots of small ones as finger food or starters.

Ingredients

• 4 medium potatoes
• 160g masa harina
• 1 small onion, peeled and grated
• 1 Clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 200g Cheddar cheese
• Pinch of chilli powder
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Vegetable oil for frying

Mise en place

• Boil the potatoes, whole, in their skins until cooked, rub the skins off and mash them.
• Grate the cheese and onion

Method

1. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor with a dough hook or a plastic blade and knead into a fairly firm dough, add a little water or more masa harina to adjust the consistency
2. Rest for 30 minutes then roll out into 1 cm thick pancakes
3. Shallow fry in oil until golden brown and crispy, turning now and again.

Chef's notes

Making this (for about 8 people), I used about 200 g masa harina and 800 g desire potatoes, weighed after boiling and peeling. A dusting of yellow cornmeal makes them easy to roll and a nice finish.

The mixture kept well for 4 days, refrigerated in a Lock&Lock box and made really nice sized nibbles by rolling into balls (golf-ball sized), pressing in a tortilla-press then shallow-frying.

If you don't have a tortilla press, use 2 chopping boards or just two sheets of wood as a substitute. Place ball of dough between two non-stick surfaces such as small squares of Bake-O-Glide and stand on them!

Suppliers

See the Tortilla Press page for UK suppliers.