On Saturday, while we were cleaning up and preparing for the arrival of Mr. Man’s grandparents, I made a very lazy and lame lamb pot roast with potatoes for dinner in the crockpot. It barely qualified as a recipe, 3 lbs of lamb shoulder, 1 quart of broth, 2-3 lbs of potatoes; peeled and diced and kosher salt. We were pretty busy, so I didn’t do anything really fancy to it, figuring I’d try and dress it up around dinner time. Strangely enough though, the lamb turned out excellent (huzzah for homemade broth adding supah flava) – although the potatoes were really ho-hum, and a little overdone. Given a choice, I probably wouldn’t make this particular dish again, but I ended up being left with a ton of these less than spectacular potatoes.

In a fit of creative inspiration, I made these dense little pancake-like things. I knew we weren’t going to eat the potatoes as they were, so I didn’t bother to look up a recipe for them and just kind of winged it, figuring if it didn’t turn out, no real harm done. It probably could have used some leavening, because as I mentioned, they were a little dense. However, Mr. Man and Miss Thing both said that they were delicious and to please, please make them again. The potatoes I used had broth and small bits of pot roast mixed up in them, but you can use pretty much any well-cooked potato for this, I would imagine, as long as it’s soft. (Leftover mashed potatoes, leftover potato soup – I’ll bet you could even use leftover Au Gratin or Scalloped potatoes). This is very much a ‘use up the leftovers in a new way’ kind of dish. (A stand mixer helps though – srsly!)

Ingredients:

• 5 cups Soft, Cooked, leftover Soupy Potatoes; room temperature
• 1-3 cups Flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 stick butter; room temperature
• 2 tsps Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper
• Shredded Cheddar (Optional)
• Sour Cream (Optional)

Method:

• Preheat an oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat
• Mix together the potatoes and the butter until combined
• Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined
• Add the Kosher Salt, Cumin, Black Pepper, and Red Pepper to potatoes, mixing thoroughly.
• Add flour, half a cup at a time, until a thick batter forms.
• Drop batter in 1/2 cup rounds on to the frying pan.
• Cook each side until golden brown – try to flip only once
• Serve with Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Sour Cream, if desired.