Orlando’s Straw Potato Cakes

(serves six, he says, but we two ate them ALL)

2 medium pota­toes, shred­ded into tiny match­sticks, using a man­dolin or juli­enne slicer
1 shal­lot, chopped very finely
duck or goose fat, olive oil or clar­i­fied butter.

Because [Orlando says] there is only me in the kitchen cook­ing din­ner, dishes have to be prac­ti­cal and achiev­able. This potato dish is so quick that it can be made while the meat rests. A few hours in advance you can peel the pota­toes and juli­enne them; keep them under water.

When ready to cook, drain the pota­toes thor­oughly and squeeze as dry as you can on a towel — twist­ing and wring­ing as much as pos­si­ble. Mix with the shal­lots and plenty of seasoning.

Heat 2 tbsp fat in a large fry­ing pan and put in 3 hand­fuls of potato, shap­ing as rough cir­cles. Mod­er­ate the heat if nec­es­sary, but after 3–4 min­utes they should have started to stick together and the under­side to go brown. Flip them over using a palette knife or spat­ula and cook the other side the same way. They will not be very tidy or reg­u­lar but they will taste delicious.

Keep warm on a bak­ing sheet and repeat with the next 3, adding a lit­tle more fat to cook in if nec­es­sary (usu­ally it isn’t). Serve as soon as possible.

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