Fried Chèvre Potato Balls

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Fried Chèvre Potato Balls

Ingredients:

4 medium russets, about 2 pounds
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick butter
2 large eggs
1 small pinch nutmeg
Salt and Naughty Nelly's Deadly Twelve Pepper Blend or a few cranks of the peppermill
1/3 pound goat cheese, kept cold, we use Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog, cut into ½ inch cubes
Flour for dredging
Unflavored bread crumbs for dredging
peanut oil for frying

Preparation:

Scrub and peel the potatoes. Cube them in uniform pieces and rinse under running cold water. Put the potatoes and salt in cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Simmer the potatoes until fork tender and drain thoroughly. Return the pan and potatoes to the stove top and cook over low heat until any excess moisture is removed, about two minutes.

While they are still hot, rice the potatoes into a bowl and add the butter, one beaten egg and the nutmeg. Whisk to incorporate. Adjust seasoning with salt and Naughty Nelly's Deadly Twelve Pepper Blend.

The mixture will be firmer that most mashed potatoes. Form the potatoes into balls about 1-1/2 inches round and place them on a cookie sheet. When you have formed all the balls, push a piece of the cheese into the center of each potato ball and reshape the ball so that the cheese is centered and not exposed.

Scramble the other egg in a small bowl. Put the flour and bread crumbs in separate bowls, in a row, flour first, then egg and finally bread crumbs. Then set a clean cookie sheet after the bread crumbs. Sprinkle it with a light coating of bread crumbs.

With your left hand, roll the potato balls in the flour, knocking off any loose flour. Drop the floured potato ball into the eggs without getting your fingers wet. With your right hand roll the ball around to coat it in egg. Lift the wet ball out of the mixture and drop it into the breading without touching the breading with your wet hand. With your dry left hand, roll the ball in bread crumbs until coated. Knock off any loose coating and place the ball onto the cookie sheet. Following this procedure, you should keep your fingers from forming little dough ball on them.

This can be done ahead of time and kept cool or they are ready for frying. Deep fry in peanut oil that has reached a temperature of 350 degrees F. until golden brown. Do not overcrowd them. Remove the cooked balls to a cookie sheet that has been covered with a lint free paper or cloth towel to drain. Serve at once or move to a warm oven (200 degrees F.) until they are all cooked.

CHEF’S NOTE: The potatoes were mashed but you will notice that there is no milk or cream in this recipe. We don’t add excess moisture to the potatoes in this recipe because they are to be deep fried. Adding cream to the potatoes would cause them to possibly explode or fall apart in the hot oil.

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