PERFECT PARTY FINGER FOOD
Regular readers will know I recently hosted a cast party at my home after our local amateur dramatics theatre production. Having seen these being made on TV and again on internet I decided that these little delights would go down a treat with the cast and crew because all ages would like them. I settled on making a few variations…and they were fabulous! Had to share. This is the basic recipe.
BASIC RECIPE
BASIC POTATO BALLS
Preparation time 30 mins plus at least 20 mins in the fridge
Cooking time 2-3 mins
Makes about 10 balls
Ingredients
2 large potatoes
salt & pepper
1 cup mixed grated cheese
Steps
STEP 1 Peel and chop potatoes into large chunks.
STEP 2 Boil the potatoes till they are ready to mash.
STEP 3 Add salt and pepper.
STEP 4 Add 1/4 cream or mayonnaise.
STEP 5 Mash the potato and allow to cool.
STEP 6 Grate the cheeses into a bowl.
STEP 7 Take walnut sized scoops of potato and flatten in your hand. Place about 1 tsp of grated cheese into the flattened potato then wrap potato around to form a ball.
STEP 8 Roll in cornflour.
STEP 9 Form a small ball with WET hands so it doesn’t stick. Flatten it out in the palm of your hand and place a piece of cheese into the centre and re-roll the ball around the cheese making sure the cheese is totally covered. Now cover the plate of balls with cling film and pop it into the fridge to firm up. You can do this 2-3 days in advance.
STEP 10 Browning. Lower 4-5 balls at a time into hot vegetable oil and turn till golden. Now transfer them to drain on paper towel or a rack.
If your balls are frozen always defrost to room temperature before deep frying in veg oil to ensure they don’t spit when they hit the oil.
Hugely Successful!
MY SCREAMINGLY SIMPLE
“OR” VARIATIONS
Follow the above method Steps 1-5. Then add these variations!
Add any of the following to taste. You might like to combine the flavours.
Add ¼ cup mayo or garlic aoli, yum.
4 slices of smokey bacon chopped into pieces and browned in a pan on a high heat. Drain on paper. There should be two pieces per ball.
A small Brie and/or a camembert cut into small pieces to place in the centre of the ball. Carefully reform the ball around the cheese.
OR
Top with a stuffed green olive instead of the bacon
OR
Wrap each piece of cheese with a sage leaf or a small basil leaf before wrapping in the potato
OR
Use tiny bocconcini balls, which you can buy in tubs at most supermarkets.
OR
Add 2 tsp curry powder to the mashed potato
OR
1 Tsp grated parmesan cheese
OR
Add ½ tsp asafoetida powder to your potato mash. (Fructose/Fructan intolerant onion substitute. Be sparing.)
OR
Add 4 spring onions, chopped (or just the green bits for AF)
OR
Chop 4 large stems of parsley, some fresh thyme or rosemary finely. Add to the potato mash before you make your balls.
OR
To each piece of cheese sprinkle with a little mixed herbs.
OR
You might prefer to add the herbs to the potato when you mash them.
OR
Sprinkle a little parmesan on each piece of Brie cheese.
OR
Add a dob of chilli sauce on the cheese then re-roll.
OR
FOR VEGAN Use a vegan cheese in the centre and use curry.
Crumbing and still Gluten Free (GF)
NO EGG VERSION – Toss each ball in cornflour and set aside in fridge to firm up.
or
GF CRUMBING – Toss in corn flour, then into whisked egg and either rice crumbs or crumbed GF bread. Set aside to firm up in the fridge.
FREEZING FOR LATER
At Step 5 you can freeze your little potato gems as they can make a yummy side plate for steak and salad. I separate each layer with baking paper so they don’t stick to each other.
Or
After Step 6 of lightly brown the balls and draining, layer them with baking paper to freeze. This allows for a quick microwave to reheat. Remember your little balls don’t need to be cooked just heated and/or browned.
SERVING
Now top each ball with a pile of chopped and browned bacon then push a stick in to keep it in place. Easy to pick up and pop into your mouth.
Offer any dipping sauce of your choice. I like sweet chilli sauce with a good splash of soy sauce and a bowl of hummus. Everyone loved these yummy balls so much that “He who Loves to Help” made four batches of them and carefully sprinkled each plate with fresh chopped parsley. Woohoo!
NOTE