Intolerances: Fructose, Gluten, Soy, Dairy
A delicious appetizer or snack, crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside with just a hint of cheese.
I needed a crowd pleasing appetizer, one that would work for picky eaters, kids, allergy restricted friends and the average person. Potatoes. Potatoes usually work for everyone, whether that be as a french fry, mashed, tater tot, they are almost always crowd pleasing. Once I determined the main ingredient of my app, I wanted to come up with something new and fun. We were coming off of Thanksgiving, where my dad always makes his mashed skin-on red potatoes, which I absolutely love. I love the texture and the taste. I had also recently purchased nutritional yeast, thanks to the advice of some friends, and I knew I wanted to incorporate that into the dish. I decided, why not mix the nutritional yeast with the mashed potatoes and fry them…because everyone loves something fried, especially when thy don’t have to make it. So good..
Serve With:
- French Onion Dip
- Cranberry Sauce
- Chicken Skewers
- Meatballs
What you need:
- Red Potatoes
- Ghee or Vegan Butter
- Nutriotnal Yeast
- Gluten Free Flour (Better Batter All Purpose)
- Gluten Free Panko Breadcrumbs
- Dairy/Lactose Free Milk (your favorite brand – however do not use sweetened versions)
- Kosher Salt
- Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
- Paprika
- Oil for Frying (Vegetable, Canola, Peanut, etc)
- Slotted Spoon or Spider
- Large Pot with Cover
- Large Bowl
- Potato Masher
- Cookie Sheet, parchment paper
- Wire Rack
The Mash
Wash your potatoes and chop into cubes. Add your potatoes into a pot and top with cold water, make sure the water is about 1/2″ above the potatoes.Add 1/2 Tbsp of salt to the pot and bring to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, reduce the pot to a simmer, cover and set the timer for about 15-20 minutes. The potatoes will be fork tender when done. Drain the potatoes and add into a large bowl.
Give your potatoes a quick mash, just to get them started. Melt your ghee (I typically melt the ghee in the microwave on low power) and add it to the pot of potatoes, along with the milk, salt, pepper and paprika. Give the potatoes another mash – you don’t want to overwork them – so stop when they are just about to your desired consistency. I like texture to these potatoes, as they hold up well when frying. Finally, add your nutritional yeast and give a final mash, stir, to incorporate the “cheese”. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and let the mixture cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Side Note: You could certainly use regular milk and butter with the same quantities; however if you are using real cheese, I would recommend adding 3/4 cup of shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese instead of the Nutritional Yeast.
The Balls
Now it is time to set up the breading station. First, you will need 3 bowls. Add your flour, salt, pepper and paprika to one bowl and give it a quick stir. Next, add 3 eggs, salt and pepper to another bowl and whisk. Finally, add your panko crumbs, salt, pepper and paprika and give it a quick stir. Once the potato mixture has cooled, prep a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a medium size scoop (a spoon or whatever size scoop you have will work), scoop the first ball, roll it in the flour, then dunk in the egg (making sure to let any excess egg drip off) and finally roll it in the panko crumbs. Place the potato ball on the cookie sheet and continue with the remaining mixture. Once complete, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an additional 30-60 minutes.
The Fry
The hardest and longest part of this process is waiting for the oil to heat up. It is up to you what size pot you use. The smaller the pot, the less oil, but more batches. I chose to do a large pot, so that there would be room for me to do larger batches. When the oil reaches 325-375, it is ready to go. Using a slotted spoon or spider, drop your balls into the oil. Again, do not overcrowd the pot. The potatoes should take about 2-4 minutes to get golden brown. Remove each of the balls using your spoon/spider and place it on the wire rack. You can certainly turn the oven to 200 degrees if you want to keep the balls warm as your finish all of the frying. Serve when warm.
Intolerances: Fructose, Gluten, Soy, Dairy
Serves: 35-40 Medium Sized Balls
Prep Time: 1 hour Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
2 lbs Baby Red Potatoes
½ cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes
2 ½ Tbsp Kosher Salt, divided into: 1 Tbsp Kosher salt + ½ Tbsp + ½ tsp + ½ tsp + ½ tsp
2 ½ tsp Cracked Black Pepper divided into: 1 ½ tsp cracked black pepper + ¼ tsp + ¼ tsp + ½ tsp
2 ½ tsp Paprika divided into: 1 ½ tsp Paprika + ½ tsp + ½ tsp
¼ cup Vegan Butter or Ghee
½ cup Dairy/Lactose Free Milk
1 cup All Purpose Gluten Free fFour
1 ½ cup Gluten Free Panko
Oil – Vegetable, Canola, Peanut, etc. Something with a high smoke point and neutral.
- Wash the potatoes and cut into small cubes. Add them to a large stockpot, cover in water and add ½ Tbsp of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover until fork tender 15-20 minutes.
- Strain the potatoes and add to a large bowl. Give the potatoes a brief mash, just to get the process started.
- Melt butter or ghee, add to the potatoes, along with milk, salt, pepper, paprika. Mash again. Once the potatoes are almost done to your desired consistency (I would recommend leaving some texture), add nutritional yeast and give the final mash/stir. Do not over mash. Remember, this is not meant to be a super creamy potato.
- Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to cool.
- Set up your FEP station, flour eggs and panko. Add the flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp paprika to a bowl and stir. Add the eggs to a separate bowl, whisk in 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. In the final bowl, add the panko crumbs, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp paprika and stir.
- Using a medium scoop (or choose your size), ball out the mashed potatoe and put them through the FEP station. Roll your potato in flour, dip it in the egg, make sure to let the excess egg drip off, then roll it in the panko crumbs. Place the ball onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and continue the process with the remaining mashed potatoes.
- Cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Pour your oil into a pot and heat until the temperature hits 325-375. Add the potato balls to the oil, be sure not to overcrowd. The potatoes will take about 2-4 minutes, remove them with a spider or slotted spoon and place on a cookie sheet wire rack to cool. Continue with remaining potato balls.
Side Note: If you are not dairy free or gluten free, you can certainly replace milk, flour and panko. For the nutritional yeast, I recommend swapping it with 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar or monterey jack.
Side Note: If you are not serving immediately, keep the potato bite in a 200 degree oven to stay warm until time to serve.
Side Note: Craving a little more salt, simply add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt to the bites, immediately after removing from the oil.
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