Description
Chef Paul Canales makes these easy fritters at home. As we found in our test kitchen, his good advice for choosing greens can make all the difference in the outcome of this dish: You want to taste your raw greens for flavor, and also determine if the greens might be so mature as to have grown fibrous. “ If they are very mature, I might remove the ribs, then roll and thinly slice them,” says Canales. “Then I might sauté in a little olive oil—well seasoned with salt and pepper—and add a splash or two of water if needed to encourage them! This will break them down better while preserving their flavor.”
Ingredients
- 1 pound mustard greens
- 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Rice flour for dredging (if needed)
- Olive oil for frying
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt: Think the taste of the ocean. Blanch the mustard greens quickly in the boiling salted water and then remove them from the pot with tongs and drop into a colander to drain. Leave the boiling water on the hot burner for the potatoes.
Drop the potatoes in their jackets into the boiling water and cook until fork tender. Remove from the pot and let cool until you can easily hold the potatoes to peel off their jackets. Toss the jackets into your compost bucket. Place the peeled potatoes into a large bowl and roughly mash them. You want the potatoes to be dry, so if they let off any steam, allow them to dry for at least 10 minutes.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a skillet and sauté the minced garlic briefly. Add to the cooked potatoes.
Wad up the cooled, blanched mustard greens in your hands and squeeze out the moisture. Chop the greens and add them to the potato mixture. Add the egg and some salt and pepper to taste. Combine well and form into cakes. If the cakes are moist, dredge them in rice flour.
Heat several tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet and add as many of the cakes as will fit. Fry them on the first side until browned, and then flip and fry on the second side, adding more olive oil to the skillet as needed. Serve hot.
