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Potato Drops
2 cups mashed potatoes (without any milk) 2 eggs Salt and pepper Mix the potato and the beaten eggs. Drop the mixture from a spoon into the hot fat and fry until a golden brown, then drain on brown paper and serve with a garnish of parsley. If the spoon is dipped in boiling water after every using, each drop will retain the shape of the spoon.
A thrifty way through leftover mashed potato: two ingredients, a deep pan of fat, and a spoon kept wet so the drops hold their shape.
- Dry potato is the hingeThe instruction "without any milk" is the whole recipe. Milk or cream loosens the mixture so the drops slump and weep water into the fat; use potato mashed dry, ideally baked or steamed rather than boiled, and let it cool before mixing in the eggs.
- Fat temperatureThe recipe says only "hot fat" and gives no figure. For frying drops of this kind a modern range of roughly 360-375F works: much cooler and they soak and fall apart, much hotter and the outside browns before the egg sets. Fry in small batches so the temperature does not crash.
- The wet spoonDipping the spoon in boiling water between drops is sound and worth doing — it keeps the starch from sticking and releases a clean oval. A second spoon used to push the mixture off works with it.
- DrainingBrown paper was the standard drain of the period. Paper towels or a rack set over a tray do the same job; keep the drops in a single layer or the steam softens the crust.
- SeasoningSalt and pepper the mixture, then add a little more salt the moment the drops come out of the fat, while the surface is still oily enough to hold it.
- Yield and servingTwo cups of potato with two eggs makes roughly a couple of dozen walnut-sized drops; the recipe gives no yield or serving count. They are best straight from the pan; if they must wait, hold them uncovered in a low oven.