These treats make for a good brunch option with your favorite eggs, though they would also be great as an appetizer or small entree for lunch or dinner, particularly with a small drizzle of something like honey mustard over them.

Pay attention to one important thing while making these cakes.  Though these savory delights are rather easy to put together, due to their soft consistency, you do have to use a bit of extra care and give them some extra room when frying them.  When in doubt, opt for frying a smaller batch instead of squeezing an extra few cakes into a larger batch.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil (I use Pompeian extra virgin olive oil)
canola or vegetable oil
1 small red onion, finely diced
3 cloves minced garlic
4 cups cold mashed potatoes
1 beaten egg
4 rounded tablespoons flour
¼ cup chopped green onion
2 tbsp chopped parsley (or other favorite herbs; I went with some cilantro here)
½ tsp black pepper
6 slices crisp cooked, thick cut smoked bacon, chopped
1 cup diced cheddar cheese (about a ½ inch dice or smaller)

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium heat.

Add the red onion and garlic, sauté for only a couple of minutes until the onions are softened.

Remove from heat and add to all of the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix everything together well. If the mixture seems too wet, add a couple of additional tablespoons of flour to help bind it together.

Form into 12 balls, roll in flour and flatten into potato cakes about an inch thick. Wetting your hands to roll the potato into balls is a good tip if your potatoes are particularly sticky.

Heat a quarter inch of oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Fry for a few minutes on either side until golden brown, drain on paper towels before serving.

(Yummy Southern Potato Salad) NEXT PAGE>>

Quick tip: If you don’t want to fry individual cakes, you could add the mixture to a baking dish and bake in the oven instead of frying.

Thanks to Rock Recipes for this fabulous potato cake recipe.