Mashed Potato Pancakes with Goat Cheese and Chives

5 from 2 votes

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Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives Tomorrow is the big day, and I couldn’t be any more excited than I am right now.

In a last minute change of plans, yours truly is hosting Wolf family Thanksgiving this year. My mother, sister, and brother-in-law will be making a very uncharacteristic trek downtown tomorrow afternoon to feast in my living room. (Traveling below 14^th Street! Horror of horrors!) Truthfully, I am both thrilled and terrified that this is happening.

Since I’ve mastered roasting a turkey, and my Mom is taking care of most of the sides, I’m not remotely stressed about the cooking aspect of tomorrow’s festivities. Duh. Honestly, it’s the “holiday décor” that is giving me heart palpitations. My mother has very specific (and exquisite) taste, and when it comes to holidays, she likes things to be seasonal, beautiful, and, for lack of a better word, fancy.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very proud of my apartment, but being in my twenties (and self-employed), I don’t exactly have cupboards brimming with fine china, seasonal place settings, and candelabras. I’m not sure my mother fully grasps this fact, as she has called several times to ask things like, “Do you have stemware?” Yes? I have glasses that I drink wine out of? “What is your platter situation?” Good? I have one? “What were you planning to do for a flower arrangement?” Nothing? I have pumpkins on my table? As you can see, I tend to turn my responses into questions, just in case they are the wrong answers. They usually are.

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-6 The scary thing is that my mother will inevitably show up tomorrow with an arsenal of supplies to transform my apartment into a Thanksgiving wonderland. In fact, it’s already begun. Ten minutes ago, a man delivered two unbelievable and enormous flower arrangements, and I know exactly how this will all play out. We will eat and drink too much at dinner, and my mom will go home, leaving behind all kinds of plates, trays, and centerpieces that I will probably have to sleep with at night due to lack of storage space. My roommate is going to be thrilled.

In addition to the décor leftovers, I am guaranteed to wake up on Friday morning with mass quantities of food in my fridge. As I’ve mentioned before, we are only four for dinner, but we will have enough for at least twelve. It’s a given. Luckily, I actually know what to do with leftovers, and I’m pretty pumped about the situation. I can only eat so many Thanksgiving sandwiches, people, so you know what I’m going to make with my leftover loot? Mashed Potato Pancakes with Goat Cheese and Chives.

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-3 Mother of God. These are insane.

I’m sure that a number of you are thinking that you make fabulous sandwiches, soups, casseroles, etc. with your Thanksgiving leftovers, and that they are the best. To that, I would just like to say…

IMMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT THESE MASHED POTATO PANCAKES ARE THE BEST RECIPE FOR THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS OF ALL TIME.

This is one of those recipes that I find almost impossible to do justice in words, which is why I have included so many enormous photos of the awesomeness. You may have eaten mashed potato pancakes before, friends, but I guarantee you’ve never tasted anything remotely like this version. These aren’t your average dollops of leftover mashed potatoes fried in butter (which are also pretty dank). They are so, so much more.

These light, fluffy little wonders are golden brown and slightly crispy on the outside with a soft, dreamy mashed potato interior. The goat cheese lends an extra layer of creaminess to the potatoes, which are jazzed up by the addition of peppery fresh chives. The consistency of the pancakes is reminiscent of a blini or a thick crepe, but the flavor is a whole lot more exciting. To be honest, the term “life-changing” keeps coming to mind.

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-12 Now, Mashed Potato Pancakes with Goat Cheese and Chives are perfectly delicious on their own, but the toppings are what really take them to the next level. In the spirit of capitalizing on Thanksgiving leftovers, I highly recommend topping them with warm turkey, a healthy serving of gravy, and plenty of cranberry sauce. This powerhouse sweet and savory combo will blow your mind/rock your world/change your life. However, I think they would be equally delicious with bacon and eggs, drizzled with maple syrup, or piled high with prosciutto. You could also serve these alongside almost any type of meat, or as an appetizer with a dollop of your favorite fancy chutney. Hell, top them with more goat cheese and call it a day. Hallelujah.

Full disclosure: These were so good that I ate a solid third of them straight out of the pan and then had to double the recipe to have enough pancakes to take my pretty pictures. It was unattractive, and it seriously derailed my pre-Thanksgiving kale salad plan, but it was worth it. I can’t wait to make them again on Friday, when I will eat them off of the fine china that my mother leaves behind. It will be glorious.

Thanksgiving comes but once a year, friends. Make the most of it!

p.s. I’m incredibly thankful for all of you wonderful people that read this blog. Love you, mean it.

Mashed Potato Pancakes with Goat Cheese and Chives: (Makes 14 small pancakes)

Ingredients:
2 cups mashed potatoes
3 ounces goat cheese
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
2-3 tablespoons olive oil or butter (depends on your preference)
For garnish: (optional)
Turkey
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Whatever other awesome things you can think of

Preparing your Potato Pancakes with Goat Cheese and Chives:

-Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Place a parchment-lined baking sheet in the oven.

-Place your leftover mashed potatoes in a mixing bowl.

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-step-1 -Mix the goat cheese and chives into your potatoes.

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-step-2-2 -Add the flour and eggs and season the pancake batter with salt and pepper. (NOTE: You may need to add a little more flour depending on how creamy/buttery your mashed potatoes are. You don’t want the batter to be too liquid. It should have the texture of a thick cake batter.)

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-step-3 -Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick pan. When hot, spoon heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan. Make sure to leave enough space between your pancakes so that you can get in there with a spatula to flip them!

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-step-4-2 -Cook the pancakes for about 2 minutes until tiny bubbles start to form in the batter. When those bubbles appear, flip them over and cook for another 2 minutes on the second side until golden brown. Transfer cooked pancakes to the prepared baking sheet in the oven to keep warm if you like.

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-step-5 -Heat another tablespoon olive oil and continue cooking pancakes in batches until all of the batter is used up (adding more olive oil as necessary).

-Serve pancakes warm topped with whatever strikes your fancy. I strongly recommend the turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce combo, but you do you.

Mashed-potato-pancakes-with-goat-cheese-and-chives-10