Light as air and buttery potato puffs melt in your mouth. These party snacks are mashed potatoes in snackable form, perfect for entertaining especially for a big football game. These Puffs are flavored with fried shallots and garlic. Potato Puffs are football food with style!
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine American
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Chill Time 2 hourshours
Total Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Servings 5dozen
Ingredients
3large russet potatoes
2small shallots
4Tbbutterdivided
2Tbheavy cream
1egg yolk
1egg
1tspminced garlic
2tspsalt
fresh cracked pepper to taste
1tspbaking powder
½Call purpose flourplus more for work surface
canola oil
apple butter for serving
Instructions
Peel the russet potatoes and place whole in a large saucepan. Cover with 2 inches of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil for 30-45 minutes or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork to the center.
Strain the cooked potatoes and place them immediately back into the hot pot and place a lid on the pot. Allow the potatoes to steam in the covered pot for 10 minutes to remove any remaining moisture.
Add 2 Tb of butter to the steamed potatoes. Mash with a hand masher or you can put the potatoes through a ricer if you have one. You want the potatoes smooth but not gummy. Once the potatoes are mashed, set aside.
Peel and thinly slice the shallots. Cut in half and then slice into very thin strips. Place the remaining 2 Tb of butter into a small skillet over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the sliced shallots and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally for even cooking. Once the shallots are golden brown and crisp, turn off the heat and set aside.
Crack the whole egg and egg yolk to a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, pepper, garlic, fried shallots, and heavy cream and mix to combine. Add about 2 C of the hot mashed potatoes to the eggs and immediately stir vigorously to temper the eggs (IE prevent your potato puffs from turning into scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes).
Once you've tempered the eggs, add the remaining mashed potatoes and fold gently to combine. Add ½ C flour and baking powder and continue to fold gently until you don't see any remaining flour in the mix.
Cover the mix with saran wrap and chill for a minimum of 2 hours or preferably overnight. The colder the mixture, the more spherical shape you'll end up with. My photos are from only 2 hours of chill time.
Once the potato mix has chilled, pour about 1 C all-purpose flour onto a work surface and begin dropping 1 Tb of potato mix and rolling each portion to coat in flour and form a ball shape.
Pour 1-inch of oil into a high-edged skillet and heat to 325 degrees over medium heat. A digital thermometer is super handy when frying. I've linked to one above. If you don't have a thermometer, then you can also drop a small piece of potato in the oil. It should rise to the top immediately and start to bubble when the oil is ready. It usually takes about 5 minutes for the oil to heat.
Prepare a baking sheet with two layers of paper towels to absorb any extra grease.
Once the oil is hot, drop the floured potato puffs into the oil leaving about an inch of space around each one. Work in batches, turning each puff after 2-3 minutes of frying. You want a dark golden brown color.
Once the puffs are browned on both sides, place them onto the prepared baking sheet. Season with a pinch of kosher salt right after removing from the fryer.
You can keep the prepared puffs on in a warm oven while you make the others but try to serve the potato puffs quickly after frying.