Recipe & Video Potato Fingers

I read the recipe twice if not three times. I added the cooked, cold, thick as can be polenta and mixed by hand. That's how I do my croquettes, which I make all the time. I mixed by feel and I was second guessing myself the whole way through. I.e no egg as a binder or gelatine? I don't get why there was no colour like original. But hey it's no biggy, I just won't try it again. My potatoes were agria, which I use all of the time, a great chips and fries potato. Equivalent to murican russet.

Russ
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
If you're sure that's the problem, just edit the original recipe to include something like '(dry volume)' after polenta. It should make things cleared (as well as maybe saying to cook the polenta first and presumably allow it to cool).

If I can I'll try the recipe during the week. But no promises.
Click to expand...

If you do... good luck. Am worried now given rascal's experience. All I can say is for the most part they turned out golden and delicious when I made them.
 
I halved the recipe and made approximately 12 'fingers'. I wrote down the weights for future reference:

50g polenta (dry weight)
Scant 200ml water
400g potatoes (unpeeled raw weight) which made 315g of peeled, boiled and drained potatoes

I added salt to the potatoes when cooking.

I made the polenta in a bowl in the microwave and cooked it until it was very thick. So much so that a spoon could stand up in it. Drained the potatoes and let them dry out. Then mashed with nothing added. Again, the consitency was such that a fork could stand up in it. There were approximately equal amounts of mashed potato & cooked polenta - maybe a bit more potato than polenta. I don't think the proportions are crucial.

33371 33372


Then I mixed with coriander & chilli and added salt to taste. It was then shaped into fat fingers and deep fried in hot oil. The oil was heated to 190C. They each took approx. 1½ mins to cook. The crucial bit was not to touch them. I made that mistake with the test one and it fell to bits! You just have to trust that they will be OK and not be tempted to fiddle.

The result was perfect, crisp & golden on the outside and soft & light in the middle. They are great with a yoghurt based dip. Delicious!

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33373
 
morning glory said:
I halved the recipe and made approximately 12 'fingers'. I wrote down the weights for future reference:

50g polenta (dry weight)
Scant 200ml water
400g potatoes (unpeeled raw weight) which made 315g of peeled, boiled and drained potatoes

I added salt to the potatoes when cooking.

I made the polenta in a bowl in the microwave and cooked it until it was very thick. So much so that a spoon could stand up in it. Drained the potatoes and let them dry out. Then mashed with nothing added. Again, the consitency was such that a fork could stand up in it. There were approximately equal amounts of mashed potato & cooked polenta - maybe a bit more potato than polenta. I don't think the proportions are crucial.

View attachment 33371 View attachment 33372


Then I mixed with coriander & chilli and added salt to taste. It was then shaped into fat fingers and deep fried in hot oil. The oil was heated to 190C. They each took approx. 1½ mins to cook. The crucial bit was not to touch them. I made that mistake with the test one and it fell to bits! You just have to trust that they will be OK and not be tempted to fiddle.

The result was perfect, crisp & golden on the outside and soft & light in the middle. They are great with a yoghurt based dip. Delicious!

View attachment 33375

View attachment 33373
Click to expand...

So different to mine.

Russ
 
I have made up a batch this morning, and as with morning glory, I have not had any problems. I didn't deep fry mine, I shallow fried half and baked the other half, but there was never a moment when they ever gave any indication of coming apart. Quite the opposite in my case.

Again as with morning glory, I found that my dry weight of polenta was exactly 100g but my polenta only took 350ml of water. I cooked it on the stove, stirring all the time. It was a very tough job to stir, one of those changing your grip round to get a better hold of the wooden spoon jobs.

My potatoes weighed quite roughly the same at 750g (uncooked weight), though I left roughly 100g of mashed potato out, I cut the potatoes into quarters, and boiled them (with 1 tsp salt) and then drained and allowed to cool before peeling them. I mashed them with a fork as per the instructions and then mashed the polenta into the potatoes along with 2 very large green chillies, roughly 2/3rd of the fresh coriander (all i had, sorry), seasoned well and then added in some ground coriander and ground cumin (1/2 tsp of each).

Potato & Polenta Fingers

Potato & Polenta Fingers


Potato & Polenta Fingers

Potato & Polenta Fingers


Potato & Polenta Fingers

Potato & Polenta Fingers


Potato & Polenta Fingers

Potato & Polenta Fingers


I was only able to shallow fry, we don't have a deep fat dryer, air fryer or even enough oil to try to deep fry, so I also experimented (I had the oven on already) and sprayed some with some spray olive oil and baked those at 200C (fan assisted) for 35 minutes.

Potato & Polenta Fingers

Potato & Polenta Fingers


Potato & Polenta Fingers

Potato & Polenta Fingers


Potato & Polenta Fingers

Potato & Polenta Fingers


Potato & Polenta Fingers (Fried)

Potato & Polenta Fingers (Fried)


Potato & Polenta Fingers (Fried)

Potato & Polenta Fingers (Fried)



And the baked ones

Potato & Polenta Fingers

Potato & Polenta Fingers


Potato & Polenta Fingers (Baked)

Potato & Polenta Fingers (Baked)


Potato & Polenta Fingers (Baked)

Potato & Polenta Fingers (Baked)

 
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Bravo SatNavSaysStraightOn - at this rate this recipe is going to be the most tried & tested original recipe on CookingBites!

I found that my dry weight of polenta was exactly 100g but my polenta only took 350ml of water. I cooked it on the stove, stirring all the time. It was a very tough job to stir, one of those changing your grip round to get a better hold of the wooden spoon jobs.
Click to expand...

Much easier in the microwave...

I think the key to this recipe is getting a really stiff mix. Simple as that really.
 
Wow SatNavSaysStraightOn . Yours and Morning Glorys posts make me want to make this again right now.

I love how you've adapted the cooking technique to what you currently have. I do that all the time, as I actually have a crappy little kitchen with a lethargic electric stove top, forcing me to experiment with devices like an el cheapo portable induction machine and my camping butane cooker.

This is an awesome post and has made my evening.
 
morning glory said:
Much easier in the microwave...
Click to expand...
My microwave is at head height and off to the left so I have to rely on my bad side to get anything out of it and the head height bit I don't like one bit, so I avoid using it tbh. It's a design flaw in the kitchen and it's not our kitchen as you know. The result is that it's safer for me to use the stove.
 
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