The other day I made Pommes Aligot, or Posh Mashed Potatoes to you and me! It is the absolute best mashed potatoes with cheese that you have ever had. It originated in the Auvergne region of France, but is eaten a lot in the Aude. It can be heavily laced with garlic, but perfectly acceptable without! And is soooo Easy!

What you need!

• 2.5 kilos of floury potatoes
• 2 + cloves garlic chopped
• 250 mls cream, preferably double cream
• 125 grams butter, preferably unsalted
• 500 grams grated cheese and again preferably a French cheese like Tomme, Gruyère or Emmental, but definitely not cheddar.
• Salt and pepper to taste

And here is what you do !

• Wash and boil the potatoes, along with the garlic.
• When soft, strain and mash throughly, I use a potato ricer to get a very fine mash.
• Add the cream and butter, mix really well.
• When the butter has melted add the cheese and keep mixing until the cheese has blended and melted in.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Stupidly, as perhaps as is normal for me, I made too much. But as I say always, waste not want not and this was no different. Potato was packed into a box and refrigerated. Of course I could have just reheated it but that was too simple, especially as we had house guests and we decided to trudge up the hill in knee deep snow to our local. ( the only cafe / bar/ mini restaurant/ depôt de pain in our little French Village). I say knee deep in snow, it wasn’t knee deep when we went but it certainly was upon our return!

So, I also had a small cooked ham which also needed using. The Aligot was really thick, Croquetas sprang to mind! Perfect!

I chopped the ham finely and mixed it with the cold potatoes and actually mixed it by hand! Such a lovely squeezy feeling as it oozed through the fingers.

I made the Croquetas by scooping out about a dessert spoonful of the mixture ( I used my ice cream scoop). Roll the mixture in a little flour, so it doesn’t stick, then in beaten egg and then in breadcrumbs. Repeat until all of the mixture has been used!

Heat some oil in a pan or deep fat fryer ( I prefer to use a small wok as you get the depth of oil, without using oodles of oil.) Heat the oil, keep an eye on it, do not let it smoke ( burns) . Test for readiness by dropping in a small amount of bread, if it sizzles straight away, it is hot enough to use. Fry the Croquetas in small batches. If you have sufficiently coated in egg and breadcrumbs, the cheese will begin to ooze out. When brown, remove from the oil and drain on paper. Refrigerate until ready to use, can be used as a side dish or as munchies with a glass of bubbles or something!