Potato Kephtides (Or Mrs B's Quest for Vegan Potato Cakes)

Mrs B's Note:

I first came across Potato Kephtides while looking for recipes to post for the Zaar World Tour 2005. My search led me to the public library where I came across Leah Leneman’s book “Easy Vegan Cooking”. I picked this book partly because it was a small paperback (ideal for reading on train journeys to and from work!) and partly because I was interested to learn more about vegan cookery. I was attracted to Leah's recipe because the Potato Kephtides could be baked (keeping the calories down) as well as fried and I thought they should appeal to a wide audience. Due to lack of time I posted the recipe untried. In this case, this was a mistake as it quickly became obvious from feedback from other Chefs that the recipe was not as easy to make as it appeared. So out came the keys to Mrs B's test kitchen and I had a go myself. Let's just say I experienced the same problems! Despite this I was convinced that the idea was a good one, so set about researching how to achieve what I wanted! I found other recipes for potato kephtides, but they weren't vegan. However, along the way I found some ideas which have allowed me to develop a recipe that works for me, yet keeps to the spirit of the original. My ingredients yield a soft dough which is firmer and easier to work with (and far less messy!). I've retained the list of ingredients for Leah's recipe (posted after the ingredients for mine) because NoraMarie's photo is of the original and looks so good. Also more experienced vegan chefs than me might be interested). Anyway, whichever version you follow, I can now confirm that Potato Kephtides go well with a wide variety of dishes and can be served at any time of day (from brunch to evening meal, with salads or hot meals). Enjoy!

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-6

Yield: 12.0 potato ...

MRS Bs

• 2 scallions, finely chopped (spring onions)
• 2 medium tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable margarine, melted
• 1 lb cold boiled potato
• 2 ounces tofu (firm silken, or medium)
• 2 ounces cornflour (cornstarch)
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons margarine, melted (optional)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
• all-purpose flour, for rolling out
• margarine, for greasing a baking tray

LEAHs

• 2 scallions, finely chopped (spring onions)
• 2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable margarine, melted
• 1 lb cold boiled potato
• 2 ounces whole wheat flour (plus extra for rolling out)
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• margarine, for greasing a baking tray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F, 220°C, gas mark 7.
2. Grate the potatoes and tofu together through your food processor; tip them into a large mixing bowl (or sieve the potatoes and tofu directly into the bowl); add seasoning.
3. Sieve the cornflour onto the potato mix then using a wooden spoon or hard spatula mix the contents of the bowl together using a cutting motion; pour over the tablespoon of melted margarine and add the scallions and chopped tomatoes (if the tomatoes are very watery you may wish to drain some of the juice off first); again mix the ingredients together with a cutting motion.
4. Knead the mixture slightly into a soft dough, then tip out onto a well floured surface; keeping the dough well floured, roll it to ¾ inch thickness; cut into rounds, 2 ½ inches across.
5. Place the rounds on a greased baking tray; (brush with extra melted margarine and sprinkle tops with sea salt if using) and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown (if you wish, you can finish them off under the grill for a few minutes for a crisper top).
6. You may wish to fry these instead, in which case you are aiming for crisp on the outside, but very soft inside.

Reviews

[Wendys Kitchen]

Thank you for such a great recipe although please forgive me as I used 2 egg whites instead of the margarine. I added enough wholemeal flour to get a good consistency and refrigerated for a few hours. I then baked as directed. I served this with the recipe "Southern Italian Ratatouille" absolutely delicious combination. Will definately keep this to make often.

[Kumquat the Cat's friend]

Well, Mrs B's quest was was more than successful, and her quintessentially subtle British humor is appreciated as well. Have update my initial review to this after Caroline adjusted ingredients and instructions, and both my boyfriend and I thought this was VERY good (well, I thought it was even BETTER than that). When I first tried this, I made a mistake on the flour measurement. Conversion to flour measurement from liquid should be at least double (though there are finer conversions to that on-line), i.e. flour to 1/2 cup instead of 1/4 (2 liquid ounces). Hey, I never professed to be a very good baker and I don't have a kitchen scale! So, second time I used 1/2 cup cornstarch instead of 1/4 cup flour, included the tofu and used 2 medium tomatoes undrained of excess liquid (boiled them briefly in leftover water from potatoes, and they peeled like a breeze - but you all know how to do that!) and added extra scallions (love them). I shaped by hand into 12 patties, then I baked for 20 minutes and flipped to bake for 5 minutes more (as per Bunny Mom). I would recommend you bake them for 15 minutes then flip to bake for 10 minutes. These were crispy outside and soft inside, just as recipe suggests. I'm so glad I tried these again. I pictured with a few condiments (only to make photo more colorful), but I wouldn't serve them this way as I think this recipe is outstanding on its own. Thanks so much Caroline, and sorry I messed up at first! Great recipe that I will be making again.