Big Weather's big recipe: Potato cheese puffs

Friday, January 29, 2021

Potato Cheese Puffs are a light, airy snack that make for a great appetizer!

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (WTVD) -- We continue our month-long salute to ABC11 Pioneer, Peggy Mann. This week we made something I'd never tasted or heard of before.

I found it in her 1960s cookbook, Potato cheese puffs. They are a light, airy snack that would make a cool appetizer. I'll let you know what worked and what didn't when I made this recipe. So let's get to it!

Ingredients

2 eggs, separated

1 1/3 cups of mashed potatoes

4 T milk, hot

1/3 cup of grated cheese (I used Cheddar)

1/4 t salt

1/4 t paprika

1/4 t celery salt

1 t onion, grated

1 t fresh parsley, chopped

1 1/2 T butter, melted

Preparation

1. Beat egg yolks

2. Add potatoes, milk, and cheese and beat with mixer until fluffy

3. Add salt, paprika, celery salt, onion, and parsley

4. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff

5. Fold egg whites into potato mixture bowl

6. Place in mounds on a greased pan

7. Brush with melted butter

8. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes

That's it. Now here is what I figured out.

First of all, size matters. I think if I made the 'mounds' smaller, they would've crisped up more. Also, when I make these again, I'm going to try to pipe them like cheese straws.

Two, make sure they cool off for at least 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan. They are pretty light and airy, and the ones I tried to take off warm just collapsed.

Three, I like celery salt and paprika so I doubled those spicy. next time I would do this again, and omit the other salt. Also, add the spices before you beat until fluffy. It distributes them more

Finally, she says you can add finely chopped green bell peppers instead of parsley. It occurred to me that a finely chopped jalapeño would be amazing and give these a spicy kick. I actually forgot the parsley, and they still tasted pretty awesome.

This was a great recipe of something I've never tried before and it gave me something to eat that I'd never had. it was fun. If you try it, email or message me and let me know how it turned out!

I wish Ms. Mann was still around so I could ask her a few questions. Just another person I wish that of. Make sure to give your mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa a call this weekend. You may not always be able too.

Next week, we'll do a Super Bowl dip recipe and we will finish Ms. Mann's recipe tour in two weeks with a great grill idea. Until the, have a great weekend!

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