Frankfurter 7-Herb Potato Cake
I wonder if Goethe used to shop at the market hall in Frankfurt, way back when? If he did, he would have bought his Frankfurter Grüne Soße herbs there in any case- and apparently it was indeed his favorite dish. But how on earth is one to eat all of the herbs, if you buy them pre-packed and sorted. It certainly makes a lot more sense than having to go out and search for parsley, chives, pimpernell, borage, chervil, sorrel and garden cress individually... but wow! These parcels are easily enough to make green sauce for a family of four!
So... what happens is that you have plenty left over! I mean- really plenty! But being as I hate to be wasteful, I decided to try to use up more of them in this evenings meal. In fact, I also had a couple of potatoes left over too- so this little idea here certainly made a lot of sense!
So, obviously, the first thing I had to do again was to get busy chopping all of those herbs- which I actually really enjoy doing! Use a machine if you must- but when it comes to that kind of thing, I am pretty "old-school" I have to say! Next, as the potatoes from yesterday were very firm, I decided to peel them, chop them up a little and heat them up again with just a little milk in my saucepan, which made them much easier to mash. I added the herbs and a little chopped onion to the hot potatoes as I mashed them, which allowed them to blend in nicely and to soften up a little.
And then I let them cool off for 5-6 minutes, as I needed to add the other ingredients, including egg and cheese... and you can imagine how difficult that would have been with red hot potatoes- ugh! Nope- this was one of those times in life where I actually was patient!
As soon as the potatoes were cool, I added a good pinch of grated salted ricotta cheese and 1 tablespoon of "Quark" or a similar cream cheese- with quark being a very German ingredient, you may want to use a low-fat Philadelphia. I stirred these in thoroughly and then added 1 whole egg. I stirred it in well and added the seasonings of salt, pepper, nutmeg and an optional pinch of cayenne, then spooned the mixture into a small frying pan that had been lightly coated in olive oil. I turned on the oven to 400°F and turned on my stove top- which was where I began to put my savory potato cake together.
Onto the stove top it went for 5 minutes, until it was beginning to brown nicely, at which point I added a light dusting of freshly grated nutmeg and scattering of grated Emmentaler cheese and then into the oven it went for a further 15 minutes at around 350°F to finish baking and to become wonderfully crisp and golden brown... mmm! Delicious!
I enjoyed mine with just a little plain yogurt, which balanced out the rich, herbal flavor and a couple of cherry tomatoes for a little added color and freshness- and yum, yum, yum! This was one to be filed under "simple but delicious"... and to be enjoyed immediately! So that is exactly what I did- and I recommend you do too!
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