This is an easy way to impress guests with not a lot of fuss. Next time you have a dinner party, these cute little guys are great. You can make them in large quantities, they reheat well and well, they will make people oooh and ahhh.
You will need:
- 2 baking sheets, lined or sprayed
- a large pastry bag
- a star shaped decorating tip
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds of peeled potatoes
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 Tablespoons of butter
- 1/4-1/3 cup of half and half or whole milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup of cheese
Peel and rough chop your potatoes.
Place them into a large pot of cold salted water. Salting your water is very important, the potatoes can absorb some of the salt in their cooking process which helps flavor your dish. Bring the water to a boil and immediately bring it down to a simmer. Cook the potatoes until they are very tender, you will be mashing them. Strain your potatoes and add your butter. Using a potato masher or ricer smooth out your potatoes and add you half and half, salt and pepper to taste.
When the potatoes have cooled a bit stir in the egg yolks and half of your finely shredded cheese, making sure they are completely incorporated. Save your whites for an omelette in the morning!
Here is a look at the setup I have for these fancy potatoes.
Fill your pastry bag with the potatoes. Using a star tip, pipe the potatoes onto the baking sheets.
A nice part of this recipe is the quantity of “puffs”, it will easily fill two sheets. Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining shredded cheese.
The puffs go into the 400 degree oven for 15 minutes until for them to brown up on their tops. (the photo below may be a little over browned, oops!)
They make for a great presentation and they taste good too! Enjoy.