Share a Spoon - Potato Croquettes

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Share a Spoon
Celebrate Good Times!
Sing it Kool and the Gang!
So....holidays mean P-A-R-T-Y every time you take a breath.  Family, friends, co-workers they all throw parties.  Lots of togetherness.  Lots of sharing, and of course food.  Now, if you know me, you know I am not a big fried food fan.  Not at all.  Most of the time I don't fry anything.  I know, I'm from the South and I prefer baked chicken over fried.  Sue me.
However, there is one thing that is almost better than dessert.  It doesn't matter if it's french fried, deep fried, pan fried, oven fried....I don't care.  Gimme a good starchy potato and fry it anyway you like and I am soooooo there!  And here's the thing.  If you fry things at the right temperature, you don't get all that greasy messy fat that we all try to avoid at most costs.
We all tend to overindulge a lot little at the holidays.  So what could be more indulgent than fluffy mashed potatoes, cheese and bacon, breaded and fried?? Nothing.
Bacon n' Cheddar Potato Croquettes
Ingredients:
4 cups cold mashed potatoes 5-6 slices of thick sliced bacon browned and crumbled2 tablespoons milk1/4 cup  whipped cream cheese1/4 cup grated Parmesan1 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese2 Tablespoons chopped chives
Dredge:
1 cup all purpose flour seasoned (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
Egg Wash:
2 eggs + 1 Tbsp milk
Seasoned Italian Breadcrumbs (about 2 cups)
Canola Oil
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl add the cold mashed potatoes, milk and cream cheese.  Whip together with a hand mixer to loosen up the potatoes.  Add Parmesan and cheddar cheese.  Whip again to incorporate.  Add crumbled bacon and chives.  Stir well. Roll into large meatball sized balls.  I usually flatten mine out but you can certainly make them egg shaped.
Set up a breading station.  Flour (dredge).  Egg wash.  Bread Crumbs.
Lightly dredge the potato cakes with flour.  Dip in the egg wash.  Cover with bread crumbs.
In a large skillet add canola oil, about 1/2 inch.  Enough to come half way up your potato cakes or croquettes.  Heat over medium high heat until the oil starts to ripple but not smoke.  Roughly 350 degrees.
Fry the cakes until browned nicely on each side.  About 2 minutes a side.
Sour Cream Sauce:
1 cup sour cream1 teaspoon chives1 teaspoon dijon mustarda couple dashes hot saucepinch of salt and pepper

These are light a fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.  You will love them!  If you serve them with ketchup just don't tell me.
(Cook's Note:  I always make extra mashed potatoes when making them for a meal.  This is a great way to use the left over mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.  I have never used instant boxed mashed potatoes for this recipe so I can't vouch for how they would turn out.  Real mashed potatoes typically have a thicker consistency and I don't use eggs or filler to hold the cakes together so if you make these with instant, I dunno.)

Now, don't forget....Share your favorite hor d'ourvres today.  You get an extra entry in my Snowman Measuring Spoons Giveaway.  Go enter!  Now!  Even if you don't Share today, go enter anyway.
Tweet about #ShareaSpoon today and get an addtional entry!  Do it!  Leave a comment on this post telling me you tweeted about #ShareaSpoon (even if you don't Share a recipe).
Lemme know what themes and recipes you would like to see soon and I'll highlight you and your blog!