Countdown to Thanksgiving: Mashed-Potato Spring Rolls

This delicious dish caused a bit of a spat here at my house. Not because it wasn't yummy, but because my other half had his feelings hurt. He insisted that if he had made the suggestion of wrapping mashed potatoes in white bread and deep-frying it, I would have scoffed. He's probably right.

But I am now officially a sucker for anything David Chang, the proprietor of New York's Momofuku, comes up with. I had a wonderful quirky late lunch at his ssam bar a couple of months ago. So when this recipe showed up in my fave Food and Wine, I decided to give it a go. It would be a perfect way to use up leftover mashed potatoes...thus it's posting in the Thanksgiving chronicle. But don't wait for that. Make up a batch of mashed potatoes JUST for this.

(Note: When we have fried chicken and mashed potatoes, it's always been green peas on the side. I substituted peas for the green peas in the recipe and didn't regret it. You could most likely go just with the potatoes if you're a hard-core carboholic.)

Mashed-Potato Spring Rolls
From Food and Wine magazine.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.

16 slices of packaged white bread
1 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced cooked green beans
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon of water
2 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Stack the bread in 4 piles and trim the crusts. Using a rolling pin, roll out each bread slice to a thin 3-by-5-inch rectangle.

In a bowl, combine the mashed potatoes, green beans and cayenne pepper; season with salt and pepper. Brush the edges of 4 bread rectangles with the egg yolk mixture. Shape 1 tablespoon of the potato mixture into a log along a long edge of a rectangle, leaving 1/2 inch on each end. Tightly roll up the bread to form a cylinder; press the ends together to seal. Repeat with the remaining bread and potato mixture.

In a skillet, heat the oil to 325°. Add half of the rolls and fry, turning occasionally, until well-browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. Repeat with the remaining rolls.

I served mine with a little cream gravy, but get creative and make up your own dipping sauce.