Potato Straws

If you find it difficult to think beyond potato chips and beer nuts for snacking with pre-dinner drinks, here's a suggestion that might help out. Potato straws are quick and easy to make, and delicious.

They are also a great way to use up leftover mash and you won't have any trouble getting the kids to eat them either, although you might have to go easy with the cayenne pepper.

My recipe is a for four people. To increase that number double the basic ingredients, so that you always allow two potatoes for every four people. Here's what you need:

• 2 large potatoes cooked and mashed
• 2 egg yolks
• 40g melted butter
• 125g self-raising flour
• 1tsp salt
• 1tsp pepper
• the whites of the eggs you used, lightly beaten with a little milk
• grated parmesan cheese
• cayenne pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F)

Beat the egg yolks and butter into the mashed potatoes until creamy, and then beat in the flour, salt and pepper to form a fairly stiff dough. Chill this in the fridge for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough on a floured board to a thickness of about 1cm (1/4 inch,say) and then cut into straws about the size of your little finger. Twist these to give a shape and then brush with egg white, sprinkle with parmesan and dust with cayenne.

Bake in the oven on a tray for 10 minutes or until crisp and brown. Cool on a rack before serving.

print this potato recipe