So… I had leftover ham from Easter dinner. And leftover roasted sweet potato slices.
By happy coincidence, I had come across and saved a vintage advertisement that suggested making cakes out of chopped ham and mashed potato and then frying them in cooking oil and yellow mustard.
I was intrigued, had (kinda) the basic ingredients, and decided to change things up a bit; I mean – the cakes needed more than just ham and (sweet) potatoes, right?
INGREDIENTS
•2 cups diced, cooked ham
•1-1/4 cup chopped, cooked sweet potatoes
•1/2 cup diced sweet onion
•1/2 tsp dried parsley
•1/2 tsp dried chives
•1/2 tsp salt
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1 egg
•1 tsp Sriracha aioli
•1 tsp Sherry Peppers Sauce
•1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Panko crumbs
•1/4 cup veggie oil
•1 tbsp yellow mustard
Note: obviously, you can substitute plain mayonnaise for the aioli, and a teaspoon of Worcestershire or mebbe a nice Dijon mustard would more than likely do for the Sherry Peppers Sauce in a pinch.
Add the ham, sweet potatoes, and onion to the bowl of a food processor with the parsley, chives, salt, and peppers and pulse to chop.
Add 1/4 cup of the Panko crumbs along with the egg, aioli, and sherry peppers sauce.
Pulse again. If the mixture looks too wet, add the additional two tablespoons of Panko and pulse until well blended/
Pack the ham mixture into a 1/3 cup measure and shape into a patty (I used a ring mold). Transfer the patty to a waxed paper line plate and repeat with the remaining ham mixture. I got seven patties total.
Whisk the mustard into the veggie oil, then warm over a medium low flame until hot.
Add the ham patties, two or three at a time, and fry into the oil and mustard mixture until golden brown on each side – seven minutes on the first side, five or so on the second worked a treat for me.
Drain on a paper towel lined plate and keep warm until all the patties have been cooked.
Serve as you will; I did mine with a bit more of the horseradish and Sriracha aioli and some zippy ginger pickle on top, and then enjoyed the leftovers with more of the same as a sammich or two for lunch the next day.
Nice ham cakes, and, I have to say, neat trick frying them in a blend of oil and mustard; so chalk one up for vintage cooking oil advertisements.