Giro d'Italia '20 - Stage 18: Pinzolo to Laghi di Cancano
What a gorgeous and eventful day on the Giro which finally led to a real shake-up amongst the leaderboard. The mountain passes of the Dolomites and Eastern Alps proved too much for João Almeida, who started with a comfortable lead, but slipped from 1st down to 5th place and with a deficit of 2 minutes and 16 seconds. One of my favorite parts of today’s ride was as they maneuvered through the switchbacks of the Stelvio Pass. While it’s nearing 80 today in DC, it was near freezing in the mountains. In fact, the winner of today’s stage nearly crashed into a rock wallface in the climb up the snowy Stelvio Pass, which borders Switzerland, while trying to put on a jacket!
As the riders trudged through a ski village today, I thought what better way to prepare today’s regional-specific dish than in the manner it would come out for an aprés ski snack. I could imagine sitting outside, with a large fire crackling in a nearby stone-ringed pit while my friends and I laughed about falling down a steep trail. Mending our bruised bodies with a glass of Pinot Grigio Valdadige. Restoring some needed protein reserves by eating some lusciously red and deep purple, aged, Bresaolo and some local, nutty and floral, Taleggio cheese. But let’s not forget about these golden-fried, fluffy-interiored cheesy potato fritters which warm the soul and tantalize your senses as they crunch away in your mouth, leading to a beckoning more fats from the creamy Taleggio. So, are you ready to go snowboard the Italian Alps and aprés ski with me?!
I know...we can’t even travel to Italy at this moment. But, you can bring this mountain resort experience to your very own home, much cheaper mind you, with some very simple steps. It’s not hard. In fact, it’s damn near simple. So, put the a/c down, or wait until tonight and start a fire outside. Gather your family around, and maybe even a “bubble friend” or two, and hit the store for some easily-obtainable ingredients. Ok, the bresaola might be a stretch. You can get it at specialty markets, including Balducci’s. But, even if you can’t, go grab some other cured meat, like salami or prosciutto, which are widely available and a nice glass of minerally pinot grigio and enjoy your life to the fullest extent possible!
Tortei di Patate (Fried Potato Cakes)
Do not soak the potatoes, either after peeling or after shredding, you’ll need any excess starch to help hold them together in the mounds. Speaking of the mounds, these are going to be loose, and a little like bird nests; i.e. tangled mess of potato shreds. It’s ok. They’ll fry-up and form a bond very much like a hash brown. While you should press the mixture lightly as you make the mounds, don’t squeeze too much, until you get to the last 3 or 4 as they’ll have soaked up any water at the bottom of your prep bowl. If you want to stay authentic, use olive oil for frying, I used a 50/50 blend of vegetable oil and olive oil. This makes about 20-24 potato cakes; they won’t last long if you have a crowd!
3-3.5 lbs russet potatoes
1 cup of freshly shredded parmigiano-reggiano
⅓ cup of flour
3 oz. heavy cream or whole milk
Fine sea salt
1 cup of oil
Peel and shred your potatoes, dumping them into a large bowl as you go along. Then, add the cheese, flour, and cream, along with 3 heavy pinches of fine sea salt and about ¼ tsp of freshly ground black pepper. Add the oil to a large skillet and heat over a medium-high flame. Meanwhile, make about 6 or 7 potato mounds, roughly the size of your palm. When the oil begins to ripple, add in your potato mounds and let them fry away for about 4 mins. Do not poke and prod the potatoes, until the last minute, as you’ll otherwise interfere with the cohesive, frying process. Instead, go over and make some more potato mounds to distract yourself!
When it comes time to flip the potatoes, give them a light press to make them all about ½-inch thick. Continue to fry for about 3 minutes or to your desired consistency. We want the potato in the middle to be just cooked, not dried out, and the exterior should be golden as opposed to brown. Some of the outer-shreds will get dark, but we’re aiming for golden for the majority of the fritter. Place the cooked potato cakes on paper towels and salt immediately. Serve warm.
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Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.