Perunarieskat - Potato flatbreads

Finland cooking continues. As I promised previously, here it is then: potato flatbreads. They are made of mashed potato, so if you have any left-overs, this is the perfect recipe to use it up. Freshly mashed potato was my favorite during childhood but alas, once the mash gets old, it gets that funny taste and becomes almost unedible. As a child I used to hate day-old mashed potato. I remember dad warming it up on frying pan (*gasp* my parents don't even now have a microwave oven).

After my almost-mother-in-law taught me her trick, I almost never need to cook food that needs left-over mash. (Sadly, as minced meat+potatoes-casserole and potato flatbreads are very very delicious). Nowadays we end up eating the mashed potato also the next day (without the bad taste). The trick is to add cold milk to the mash once it's gotten cool. Stir in a suitable amount of milk to make the mash again runnier (like it was before it cooled down), then refrigerate (<-hard word, had to check the spelling...) and warm up the next day the way you like.

If you don't have any left-over mashed potato, instant one can be substituted unless you want to make first the mashed potato from scratch and then these flatbreads.

Potato flatbreads

makes 10-12 small breads

1/2 liter mashed potatoes
1/2-1 tsp salt (depending on the saltiness of the mash)
100 g barley flour (or whole-wheat flour)
70 g wheat flour
(1 egg)
1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil (depending on your mash)

Warm up the oven to 250 C. First add the liquid ingredients and salt to the mash (egg and oil + salt) and then add the flour. Mix to a smooth dough. The dough should not end up dry but it should still stick to your fingers a bit. I usually never measure the flour, but go with the hand-feel.

Spoon about 10-12 mounds onto baking paper (you will probably need to bake them in 2-3 batches), sprinkle with barley (or whole-wheat) flour and pat them to thin discs (3-4 mm thick). Pick holes onto them with a fork. Bake for 15 min (or until they get brown patches and are still soft).

Enjoy fresh from the oven with butter (or you can also later warm them up in the toaster). If you don't eat them all straight away, cover with a kitchen cloth to retain moisture and softness.

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