Mashed Potato Pancakes

I “yelped” my way through my recent trip to Las Vegas/Death Valley with very good results. At the top of the list, it directed me to the El Pollo Mobile taco truck where the $1 tacos were absolutely amazing. Simple and flavorful and every element from the tortilla to the cilantro perfectly balanced. Salsa bar topped things off perfectly.

It also sent me to Yummy sushi, about 4 blocks from where I was staying. I sat at the bar and took advantage of the Happy Hour specials. I had the sweetest sushi chef in the world, who was shy and attentive at the same time.

Near my hotel in Old Vegas, I was directed to Fat Choy at the Eureka Casino. They definitely put the “fat” in the choy. I ordered the special: pork belly BLT on sourdough with fries. (Or salad. The waitress was like, “yeah, right, you could have salad”) When she saw me taking a photo (for my yelp review) she said, “Where are you from that you take photos of your food? You must not be from the Midwest.” I told her I was from Minnesota, and turned out she was from Wisconsin, the other waitress was from South Dakota, and two other guests nearby were also from Wisconsin. Is it like the grease calls us?

The pork belly was delicious, and my criticism was an unusual one– why add bacon? I ended up taking the bacon off the sandwich to enjoy the pork belly. In the end, I wish I’d gotten the pork belly bun, which Yelpers recommended.

Steve joined me for the last leg of the grip and he wanted Mexican food, cheap Mexican food, so I looked for that everywhere, including in Boulder City near the Hoover Dam. We were led to Roberto’s, where the burrito was fantastic, but the combination plate was just meh. My basic rule on Mexican is to stick with pork unless you know it’s a good enough place to do asada (steak) well. If you can get carnitas, slow-cooked pork, go for it, in tacos or a burrito.

By far, though, the best find did not come to us through Yelp. After church on Sunday in Boulder City, Nevada, we stumbled on Southwest Diner. This place was fabulous. It was hard to decide what to get. I went with the specialty: 2 spicy Santa Fe potato pancakes, homemade apple sauce (I suspect it’s just the filling for their apple pie), 2 eggs, and banana bread!

The potato pancakes were a cilantro-lover’s dream. They were not pancakes. They were mashed potatoes, seasoned with cilantro (the Swad coriander chutney I suspect), corn, possibly onion, and then lightly fried on a skillet on both sides. I never would have thought of this, but it was delicious. Steve asked that we please add this to the repertoire.

I happen to have some homemade mashed potatoes frozen, so I made them for brunch today. A perfect accompaniment to fried eggs (from our chickens) and my own homemade applesauce.

Note: Turns out the frozen mashed potatoes, when they thawed, had extra liquid. So I did end up doing more of a “pancake” treatment to them. I added about 2 TBS of flour and one egg to the “batter” with the corn, fried onion, and mashed potatoes. Mine were not as thick as these, but they tasted every bit as good and the texture was perfect! A little sour cream on top and delish!

I really enjoyed all my culinary experiences on the trip, including the tuna and crackers we ate in Death Valley and the nachos we made in the RV in Tecopa Hot Springs. But it is also great to be home. That sandwich on bread Steve baked with egg salad (from the chickens) with homemade relish was amazing– I’d choose that over pork belly and carnitas any day of the week.