FRIED POTATO AND GARLIC PUFFS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 225°F. Peel the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, and cut each half in 3. Boil the potatoes in well-salted water until they're completely tender but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. To check doneness, take a piece out of the pot and cut it at the thickest part. It should sort of break apart and look dry inside. Taste it to be sure, then drain the potatoes well, spread them on a baking sheet, and put them in the oven for 15 minutes to dry completely.
• Pass them through a sieve or food mill into a medium bowl and set them aside. If you'll be cooking the puffs as soon as the dough is ready, leave the oven on so that you can keep batches warm as you fry.
• Meanwhile, make the pâte à choux: In a medium saucepan, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil with the butter and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the flour all at once, turn off the heat, and stir with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated. Return the pan to very low heat and stir for a few minutes until the dough forms a ball and a cooked film begins to develop in the saucepan. Let the dough cool for a couple of minutes, and stir in one of the eggs. The dough will fly apart into seemingly irreconcilable blobs, but do not lose heart; keep stirring, and it will become one again, I promise.
• Beat the other egg in a small bowl and begin to stir it in-you may not want to add all of it in the interest of dryness. Stop adding egg when the dough becomes elastic, smooth, and shiny, and then stir in the potato and garlic paste and mix thoroughly. The dough will be very sticky.
• In a heavy saucepan or skillet, heat 2 to 3 inches of frying oil to 325°F, or until it is shimmery, not smoking, and a tiny dollop of the dough dropped in sizzles energetically, but does not scare you out of the kitchen. Carefully drop a walnut-size piece of dough into the oil to fry for a taster. Taste and adjust for salt and . . . more garlic? . . . cooked longer? There are two ways to proceed with frying: (1) load the dough into a pastry bag, squeeze out short lengths, and cut them off and into the oil with a knife or scissors, or (2) use two spoons to form and scrape dollops into the oil. Fry the puffs until they're golden brown, prodding them with a spider to roll them over and fry the other side as needed.
• Dip them out to drain on a rack or crumpled paper and keep them warm in the oven (without the paper, if that's what you're using) as you fry the rest.
• Notes
• Instead of serving the potato puffs alongside fish, meat, chicken, or beans, make them for a pre-dinner aperitivo that you stand around eating in the kitchen while you fry the next batch.
• In spring, if green garlic stalks are available, thinly slice, rinse, and cook one in butter and a very little bit of salted water. When it's tender, drain and add it to the mix in place of the pounded garlic.
• Add chopped chives, parsley, or thyme, or Parmesan or other gratable aged cheese to the dough.
• Potato-puff- frying oil can be strained and saved, refrigerated, to reuse for up to a week.