What You Need
Materials:
3 lbs of Potatoes (we like Idahos and Russets)
2 Medium Sweet Onions (or 1 White)
3 Large Eggs
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
3 teaspoons Kosher Salt
3 teaspoons Black Pepper
Olive, Vegetable, Canola Oil (whatever you have on hand)
Tea Towel
Bowl
Food Processor (with shred blade) or Box Grater
Skillet
Spatula
Instructions
1. Peel: Peel onions and potatoes. If they don't look like they will fit in the top of your processor, cut in half, but leave as large as possible to make sturdier cakes when all is said and done.
2. Grate: Run potatoes and onions through the food processor fitted with a shredding blade. If you would like to use a box grater you may, simply grate your potatoes just like you would a hunk of cheese. It takes a bit longer, but grating (opposed to slicing thin) is the only way to go.
3. Drain: Place thin tea towel in a large bowl. Add in onions and potatoes and twist the top of the towel together. You want to twist until you can't twist any more! You're goal is to wring out as much starch and liquid from inside as you can. Even if you have to have a hand twisting while you hold the top of the towel... it's worth the extra help (though if you have strong hands, you shouldn't need it!)
4. Add Eggs: It will be easy to tell when they are fully incorporated as the shreds will be shiny again. Coating each one is important!
5. Add Flour and Seasonings: Shake flour over the top of the mixture, stir in and add a little bit more. If you toss it all in at once, you'll have thicker parts where others turn out more "egg-y". Add salt and pepper in same method.
6. Cook: Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, add mixture in half cup(ish) scoops to a pan over medium low heat with a few tablespoons of oil. Press into a flattened disc, leaving each cake between 1/2" and 1" thick. Cook for 5 minutes on each side, as it cooks, it will release from the pan to be flipped.
Additional Notes
Top your pancakes with your choice of condiments. We love a little butter and sour cream, others love a jelly along with sour cream, or powdered sugar and butter. The possibilities are endless! This recipe should make 12 hefty pancakes, enough to feed a hungry family of four. Freeze for later use, just be sure to place parchment paper between layers so they don't freeze together!
(Images: Sarah Rae Trover)
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I love the cheap recipes! Keep them coming!
Apple sauce and sour cream! Yum :D
This is exactly how I make them. Wringing out the extra liquid is essential for crispy cakes. I individually freeze them on a cookie sheet and then pack them up once they are solid- no need for wax paper.
sallyjomonster beat me to it, but I'll still chime in:
Apple Sauce!! .. and sour cream of course, but then again I put sour cream on everything ;)
oh - and our family makes latkes with matzo meal, which having tested it versus flour definitely makes the recipe better. Same amounts and same manner of mixing in gradually. There is just something better about them with the matzo meal.
@thisisnina - do you freeze them before or after cooking?
soak in cold water, wash in a strainer/colander to get a TON of excess starch out, then dry in a salad spinner!
less effort than the squeeze. also, the extra starch removal keeps them crispy and prevents them from going grey!
Oh... latkes! Around here, I'm known as the Latke Lady. This recipe is very similar to mine (a few slight modifications in the amounts), but with one difference. I add the juice of 1/2 a lemon to my latkes. This helps to prevent the potatoes from going dark, and it adds just a touch of "zing" to the taste - something which everyone comments on - they can't quite figure out what it is, but they love it!
And drying them in a salad spinner - what a great tip! I'm going to try that the next time!
Embarrassing family story: my mother (who is by any measure a wonderful cook) once served us potato pancakes for dinner. They were normal pancakes with raw potato chunks in them. I'm not really sure why...
These, however, look lovely!
kartoffelpuffers! Sour cream and applesauce! Yum.
does anyone know how to make pancakes out of leftover mashed potatoes? I had these once as a child but it's only a vague memory and I have no idea how to do them (as evidenced by a few post-thanksgiving failures...)
Fooddefafa - this is straight fromfoodnetwork.com, so I can't endorse it, but I would definitely add an egg to help it all bind together, I think you can do the same thing with leftover risotto:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sara-moulton/mashed-potato-cakes-recipe/index.html
I can't believe no one revealed the secret ingredient: a small piece of knuckle! I've never been able to use a box grater without suffering a small injury.
I tried to make these tonight and they were really good. I added a little lemon as well since some mentioned to do that. We ate them with applesauce and sour cream and they were great!! I have never had potato pancakes before tonight. I kept having to add oil to my cast iron pan, and I'm not a fan of too much oil, but since we won't really be eating these every night it was ok. How d you reheat these? I might try underneath the broiler.
foodefafa--
I'm pretty sure the leftover mashed potato pancakes are just straight-from-the-fridge mashed potatoes so they ar e cold enough so they are firm and can be scooped out (like ice cream) then flattened in a skillet, browned on each side while they warm.
At least that's what Mom used to do.
lis0--
That story is very sweet.
Oh yes, potato pancakes!!!! In germany they are usually eaten with apple sauce, in my family we eat them savoury with sour cream and maybe some smoked salmon. Looking forward to trying!
It's best to rinse the grated potatoes. Also flour?! No way. You need to use Matzah Meal/Flour!
Woo! These are very much similar to Rösti. They go so well with sour cream. A non-stick pan is a must for fry these.
I make the Czech version, called "bramborák".
The biggest difference is that there are no onions; instead, there is garlic to taste, and they are heavily seasoned with marjoram in addition to just salt and pepper.
As for frying, they are best made in goose or duck fat they are supposed to be good for you), which makes them an amazingly beautiful golden brown.
The best potatoes to make them with are supposed to be old, starchy potatoes. The recipe is very similar, but the pancakes are less like hash-browns -- along with the flour, you add a little milk as well.
Serve with a good pilsner style beer, and my husband (a Frenchman, no less, is in bliss).
This is what the final product is supposed to look like:
http://www.kapri-maso.cz/images/26.jpg
Being in Switzerland, we also make Rösti. Rösti are made with par-boiled non-starch potatoes, and do not contain any flour, eggs, onions or garlic. My favourite version is to carmelize onions until they are good and sweet and almost jammy, and sandwich that in the centre of the Rösti. Rösti are definitely harder to flip!!
Oh, and another kind of potato pancake we make is from boiled potatoes. The cooked potatoes are put through a ricer, you add eggs, salt and flour, make a dough (fairly stiff) that you roll out and cut with 3" round cutters. These are lightly fried (not too brown or crisp). They are lovely as a side dish with puréed (garlicky) spinach, home-made chunky apple sauce and some kind of meat. They're Czech too, but less common than the bramborák.
Yes, we love our potato pancakes in my family! :)
Punch NYC, I've made them with leftover risotto. You can just use straight risotto, though it's even better if you form little cakes, dip them in egg whites and then in breadcrumbs.
is there a way to make these vegan?
I like mine with a healthy dollop of basil pesto, a melty slice of pepperjack, and an egg over-easy on top with and splash of hot sauce. Delicious!
I rinse, strain, and dry my grated potatoes too but after I pour off all the water I save some of the potato starch that settles at the bottom and add it back in with the potatoes.
BTW, I also love that salad spinner trick. Thanks staticfritz!
My grandpa from Belarus used to make these every weekend. I'd wake up to hear the scrape scrape scrape of him grating potatoes, and find him brushing away tears as he grated the onion. He (and now I) put some fresh chopped or dried dill in ours, and no flour. I top mine with sour cream and chunky sea salt.
foodefafa - I grew up eating potato pancakes made from leftover mashed potatoes. I have no idea about the links on the food network, but this is how my grandmother made them:
leftover mashed potatoes
egg
flour
mustard (seriously just plain yellow mustard)
chopped onion
The amount of egg and flour and onion you add is dependent on the amount of mashed potatoes you have.
I usually end up with 3-4 cups of MP, and add 1-2 eggs, 1/2 cup of chopped onion and never measure the flour - just sprinkle in and stir until you get it to the consistency of cookie dough. Squirt in enough mustard to turn it a nice light yellow color (I add a bit more, but it's all to taste).
Using a large spoon in a lightly greased skillet, put dollops of the mix and use the spoon to spread it out slightly. It will be sticky if you don't have enough flour, but it's not a huge deal. Fry on one side for several minutes and then flip over and press with the spatula to spread it out into a larger pancake shape. Cook until browned on that side and then flip it back to brown the other side.
Instead of regular potatoes, has anyone tried yams or sweet potatoes? Thanks!
So, freeze before or after cooking? I don't think that question was ever answered. :P
I hate them with onions, so my mom would always make the onion-free version. We had them with ketchup&mayo (I can see your faces - that's childhood thing I guess, like American banana/mayo sandwich idea...), and then for dessert... sprinkled with sugar. So so good.Dad loves them with Hungarian style goulash/stew.
@meimei, I've made sweet potato latkes from a Joan Nathan recipe. It requires some flour and water to make a little bit of batter so the sweet potatoes hang together better.
From what I remember they tasted good but I could never get the texture nearly as crisp on the outside as potato latkes.
foodefafa - I also had mashed potato pancakes when I was a kid. My parents just used cold leftover mashed potatoes (which already had butter/milk in them). Form them into patties about 1/2 in thick, dredge in some flour seasoned with s&p or seasoning salt, and fry. Once I became a teenager we'd add green onions and bacon bits (artificial, from the jar!) to the potatoes before frying because by then I had *such* a grown-up palate. Delicious.
yes, freeze after frying up, warm up in toaster oven
for variations, try adding grated carrot, sweet potato, onion
in my parents' (Polish) we enjoyed with picked herring & onions, sour cream & lots of pepper (na zdrowie)
We always add fresh parsley to ours.
Is there any way to make these without using egg? My daughter is allergic to eggs but I know she would love these.
I love these homehacks with all the pictures. Also, love the idea of cheap dinners! Groceries here in NY are soooo expensive!
I will be trying this recipe very soon :)
My mother married at the beginning of the Depression and was always frugal. We ate potato pancakes from cold mashed potatoes at least once a week. Great with ketchup.
My secret is to always use a box grater. I know it takes more time but it produces thinner shreds than a food processor, and when they fry in the iron skillet, they cook faster and melt together. This is especially important if you're making the pancakes vegan (no eggs).
My other secret is to use plenty of black pepper, and an adequate amount of salt. If your potatoes are not very flavorful, the spice compensates.
Yum yum.