Simple Potato Pancakes

Starting Note:

Sorry to those of you that read this earlier.  I was way too ambitious on my first day of blogging and wrote this post far too late in the night, after a very long day.  The text is now updated to have less spelling mistakes and have grammar that is a little more coherent!

Potato pancake with baked chicken and herbed vegetables, served with a spicy honey mustard and fresh dill dip.

Potato pancakes is a dish that is simple and extremely tasty.  You can serve them on their own, or as part of a meal instead of mashed potatoes or a bed of rice.  The recipe is very forgiving. So if you feel like experimenting with adding different spices to give different flavours, I highly recommend you try this recipe out!


What food stuff you will  need for the potato pancakes:
1-2 potatoes per person  (Yukon gold or red)- for 4 people, this is about 2 pounds
1 extra large egg (beaten), or one large egg with a dash a milk
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoons flour
~3/4 teaspoon salt
~1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (fresh is best)
1 medium yellow or white onion
Dollop of butter, margarine or quick spray of olive oil
Optional: 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and/or 2-4 cloves of fresh garlic (or 1-2 teaspoons of garlic powder)

What "equipment" you will  need for the potato pancakes:
1 coarse grater (a cheese grater will do)
1 large bowl
1 small bowl
1 fork or whisk
1 frying pan
1 large spatula
1 cookie sheet

Directions:
1) Set the oven at 350F and let preheat.

2)  Wash the potatoes, and depending on your preference, peel the potatoes or leave them as is.  (For simplicity I normally leave the skins on, and find minimal differences in taste and texture for the final product)

3) Using a grater, grate all the potatoes (they will look like shredded hashbrowns)

4) Remove the top layer of the onion and shred the onion just like the potatoes
Note: if an onion allergy to raw onion exists, substitute 2 tablespoons of onion power to recipe (if onion powder is ok) and add 1 more medium sized potato mixture. However, if no allergy exists, I find the addition of onion adds a nice sweetness from carmelization to the pancake.

5) Mix the shredded potato and onion together in a large bowl.
Optional: To make cheesy pancakes, shred ~1/4 cup of cheddar cheese and add to the shredded potato mixture now.

6) In a separate small bowl, scramble one extra large egg or 1 large egg with a dash of milk (be careful not to beat the egg too much or the pancakes will be a little tough. To be too tough will require at least 2-3 minutes of beating the egg by hand, so more than likely you'll be ok).

7) To the beaten egg, add 1/3 teaspoons of baking powder and 1.5 teaspoons of all purpose flour (white or whole wheat) to help stabilize/solidify the pancake while baking, and continue mixing until homogenous.
Note:  the amount of flour can be increased if desired. More flour = firmer pancakes.  However, I have found adding more than 3 teaspoons starts to make the pancake a bit "gritty".

8) To the beaten egg, add salt and pepper for taste.  I find about 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper does the trick for me, but feel free to add more or less to suit your pallet.

Optional: to the egg mixture you can can add fresh garlic if you wish.  I like it full of garlic, so I add 4 cloves of minced fresh garlic. However, I find for the guests I serve, they typically prefer only 2 cloves of garlic.  Feel free to add more or less garlic as you wish.

10) After mixing the egg mixture, add it to the shredded potato and onion mixture.

11) Thoroughly mix in the egg mixture to the shredded potato and onion mixture.

12) Heat a pan to a medium-high heat (you know it's ready since if you wet your finger tips and flick the water into the pan and the water sizzles and goes away in 1-2 seconds). If the pan is not hot enough, wait a minute and try the "water sizzle technique" again.

13) Make the potato/onion/egg mixture into 1/4-1/2 inch thick patties with about 3-4 inches diameter.
Note: This is very rough for size. For guidance, make the patties like you would for homemade hamburgers.  

14) When the pan is hot enough, add a small cube of butter or margarine: for butter it's a little larger than a teaspoon, while for margarine it's about a tablespoon. (If you're more health conscious, evenly spray the pan, even if it's not stick, with some olive oil or non-stick spray such as Pam).  Personally, I prefer a small dab of butter to all other options, but it is personal choice.

15) When the butter or margarine is fully melted or the oil is starting to smoke a bit, place the potato pancake patties in the pan

16) Wait about 3 minutes a side (until brown) and then flip.
**Resist the urge to flip prematurely. It will be tempting, but wait as long as possible and then flip the pancake to the other side and wait 3 min to give a nice crisp texture to the outside.

17) After you have cooked the pancakes on both sides to a brown colour (whatever deepness of brown you like), transfer them to a cooking sheet and place in the pre-heated oven at 350F for about 10 min.

18) After about 10 min, serve.
Note: If you'd like the pancakes to be a little more crispy, place them back in a frying pan on high for 1-2 minutes.

If you want to be a bit fancier, you can cut the pancakes using a circular cookie cutter or something as simplistic as a jar lid. This is how I got the circular shape in the picture above. It's a simple thing to do and gives a little bit of a "high end" appearance to an otherwise simplistic dish.

I like to serve the potato pancakes withe a little bit of sour creme, Greek Yogurt or homemade dill dip.

Enjoy!

The Canadian Cooking Chemist