Potato Pancakes – Squeeze and Be Squeezed
These sexy looking potato pancakes would sure make a nice looking first course for your Valentine's dinner. Here you can see that I've finished them with a little smoked salmon, sour cream, and dill, but you can use them as a base for many other combinations.
If you want to splurge a bit, maybe a dollop of caviar, or if you want to go the other direction, simply garnish with applesauce and sour cream. Some other ideas I really like are crab salad, sautéed mushrooms, and caramelized onions.
But, before you get to the big decision of what to top these golden-brown beauties with, we have to talk about squeezing. The one and only way to not get perfectly crispy potato pancakes is to not squeeze them properly.
I just finished the written recipe that will go in the cookbook, and when I looked at it, I couldn't believe how long and wordy it was. I mean, potato pancakes are a very simple recipe, but for some reason it takes a long time to describe how to prep the potatoes.
More than half the procedure was dedicated to grating, soaking, draining, and squeezing the potatoes. If you don't thoroughly squeeze all the liquid from the potatoes, the pancakes just won't crispy up as well.
Once cooked, you can keep these crispy in a warm oven until your, what I'm sure will be a very memorable, Valentine's dinner is ready to begin. Besides making a great appetizer, these are fantastic for breakfast. In fact, you could use that as a little leverage later in the evening, if you know what I'm saying. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 1/4 pounds russet potato, peeled
1/2 yellow onion, peeled
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
vegetable oil, as needed
3-4 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon
4 tablespoon sour cream
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
27 comments:
My grip isn't what it used to be so "squeezing" out the water might not work so well. What about adding a handful of potatoes/onions at a time to a salad spinner to help remove the water?
I seriously believe you could win the next food network star without even trying
may work, if the holes are small enough.
Latkes! Potato pancakes are traditionally made on Hanukka, and I've been making these since my grandmother (aka Bubby) taught me how to make it since i was a wee bar mitzvah lad...I use the same recipe that i use for Potato Pudding (aka potato kugel) which i make every week for the Sabbath, and i personally don't like the consistency of the potato when using a box grater, and there's another type of grater, which happens to be very hard to find in America (looks like this - http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/tater_grater_004rs.jpg), it makes the potatoes much more mushy, although im not sure if thats what you were going for, either way - as always ur version looks super delicious, and next time i make them, ill try your version, and we'll have a taste test
That looks like it's going to be a real nice recipe to try. I too thought about the salad spinner which may do a good initial draining but I kind of doubt that it will do as good a job as squeezing. I have done potato pancakes to use up left over mashed potatoes but have never tried them like this. Looking forward to trying this, maybe with a hint of cajun spice.
Kim
@EcoEcho, if you have a sturdy colander, put it in the sink, put a towel over, and press down hard! Toss and press more! I have to stand on a step stool for optimal pressing height...
HTH
Chef John, have you ever done sweet potato pancakes? If so, what would you change in the recipe to suit them?
same recipe i think
By giving out recipes so readily from your due-to-be-published cookbook, won't it diminish people's interest in buying the cookbook?
This recipe will be breakfast in about two hours :)
My wife had a good idea (it may have come from Chef John originally... we steal his ideas all the time) - Use a potato ricer to squeeze the potatoes. You're left with the driest potatoes known to man.
Chef John,
What's the purpose of soaking the potatoes? And what would happen if you didn't do it?
That looks really tasty. Winegasm in Astoria, NY has a fontina potato pancakes that I've been trying to recreate for months, I have the sneaking suspicion there's truffle oil in there...
Sus, that's the genius of my flat-fee, no royalties deal! ;-)
@EcoEcho: a good salad spinner will do a fine job of draining grated potatoes. Don't overfill it and work in small batches.
Ring molds or a biscuit cutter help make neater-looking potato pancakes. Just pack them loosely - not too thick - or they won't cook all the way through.
Never had potato pancakes, but they look pretty good.
Chef John,
I see you didn't add any salt to the water. On another recipe for potatoes I recall you suggested salt drives the water out making them crisp better. Same thing would apply here wouldn't it?
Eric
I don't recall a potato recipe where I salted out draw out water. Which one?
btw, BG, potato riced sounds like a great tip!
Chef, I'm with Max: what does the soaking do? Are we saturating / removing the surface starch? Knowing that a dry potato was the goal, it never would have occurred to me to soak them for a half hour.
Thanks, Seth
rinsing removes a lot of the starch and makes for a cleaner, crisper potato. if not u get grey gluey ones.
"A Fistful of Taters" starring Chef John!
Hello,
I found your blog yesterday on youtube. I asked for recipes from Julia Child. And I found you! :) Very good! ;)
I think this is a typical hungarian (Europe, Hungary) food. For example we eat with sourcream and garlic. Of course this is not so fine as the salmon, but very good for a light dinner. (Sorry, my english is not so good.)
Not far off, TRICHTERWINDE, Chef John is like Julia Child in men's clothing.
EcoEcho,
Yes, I see! Recipes with videos is very good idea! I like it :)
I was "Trichter" too
If I were to cook these on an electric frying pan, what temperature setting would you recommend?
i'll guess just over medium
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