Potato Pancakes

Phew.  That was kind of a long hiatus from recipe sharing!

All is well here in our kitchen.  In fact, my disappearance was due to our son, Evren, joining the world recently.  He's wonderful, and funny enough, loves to eat and can't get enough.  That sounds just about right for the kiddo of a foodie, doesn't it?

So when last I wrote, I was telling you all about the giant batch of freezer meals I was preparing.  When I was in labor, my aunt and uncle came to stay with my older son and my uncle asked if I was preparing to feed the Georgia militia.  Seriously, I have no intention of cooking for a while.  Anyway, with all that shopping, there were lots of leftovers, so I had a good time coming up with a week's worth of recipes using only those leftover ingredients.  So with the many leftover potatoes, that meant potato pancakes.  This recipe is from the 1978 Joy of Cooking.

Potato Pancakes

2 cups grated potatoes
3 eggs
1 to 3 tsp grated onion, squeezed
1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 inch or more oil

1.  Pare and grate potatoes.  Squeeze out as much water as possible.  Place in a bowl.  Beat eggs and stir them into the potatoes. 

2.  In a small bowl, sift together flour and salt.  Add the flour to the potato mixture along with the grated onion.  Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet.

3.  Place spoonfuls of the potato mixture in the skillet, forming them into patties 1/4 inch thick and 3 inches in diameter.  Brown, then turn and brown the second side until crisp.  Drain excess grease on a paper towel before serving.  These are usually served hot with applesauce and sour cream. 

The Verdict:  Fairly easy to make and oh, so yummy.

I really love potato pancakes because they're like hash browns, but much more filling.  And they're so much more complex than a regular pancake. 

Speaking of pancakes, they do have one thing in common with their bready, flat cousins: the first batch is generally not so great.  You need to play around to get the right temperature oil (hot) and the right amount of cooking time (somewhere between pale and soggy with oil and burned). 

My son pretended to think they were delicious, when in fact he liked the applesauce and the sour cream.  I don't think he even touched the potato pancake itself.

Would I make them again?  You betcha!