Potato Pancakes

homecook

homecook

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Babcia's Potato Pancakes

6-8 medium potatoes, grated
2 medium onions, grated
1 egg
flour to hold it together, maybe 2-3 T.
salt and pepper

Soak the grated potatoes and onions in cold water for about 1/2 hour. Ring out and put in towel and squeeze out excess water. Put in bowl and add egg, salt and pepper and enough flour to hold together.

Heat pan with oil until almost smoking. Take about 2 T. of potato mixture and put in pan, flatten out a little. Fry until browned on both sides. Remove to paper towel lined dish.

Serve with sour cream or apple sauce. I prefer sugar on mine. (it's a childhood thing)
 

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i haven't made those in years. yummy!! i also added some chopped green onion as an added onion flavor.
 
Barb, I swear we are related sometimes. I had posted our family recipe for latkes. It is so close. I think I would have loved your babcia and I am sure she would have loved my bubbe. They cooked very similarly. lol
 
For a quick comparison--there is a link somewhere:
Pie Susan's Family Recipe for Latkes
Basically, my mom use to have me grate on a boxed grater an onion and several idaho potatoes. (The amount depends upon how many you need to feed) If you grate the onion first, your potatoes won't turn brown. You add as much onion as you like. She would add an egg or two depending upon how many potatoes used, salt and pepper to taste and instead of flour she always used matzoh meal to make a fairly firm batter. She would heat some vegetable oil in a skillet and drop the latke by large spoon and flatten them a bit. When they got crispy on one side, she would flip them over with a wide spatula. This is how I do it. I make them golden on each side. Then, I drain them on paper and serve as I make them. Otherwise, they lose their crispiness; although you can keep them warm in the oven until you are all done, I find you lose some of the crispiness that everyone loves.

We also at one time grated the potatoes separately in water and then, drained well in a kitchen towel squeezing out all the water. That was not only suppose to remove the starch but also keep the potatoes from turning brown.

In a pinch, you could shred them in your food processor and then, with your s-blade chop the pototoes finely but in myhumble opinion, the texture really isn't as good as when you used a boxed grater. Remember, one of the secrets to latkes is remembering that you aren't making hash browns, you are making latkes.

This recipe did not make it into my latke book because it is a bissel of this and a shissela of that. (a little of this and a little of that). It is one of the recipes that I never measure.

My grandma use to sometimes separate the eggs and add the yolks and then beat the whites and fold them in last.

Finally, my dad liked them with sugar and my mom liked them with sour cream and applesauce.
Enjoy!
 
Mama said:
Looks good Barb! I make those using mashed potatoes too.
Click to expand...

I was just going to ask if you could make those with mashed potatoes...'cause that's how I've always had 'em. Either way they look delicious!
Can't wait to try 'em out. :a1:
 
Thanks Mama, Susan and Angel!!

You can make them with mashed potatoes but they're nothing alike. The taste is completely different using the raw grated potatoes. IMO If you've never tried them this way you're missing out on a good thing.
 
Thats the same way I make mine.... I love the grated onion they mix in perfectly
:)
sour cream, salt, pepper......
hmmmmm I do believe I have a full bag of potatoes on this rainy morning......
 
Very nice, Barb.
You've got me confused though...
What exactly is the difference between a potato pancake and a hash brown? Until now I thought pancakes used mashed and hash browns, grated. Or is that a regional thing and they are one in the same?
 
chowhound said:
Very nice, Barb.
You've got me confused though...
What exactly is the difference between a potato pancake and a hash brown? Until now I thought pancakes used mashed and hash browns, grated. Or is that a regional thing and they are one in the same?
Click to expand...

Thanks Fred!
The pancake has flour and egg and lots of onion. I've only had the mashed once, it doesn't compare in taste. It's a completely different taste. IMHO You'd have to make them to see the difference. Most people serve them with sour cream or applesauce, I always put sugar on mine. I grew up on these and they were common in Polish households. At least in ours. LOL Maybe it's a European thing..........
 
I think its just the flour chow..... it makes more of a batter..... but not much..... just to hold them together.....
MORE CARBS!!! YES!!!!!!

oh and the eggs. duh.
 
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So if you use flour it becomes a pancake?
Didn't JoeV post something about using flour in Keltin's hash brown thread?
Either way it looks delicious. I've only used mashed before. I'll have to try it with the grated.
 
chowhound said:
So if you use flour it becomes a pancake?
Didn't JoeV post something about using flour in Keltin's hash brown thread?
Either way it looks delicious. I've only used mashed before. I'll have to try it with the grated.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Joe did. I never do when I make hashbrowns, so I don't know what the difference is. lol

You definitely have to try it. When you combine the potatoes, onions, egg and flour it comes out a little soupy but just enough to be able to form a pancake in your hands without it falling apart. When you place it in the oil/lard you press it down to flatten. It will hold it's shape. You can make them as big or little as you want.
 
I've got some more brats, and I think those potato pancakes would be a perfect side. Thanks for the recipe.
 
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