I've been trying to come up with the correct adjective to describe these and I'm really having trouble. Wow! Outstanding! Yummmmm! Please pass me some more! Those are all things that come to mind with these. Trust me, the photo doesn't do them justice. For that matter, their appearance doesn't do them justice even in person. These things were amazing and totally unexpected! I've had potato pancakes while living in Germany (Kartoffel Puffer) and my mom used to make potato pancakes so that's what I was expecting. Surprise! These were not my mother's potato pancakes!
Before I discuss this dish, however, I wanted to make a comment about why I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks. No, my family hasn't been sick and I didn't lose internet service. Certainly we've been watching the news, making preparations, and taking precautions, but all has been well. Life has, in fact, been a bit busier than normal as we've been getting things arranged to be prepared in case restrictions were put on our businesses -- which did occur on Thursday. While all of that was going on I did actually manage to cook a few things but when faced with the choice either cooking something or writing something, my stomach won and I cooked. Sorry I didn't have time to write about it then but I did take notes and, now that I'll be working from home for awhile, I might be able to get caught up. I hope that you and our loved ones are safe and health and that this might provide you with a little distraction for the constant stream of news many of us seem to be glued to. I hope you're hungry, let's go!
Back to potato pancakes... The French used a secret ingredient that definitely gave them them an advantage over the Germans and my mother. Want to guess what it is? Surprise! It isn't butter. Think about the city of brotherly love out her in my neck of the woods -- Philadelphia. I don't know when the French made a visit to William Penn's town but somehow the French discovered cream cheese and decided it would be the perfect ingredient to use in potato pancakes. They were right!
For about 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes, this recipe starts by mixing 8 ounces of cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of flour. Once that's all been smushed together you are supposed to add two eggs, a half teaspoon of salt and an eighth of a teaspoon of pepper. I went a little lighter on the salt and a bit heavier on the pepper but that's up to you. Time for a quick side note..
I've mentioned before that my sweetie, Elizabeth, is allergic to eggs. I our local grocery market I bumbled across a powdered egg substitute that I decided to try and it worked out perfectly. Bob's Red Mill egg replacer is a powdered mixture that you mix with water and it turns into a qooey liquid with a texture a bit liked eggs when beaten. Not quite as slimy and a bit more of a tan color but it seemed to work quite well. I'm looking forward to experimenting with it in a couple other recipes that I'd have otherwise avoided because of Elizabeth's allergy.
At first it seemed like the mixture would be too thick to mix in with the potatoes but it did thin out a bit once the eggs were added. Six ounces of grated Swiss cheese was stirred into the mixture next and then it was time for the potatoes. I could tell you I grated everything by hand but, since Julia gave permission in my edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I used the food processor to shred the potatoes. Alright, alright. Time for full disclosure. I peeled about half of the potatoes with the help of my sous chef, Kathryn, and she actually did all the grating with the food processor. Hey, we were hungry and I had a motivated helper!
Finally, the shredded/grated potatoes were added and once everything was mixed up it was time to add (another secret ingredient alert) about 3 tablespoons of cream (but Julia said you could add up to 6 tablespoons if needed) to thin the mixture until it was almost like a cole slaw type of consistency.
A skillet was heated to moderately high and to start off 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and a half tablespoon of oil were added. If you remember, from earlier posts, adding the oil to the butter lets the butter be heated to a higher temperature without burning and turning brown. More butter and oil could be added later while cooking if needed. Then it was time too do the actual cooking.
The goal was to end up with pancakes, errrrr I mean crepes, that were about 3 inches in diameter and 3/8 of an inch thick. Interesting thought just occurred... This is a French (European) cookbook and the measurements aren't in metric? Thankfully, for me, Julia wrote the book before everything was switching units. Anyway...depending on the size of the skillet you use you put about three of five pancakes in the pan at once. It took about two to three minutes before turning them over. You can tell its time to turn it over when the top of the pancake begins to bubble.
The goal is golden brown -- if the pancake is turning black before the top begins to bubble, then turn the heat down a bit. Be sure to sample one when you get started to see if it is done (potatoes soft all the way through). Actually, you probably shouldn't sample one because when you do you're going to start snitching more while you cook. Trust me, I know.
Julia says you can serve these plain (like I did) or add a cheese sauce or a tomato sauce. I'd suspected we'd use ketchup (hey, that's what we did with mom's potato pancakes) but after the first bite everyone of use instantly decided to eat them plain. Sorry I can't describe the taste better but these darn things were really good. Creamy, potatoey, a little gooey and just downright delicious. I recommend you make 'em and try 'em. Bet you can't eat just one!
There you have it -- Bon Appetit!
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