Almost-latkes, I suppose, and certainly a Midwestern treat. I think this dish is from Mom's side of the family, northern Indiana immigrant farmers who came over from Germany late in the 19th Century. Oh, they might've come from Dad's side, out of the South Caroline/Georgia area by way of Missouri, because Southern/Cherokee/??? cooking is nothing if not unexpected, though a German origin is more likely; but either way, they were an uncommon treat in my childhood.
I love 'em but I never paid enough attention to how Mom made them (her recipes for anything other than baking were as notional as mine) and I've been pursuing making a version that holds together well for the last several years.
Hopes are high for the present batch. Leftover mashed potatoes are rare in my kitchen; there was a cup and a half remaining from Thanksgiving dinner and with a couple of well-beaten eggs and enough flour (with luck!) to get the mix to hold together. The other variable I'm working on is skillet temperature.
The first one just came out of the skillet. Not bad -- needs salt. I added salt, pepper and a little onion to the remaining mix.
Update: They worked well! Very tasty.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
4 comments:
Sounds kind of like a pirogie.
We typically make latkes using hash browns (the ones that come in a little carton and you reconstitute with hot water, but frozen ones or just plain old shredded potatoes would work just as well; we just don't like the mess of shredding our own), a little oil, a couple of eggs, minced onions, salt, and pepper. My wife fries them crispy on the outside and they stay soft on the inside.
But any kind of a potato pancake is a treat! :)
Sounds good! I've never been able to do those at all.
They’re a treat in the mountains of East Tennessee as well. My Mom would always make twice as much mashed potatoes as we’d eat and there were “tater cakes” the next night.
Inspired me to deploy the leftover smashed taters this way. Mine were a bit too loose. Prolly could use a bit more flour as a binder. They stayed together on the plate just fine, but not on the fork tines.
Dang tasty regardless. Thanks for the reminder that this was a think I could do.
Post a Comment