|
|
Post by kit on Feb 20, 2014 9:27:21 GMT -5
Back in January of 2013 there was discussion among a few of us about potato pancakes, which in Poland are called Placki Ziemniaczane. They have different names in other countries and may contain some different ingredients. Either way, they're delicious.
Sadly, my first couple attempts to make them were dismal failures, but with experimentation I found a way to make them to my taste, relatively easily. Rather than sweet, these are savory pancakes and are delicious at any meal. Here's how I make them:
Placki Ziemniaczane
(PLOT-skee zyem-nyah-CHAN-neh)
(Potato Pancakes - serves 1 or 2)
1/2 cup frozen hash browns (thawed)
2 Tbsp onion, chopped
1 egg
2 Tbsp grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour*
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp water
Finely chop potatoes and onion. Put into bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix well to make a medium batter (adjust water if necessary).
In large skillet with 1/8" canola oil on med-hi, pour in batter and smooth to ¼” thickness. Fry a couple minutes to solidify bottom. Carefully separate pancake from skillet with spatula and cut into quarters. Fry until golden on bottom.
Carefully flip each ¼ and fry the other side until golden. Drain on paper towels. Top with sour cream or warm applesauce if desired. This recipe can easily be doubled to serve more people.
* For a puffier placki, use self-rising flour
|
|
|
|
Post by chris on Feb 20, 2014 13:15:29 GMT -5
your making me hungry (translation ...placki means pancake and ziemniazane or ziemniaki means potato) I've been thinking of making some too recently..LOL very creative thinking using the hash browns
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Feb 20, 2014 14:23:55 GMT -5
You guys don't have any Perkin's Restaurants near Utica, but if you want to drive to Olean, or Cortland, you can get a decent potato pancake at their restaurants. Nothing compared to Kathy's home made, but they are actually quite good. I like them with just sour cream. Save the applesauce for a side to be served with pork chops.
Nothing beats home made, but I was surprised to find them available in a chain restaurant.
|
|
|
|
Post by kit on Feb 21, 2014 10:01:01 GMT -5
Chris... once I started using pre-made hash browns for the placki, it became quick and easy to whip up a batch. The chef's knife does the work and my box grater stays on the shelf. That's important to me especially at breakfast time when most mornings I make breakfast before my brain starts to function. ;o) I usually need a couple of cups of coffee first.
As mentioned, the above recipe is for savory plackis, but sweet ones are just as easy. Just omit the onions and cheese and use a fruit like apple, peach, strawberry, etc. and chop it. I also add a squirt of Agave Nectar (you can use pancake syrup or honey as well). I top my placki with a fruit syrup that's easy to make. I use the same fruit that's in the placki, water, sugar and a slurry of water and corn starch to thicken. The result is similar to a covered blintz, and it's delicious. Now I've made myself hungry and will definitely make this for Sunday breakfast if I can wait that long.
You're right, Clipper. No Perkins near Utica, and you're right a 2nd time by saying there's nothing like homemade. I started making placki using Kathy's recipe that you posted on this thread (thank you for that), and as usual... a couple of failures coupled with a bit of experimentation lead to one of my favorite breakfasts that I only make once in a while. But it's a treat when I do. Thanks for getting the ball rolling on placki. And thanks to you Chris for teaching us the Polish name.
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Feb 21, 2014 10:44:53 GMT -5
She still makes them from that same recipe, but I will be passing along the shortcut using frozen hashbrowns thawed and chopped with a chef's knife. This talk about plackis here on the forum made me hungry for them, so last night after bowling when we made our twice weekly excursion to Perkin's, I ordered the potato pancakes. My friend Jeremiah also ordered them, but while I use sour cream, he put pancake syrup on his savory pancakes. That simply doesn't sound as though it is anything I would like.
We go there so often that the cook, waitress, and hostess on the late shift all know us. We arrive there shortly after 10 PM on Tuesday and Thursday, and they have fresh decaf made for Kathy, and have our big round table for 8 set up with our drinks already on the table when we get there, along with a high chair and a cup of cheese grits waiting for our friends 18 month old Ava. She amazes me. She sleeps in her stroller for most of the time that they are bowling, with 24 lanes worth of bowling balls thundering down the lanes, and pins flying. When we are through bowling, she wakes up fresh and smiling, and loves grits with cheese, and a few bites of toast with grape jelly. She's a true Southern belle, with diluted sweet tea in her sippy cup.
There is an advantage to being a regular, as well as being decent tippers. We make all sorts of weird substitutions and exceptions to their menu items. Potato pancakes are usually served as a breakfast item. I ordered them with link breakfast sausage, a side order of steamed spinach, and a side salad. I always order the side salad with feta cheese, which is not a normal part of the house side salad, but they always accommodate me with a nice handful black olives and sizeable hunk of feta crumbled on top of my salad making it more like a Greek salad.
They treat us well, and between us all, they are pretty well assured of a combined check of slightly over a hundred bucks twice a week.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2014 12:37:38 GMT -5
I like them myself and will try this method cause the grating of the potato and onion is messy.
Are potato pancakes a Polish speciality or was it adopted by the Poles because of the Jewish people who eat them as part of there holydays. I always wondered. I know some Polish and Rusian Jews and the Russian Jews also make them but then again so do the American Jews. So do you see what I mean.
|
|
|
|
Post by kit on Feb 21, 2014 16:51:24 GMT -5
Alan... Placki Ziemniaczani is the Polish name for potato pancakes. Many other countries in Europe and the middle east also make them, perhaps with slight variations, and the name is different in each language. But they're all delicious starting with the basic ingredients and adding anything else your heart desires. I imagine they're so widespread because potatoes, onions, flour and eggs are plentiful and relatively inexpensive most everywhere.
Clipper... I'd never throw stones at strange combinations of food because I'm probably one of the worst offenders. When I was a kid, we'd have French toast and our toppings were butter, salt, pepper, AND syrup. It seemed natural to me and I still eat it that way.
When Uncle Jim was in The Nitecaps we had a guitar player named Gary Flagg. He was married to a gal named Julie from Eindhoven Holland and she lived with us while we were in Odgensburg. On nights when we had French Fries, instead of using ketchup she used mayonnaise. She made me try it and I've been eating them with mayo ever since. Others have chicken gravy with their fries and some put vinegar on them. They're all good, although mayo is my favorite. So Jeremiah might be on to a new taste sensation with syrup on a savory pancake.
You and your bowling buds seem to have a great relationship with the staff at Perkins. I'm sure they like the generous tips which is why they'd bed over backwards to give you exactly what you want. They're keepers for sure as long as you like their food.
|
|
|
|
Post by clarencebunsen on Feb 21, 2014 17:18:05 GMT -5
Mayo on french fries was also standard in Germany when I was stationed there. I never developed a taste for it. Also from my time in Germany: the first time I had lunch at the commissary at the British garrison I had a devil of a time convincing the waitperson that I wanted a ham and cheese sandwich. He kept asking, "You want ham and cheese in the same sandwich?"
|
|
|
|
Post by chris on Feb 22, 2014 14:22:03 GMT -5
the Jews call them Latkes. Alan there are Jews in almost every country and so I'm guessing they just become a traditional meal for many Europeans. The Polish Jews, German Jews Russian Jews all cook similar and are all influenced. (Like everyone in Utica that isn't Italian becomes Italian thru food)
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Feb 22, 2014 14:37:11 GMT -5
Traveling to Germany quite regularly for my work I also learned to eat mayo on fries and still eat them that way. I started putting mayo on fries because I found German ketchup to be disgusting. Of course on the base we would find Heintz in packets, but off-base the ketchup was not to my liking. ( I have to admit that I also found SOME German mayonaise to be rather unsatisfactory to my American tastes also.)
Clarence, you speak of eating a ham and cheese sandwich at a British commissary. We used to go into town when our unit was located at Lindsey Air Station in Weisbaden and buy cold cuts from a meat market, go down the street to the bakery and by brochen and further down to a cheese shop to purchase some of the best cheeses I have ever eaten. My favorite cheese was a French munster, not to be confused with American Muenster. It was imported from Alsace region of France. It's a soft cheese but very sharp in flavor. A slab of that cheese, a couple slices of Fleischwurst ( a German garlic bologna) on a crusty brochen and no mustard or condiments were necessary. Many of the German nationals would make those stops on their way to work in the morning and make their own sandwiches with the wonderful brochen rolls, cold cuts and cheeses at lunch time. Those little German hard rolls kept well with their hard crust, and I always brought a dozen home with me along with a few bottles of Spatlese rheinhessen wine for a neighbor that loved the stuff.
Yes Kit. We do have a special relationship with our waitstaff at Perkins. We have been going there twice a week for a late night meal after bowling since 2004. Many of the hostesses and cooks that were there when we started going there are still there. They DO take special care of us, and we reciprocate in kind with decent tips, a true appreciation for their good service and a gift for them at Christmas. They always give Kathy a free muffin to have for her breakfast the next day when we check out. They have an in house bakery and their muffins are to die for. I truly love to bowl, and our bowling nights are an important part of our social life. It is killing me having to sit and watch due to the torn rotator cuff. Looks like I won't be bowling until at least next fall, if at all. The doctor says the type of tear that I have sometimes re-tears. I will have to play that one by ear. I damn sure don't want to go through this again, haha.
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Feb 22, 2014 15:26:17 GMT -5
Kit, here is another take on a potato pancake that sounds quite good, and it is not done on a griddle or in a pan. Baking seems as though it should be a healthier choice. A friend from Texas posted it on Face Book earlier. The recipe doesn't mention adding any onion to the mix, but I think I would put about 1/2 cup of finely minced onion in it if I were to make it.
Delicate Potato Pancake
This pancake treat is perfect anytime, including breakfast. Chock-full of veggies, this dish is always a savory treat.
Main Ingredient
Potato
Eggs
Carrots
Cooking Method
Bake
Serves
6
Ingredients
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and grated
1 egg 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 cup grated carrot (1 large)
1-1/2 cups grated zucchini (2 small)
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream or plain yogurt
2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp. chopped chives or 1-1/2 tsp. chili powder
Methods/steps
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wrap potatoes in several layers of paper towels; squeeze to remove excess moisture. Beat egg, flour, salt and pepper in large bowl. Add potatoes, carrot and zucchini; mix well. Oil 2 nonstick baking sheets. Place vegetable mixture by heaping spoonfuls onto baking sheets; flatten slightly. Bake 8 to 15 minutes until bottoms are browned. Turn; bake 5 to 10 minutes more. Stir together sour cream and herbs; serve with warm pancakes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2014 17:49:30 GMT -5
Kit and Chris thanks for clearing up the Jewish potato pancake for me.
I put salt on watermelon it brings out the taste. And I love garlic on vanilla ice cream. I tried some garlic ice cream at a Farmers Market somewhere a long time ago, maybe when I was stationed in Missouri and really love the taste.
I also like ham and cheese with a layer of sliced kosher pickle in between with mustard then toast the whole thing. Toasted ham, cheese, sauerkraut is also very good.
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Feb 22, 2014 21:11:57 GMT -5
I like just a light sprinkling of salt on watermelon also Alan. I have seen them serving garlic ice cream at the Gilroy Ca. garlic festival on the food network. I cannot even begin the imagine eating ice cream that tastes like garlic, and I like garlic. To each their own I would guess.
|
|
|
|
Post by chris on Mar 15, 2014 11:28:38 GMT -5
Potato pancakes...I made some the other day. This time out of my Polish Cookbook. Came out quite tasty. I grated my potatoes the way my mom use to where it looks like apple sauce consistancy.
Clipper one year when I went to San Francisco we took a daytrip down the 17mile drive. Wonder if it was Gilroy we passed thru. We stopped at this diner and all it served was garlic...garlic toast' garlic candy' all I smelled was garlic for sometime after we left.
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Mar 15, 2014 14:12:51 GMT -5
Gilroy is actually south of San Jose, quite a distance South of San Francisco. I like garlic but I can't imagine basing an entire menu around it. When we lived up there I used to buy garlic by the "braid" from a farm stand on the muck land in South Rome. I went looking for a garlic braid for a friend on a NY trip several years ago and could not find anyone selling it like that any more. I guess I am not brave or curious enough to want to experience the more non-tradtional or sweet garlic dishes or garlic desserts.
|
|
