In the Kitchen With Mattie

Tonight we are having some leftover brisket so I thought I would pair it with some old fashioned potato pancakes. This meal reminds me of my grandmother so much, it is one that my grandfather loved and as my grandparents aged it became harder and harder for my “Nana” to grate the potatoes that were needed for the pancakes, her eyes would light up when Mick and I would come visit and I would grate the potatoes for her on that old box grater……it was a knuckle busting job and often resulted in scraped hands, but I loved doing it for her and Gramp because of the love they had always shown me. Today brought back so many memories and made me realize how much you can miss someone when they are no longer visible, but as I grated the potatoes today I felt them  right beside me, it’s a comforting feeling. Now on to the pancakes.

                                                      Potato Pancakes

5 medium russet potatoes, washed and peeled

1 large onion peeled

2 large eggs

1/4 cup flour or matzo meal

2 tablespoons bacon fat melted

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

oil for frying

On an old fashioned box grater, grate the potatoes on the fine side. Grate them into a strainer set over a large bowl to catch the water and starch from the potatoes. When finished set the potatoes on a clean lint free towel or some doubled up paper towels and squeeze all the moisture out of the potatoes, you want them very dry. Pour the liquid out of the large bowl they were resting over but try to save the starch on the bottom of it. Add the potatoes back to the large bowl and grate the onions into the potatoes.  Mix them together well and then add the eggs, the flour or matzo and the salt, pepper, parsley and melted bacon fat to make a thick batter.

Heat a large skillet and when it is hot add oil to a depth of about 1/4 inch, let the oil heat. When a drop of water sizzles when added to the pan the oil is ready. Take about a 1/4 cup of batter and place carefully in the pan for each pancake, watch the heat and lower it if needed.  Allow the cake to cook on the first side until the top looks dry and the bottom is browned, flip them over and let them continue cooking until the second side is nicely browned. Remove them to a plate lined with paper towels to remove any extra oil. Serve them right away while they are still crispy and hot, we eat them with applesauce and sour cream

If you have to hold them for a while before you have enough for everyone then put them on a rack over a cookie sheet in a 225 degree oven to keep them warm and crispy. If you do manage to have any leftover you can heat them up the same way when you need to.

While the old fashioned knuckle busting box graters work for this I wish the new Microplane grater was available when Nana was still here.  It is a true pleasure to work with and makes short work of grating the potatoes and onions due to the extra sharp grating surface. You can see a glimpse of it in the photo above. If you love potato pancakes you need this!  While you can make these in a food processer they will never match the texture of a true old fashioned potato pancake.

Mattie