Potato Pancakes With Pink Applesauce And Creme Fraiche Food

POTATO PANCAKES WITH CHUNKY GRANNY SMITH APPLESAUCE AND CINNAMON CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• On a box grater, coarsely shred the onion and potato. Transfer to a colander or wrap in a cheesecloth sling, and squeeze as dry as possible. Let stand for 2 minutes, then squeeze dry again. Put the potatoes in a large bowl, add the flour, salt, pepper, baking powder and egg, and gently fold to combine.
• In a large cast-iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil until shimmering. Drop heaping tablespoons of the potatoes into the skillet and flatten them with the back of the spoon. Cook the pancakes over moderately high heat until the edges are golden, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.
• Serve the potato pancakes topped with Chunky Granny Smith Applesauce and a small dollop of Cinnamon Creme Fraiche.
• Cook's Note: Reheat the pancakes in a single layer on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven until they're crisp again. If you undercooked them a bit or didn't get the browning on them you'd hoped for, you can compensate for this in the oven.
• To a large pot, combine 1 cup water, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, and apples. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if desired. Coarsely mash to a chunky consistency. Let cool to room temperature.;
• Whisk together creme fraiche and cinnamon, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.;

FRENCH POTATO PANCAKES

Steps:

• Working quickly to avoid discoloration, cut onion and potatoes in large chunks and then shred them, either by hand or by using the grating blade of a food processor.
• One handful at a time and working over the sink, squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the potato and onion mixture and transfer to a medium bowl. Mix gently with your fingers. Pour the melted butter over the mixture, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and lightly work in with your fingers.
• Heat an 8-inch nonstick frying pan and pour in enough grapeseed oil to lightly coat the bottom. When oil is almost smoking, spoon half the potato mixture into the pan, spreading it over the bottom of the pan and patting it down gently with a spatula so it is about an inch thick. Use the spatula to push in stray pieces to make a clean edge.
• Fry for about 4 minutes on one side or until golden brown around the edges, then slide onto a plate. Invert the pan over the plate and flip, transferring pancake back into the pan on its other side. Cook for another 4 minutes or until crispy on the outside.
• Slide pancake onto a paper-towel-covered plate and blot with additional paper towels to absorb excess oil. Remove top paper towels and flip pancake onto a clean plate using the same method as above. Keep in a warm oven as you repeat the process with the remaining potato mixture.
• Season finished pancakes with more salt if desired. Using a sharp knife, cut like a pie into 6 pieces and serve each with a little apple compote and a dollop of crème fraîche.

CRISPY POTATO PANCAKE WITH SMOKED SALMON AND DILL-CAPER VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar and shallots. Whisk in the canola and olive oils to emulsify the dressing, and then fold in the capers and dill. Season with pepper only, as the capers are salty.
• On the large-hole side of a box grater, grate the onion into a strainer set over a bowl. Then, peel the potatoes. It is important to work quickly to avoid potato oxidation. You do not want to store the potatoes in water, as the starch will be washed away. Using the large-hole side of the box grater, grate the potatoes into the strainer. Press out the liquid and discard. Toss the potatoes with the onions and season with salt and pepper.
• In an 8-inch nonstick saute pan set over medium-high heat, melt the Clarified Butter. It will seem like a lot of butter. Pack the potatoes into the pan, so that the layer is 1/2-inch thick. Saute the potatoes until the bottom just starts to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Carefully and gently flip the potato pancake onto a small plate browned-side up. Then slide the potato pancake back into the pan and brown on the other side over medium-high heat. Place in the oven and cook until evenly golden, another 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the potato pancake on a paper towel and cut into quarters.
• Roll the smoked salmon into rosettes. Top the potato pancake slices with the smoked salmon rosettes, a few dollops of creme fraiche and the dill fronds. Drizzle with the vinaigrette before serving.
• Heat the butter in a heavy-duty saucepan over very low heat until it's melted. Simmer gently until the foam rises to the top of the melted butter. The butter may splatter a bit, so be careful.
• Once the butter stops spluttering and no more foam seems to be rising to the surface, remove from the heat and skim off the foam with a spoon.
• Line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth or gauze and set the strainer over a heatproof container.
• Carefully pour the warm butter through the cheesecloth-lined strainer into the container, discarding any solids from the bottom of the pan.

AMERICAN CAVIAR WITH CRISPY YUKON GOLD POTATO PANCAKES

Steps:

• Using largest holes on box grater, shred potatoes into large bowl. Mix in egg and next 4 ingredients. Transfer potato mixture to strainer set over same bowl.
• Add enough oil to heavy medium skillet to reach depth of 1/4 inch. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls into hot oil, flattening with back of spoon to form 2- to 3-inch-diameter 1/4-inch-thick pancakes. Fry until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer pancakes to paper towels to drain.
• Top pancakes with crème fraîche, red onion, and caviar; serve.
• *Available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

A FESTIVE HANUKKAH RECIPE: POTATO PANCAKES WITH BEETS

Steps:

• Cut the stem and bottom off the beets and peel. Chop roughly into chunks and add to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until coarsely shredded and add to a large bowl. Peel the potatoes and grate on the largest holes of a box grater. You'll be able to grate about ¾ of the potato before you can no longer hold it. Add the remaining bits to the food processor. Peel and roughly chop the onion and add it to the potato ends, pulse until finely shredded and add to the bowl with the beets. Add the eggs, flour, salt and pepper to the bowl and gently mix with a spoon. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the oil over medium high heat for at least two minutes. There should be about ¼ of an inch of oil in the pan. Using your hands, form about 3 tablespoons of the beet and potato mixture into a flat patty. Using a spatula, add it to the hot oil and press down. Repeat until there are 4 potato pancakes in the pan. Cook for four minutes or until browned, then flip and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain off excess oil. Repeat until all the pancakes are cooked, adding more oil as needed. Serve hot with sour cream and applesauce.

POTATO PANCAKES WITH PINK APPLESAUCE AND CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• Grate potatoes on large holes of a box grater into long strips over a large bowl of cold water. Drain potatoes, reserving liquid, and pat dry.
• Let reserved liquid stand for 10 minutes. Carefully pour liquid from bowl, discarding liquid but reserving milky residue (potato starch) at bottom. Stir drained potatoes, onion, eggs, flour, and salt into bowl with starch, and season with pepper.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Heat 1/4 inch oil in a large, heavy skillet until it registers 350 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer (or until a breadcrumb dropped into oil sizzles and turns brown in 15 seconds). Scoop heaping tablespoons of potato mixture, squeezing out excess liquid, and carefully place in skillet. (You may need to work in batches.) Press pancakes lightly with a spatula to flatten, and fry until golden brown on both sides, about 6 minutes total. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Keep pancakes warm in oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve each pancake with a dollop of applesauce and creme fraiche.

POTATO PANCAKES (GERMAN KARTOFFELPUFFER)

Steps:

• Thoroughly wring out the liquid in the grated potatoes by placing them in a colander and squeezing them with your hands or by placing them in a clean dish towel and wringing out the liquid.
• Place the drained grated potatoes in a medium-sized bowl with the grated onion, eggs, flour and salt and use your hands to work it into a tacky mixture. Add a little more flour if needed. Do no let the mixture sit for long before using it, use it immediately.
• Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and place 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mixture (depending on size preference) in the hot pan and flatten into pancakes with the back of a spoon. Fry on both sides for 3-5 minutes until the Kartoffelpuffer are golden. Place them briefly on paper towels.
• Serve immediately while hot with applesauce, fruit compote or powdered sugar. For a savory version serve with herbed yogurt, quark or creme fraiche or with meat and gravy as part of a meal.

POTATO PANCAKES WITH HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE

Steps:

• Place potatoes in a medium saucepan with enough cold water to cover.
• Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until fork tender.
• Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan and cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes more, shaking the pan.
• Transfer the potatoes to a mixing bowl.
• Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
• Add the shallots and cook until translucent, about 4-6 minutes.
• Add the butter, egg, salt and pepper to the potatoes and stir to combine.
• When cool, shape mixture into 8 small pancakes.
• Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a skillet over high heat.
• Add the potato pancakes and cook 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.
• Turn the cakes and reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
• Drain the cakes on the paper towels and serve with applesauce.
• Homemade Applesauce: Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the apples are fork tender.
• Remove from the heat and mash all the ingredients together using a potato masher.
• Stir in the butter, if using.