Potato Pancakes My Way: Gluten Free and Dairy Free

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Potato Pancakes!

I have been buying frozen potato pancakes for a long time now, but always loved Gran Fran's homemade ones. We would sometimes have breakfast for dinner, which mostly meant bacon and eggs or french toast, but sometimes included potato pancakes. I love the crispy outside and the warm, soft inside. Gran Fran's were loaded with salt and sometimes had corn added to them. I remember the sizzle of the hot oil and Gran Fran yelling for all the kids to back away from the stove (and to leave the kitchen) in case the oil splattered when she put the potato pancakes in the pan. I can't recall anyone every getting hurt when Gran Fran fried things, but she still tells the kids (meaning me and my five adult siblings) to back away when she's frying. Old habits die hard, I guess.

The other night I had some leftover mashed potatoes and remembered that this was the base for Gran Fran's potato cakes. I don't think I made them the same way she does, but they tasted great. Gran Fran's version definitely had flour involved. Mine use just an egg and the mashed potatoes, which I made with almond milk and olive oil, making them gluten and dairy free.

Isabella, my daughter, loved them so much, she told me not to give her anymore because she wouldn't know when to stop eating them and did not want to over do it. These are definitely being made on a regular basis around here.

So enjoy these with your family and friends. You can even try some add ins like leftover bacon (but for real, who has that on hand?), scallions or grated cheese. Have a lovely weekend!

Potato Pancakes: Gluten and Dairy Free

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Mix mashed potatoes and eggs until a thick batter comes together. If you are adding in bacon, scallions or anything else, mix it into the batter now.
  2. Heat the olive oil until super hot but not smoking in a pan.
  3. Using a tablespoon, spoon the mixture into the pan, leaving a good amount of space between them in the pan.
  4. Take a spatula and press down on the potato mixture in the pan to form a pancake. Some of the batter will ooze out the side, which is fine.
  5. Cook on first side for 4 minutes, until you can see the edges browning.
  6. Flip over the pancakes, press down once more with the spatula and cook for another 4 minutes.
  7. Remove from the pan onto a paper towel lined plate and add salt.

Enjoy!

 

It's Cold Here: Mashed Potato Time

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Okay, I know, we're in San Francisco, and all of you real-season dwellers are guffawing at my being cold in 45 degree and sunny weather. To be fair, I grew up in NY and know what real weather feels like. But, there is something out here that makes me cold from the inside. I wonder if it's just that I'm so used to the temperature hovering around 65 degrees most of the year, that this shift in temperature seems more sudden than the transition from Summer to Fall to Winter in NY.

So a very simple mashed potato was in order as dinner the other night. There is nothing as satisfying or warms you up as well as mashed potatoes.

I made two versions, one with dairy  (for my daughter) and one without (for me). The dairy-free ones are not quite the same, but hey, I have to eat within certain guidelines, so have found a decent work around.

All that's left is for me to find a cashmere jumpsuit to make it through the winter.

Mashed Potatoes

  • 6 Russet potatoes, skinned and diced
  • 3/4 cup of milk (cow or almond)
  • 3 tbsps of butter (or olive oil)
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Boil the potatoes in enough salted water to cover them. They're ready when you can easily put a fork through them.
  • Drain the water and return the pan to the stove. Put a high flame under the pan for one to two minutes, to dry out the potatoes.
  • Add most of the milk and all of the butter (or oil). Mash with a potato masher.
  • Keep adding the milk until the potatoes reach the consistency you'd like.
  • Add salt.

Enjoy.

mashed potatoes…i don't think so.

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Here’s the deal, sometime around Junior High, Gran Fran began adding leeks to the mashed potatoes. Even though I was a fairly easygoing pre-teen and teenager, for that matter, but the addition of leeks brought out my full-fledged wrath of pre-teen-dom in all its glory.What in the heck was she thinking? How could you improve upon the creamy goodness of a nice batch of russet potatoes, boiled, dried over the flame, salt, butter and milk added, and mashed? Now, she had added some soft, green things, that made the potatoes taste downright wrong.

The bigger issue was, you had to eat what was on your plate, which should be expected. Now, I know in my heart this is wrong, but with my own daughter, we’ll call her Iz, I make modified versions of what I’m eating, with less spice, or none at all. This was an okay solution when she was small, but she has just turned 10 and it is sort of crazy to serve two meals in a household of two.

To be fair, Iz will always try new things and sometimes discovers dishes she likes. But, this is only at other people’s houses, not mine. Yes, I know, it’s my own doing, but I still like to talk about it. And, the odd thing is, she loves to cook and will make all sorts of things that she will not eat. Final thought on Iz is that she has a good palate and will eat lots of different things, including sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and all manner of veggies, meats and carbs, just not with any sauce or spices. But, how could I not love a kid who counts bacon as a food group?

Last night, a friend showed up to cook dinner and brought along potatoes and leeks. I cornered him and grilled him on how he was going to prepare them, warning him that he’d have to leave if he planned on making them into a smushy mess of mashed-like potatoes. He assured me that he would be making a gratin of some sort, and was then allowed to stay.

Gran Fran was kind enough to share her recipe with me, which, as now that I'm an adult, actually sounds like something I might like. But, I don’t have the courage to make it, for fear that Gran Fran’s look of disappointment (from back in the ‘80s) will come back to haunt me. And, I’m probably just a little bit too stubborn to admit she might be right on this one.

Mashed Potatoes with Leeks and Vegetables

Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 5 Russet Potatoes, peeled, washed, and cubed • 3 cloves of Garlic • 2 Leeks, white and light green parts only, thoroughly washed, dried, and diced • 4 Carrots, peeled, washed, sliced into discs • 4 Stalks of Celery, peeled, washed, and sliced • 4 Tbsps. Butter • 1/2 cup milk or cream, slightly warmed • Salt to add to water

Method:

  1. • Place potatoes and vegetables, garlic and salt in a non-reactive pot; add enogh cold water to come to the top of the vegetables, cover pot, and cook until they are soft, about 25 minutes.
  2. • Remove from the heat, strain the water out and put the vegetables back in the pan.
  3. • Place the pan back over high heat, to dry the ingredients out, for 4 minutes. Then turn off the heat.
  4. • Add the butter and milk (or cream) and mash them all together until they are the consistency you like (the more you mash the mixture, the smoother it becomes).
  5. • Taste the mixture and add salt to taste.

Mashed Potatoes Without Leeks

(the right way, as far as I’m concerned) Serves 8/Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 5 Russet Potatoes peeled, washed, sliced • 4 Tbsps Butter • 1/2 cup milk or cream, slightly warmed • Salt to add to water

Method:

  1. • Place potatoes in pot; add cold water to some to top of potatoes, add salt; cover pot. Cook until they are soft, about 25 minutes.
  2. • Remove from the heat, strain the water out and put the vegetables back in the pan.
  3. • Place the pan back over a high heat, to dry the ingredients out, for 4 minutes. Then turn off the heat.
  4. • Add the butter and milk (or cream) and mash them all together until they are the consistency you like (the more you mash the mixture, the smoother it becomes).
  5. • Taste the mixture and add salt to taste.