The Potato Cake Mystery

March 1st, 2010 by Hannah

Heart potato
Image by cuorhome via Flickr

Potato cakes are a food I remember fondly from my childhood. My mother made these crispy treats often, for two reasons: First, the main ingredient was leftover potatoes, and second, they cooked in the broiler. My mother’s gas stove had a broiler drawer directly under the oven. When she turned on the oven, she would take advantage of its heat by broiling food at the same time.

I have an electric oven with no broiler drawer, but I’m not sure that’s why I’ve never made potato cakes. Yesterday I had a lot of leftover potatoes, so I decided to experiment.  The cakes came out crisp but somewhat tasteless. I didn’t poll my company. I’m not sure whether I just didn’t add enough salt, or I left out some essential ingredient like schmaltz. Or perhaps my palate has become more sophisticated over the years.

Here’s the recipe, for you to play with:

Ingredients:

  • About 7 leftover potatoes, mashed coarsely
  • 2 eggs
  • 1.5 onions, chopped and sauteed
  • salt and pepper
  • paprika

Instructions: Mix ingredients, form into mounds, and place under the broiler for about twenty minutes, until brown on top.

If I were to make them again I would add fresh dill or parsley.

Have you ever tried to reconstruct a dish without a recipe?

Reader interviews will return next week.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Related posts:

Posted in Recipes | 9 comments

Previous post:
Next post:

9 comments on this post.

  1. LeahGG:

    March 2nd, 2010 at 3:13 AM

    I wouldn’t add dill b/c I dislike dill… but I’m guessing that it’s undersalted and maybe needs pepper.
    probably also needs oil or schmaltz…
    think latkes.

  2. Yonit:

    March 2nd, 2010 at 5:48 AM

    Rosemary or curry or garlic would be wonderful I imagine.

    For many years I was making my mom’s lokshen kugel (dairy noodle kugel/pudding) recipe from memory. When I finally got the recipe from her I was surprised to see eggs in it. No wonder she cooked it for so long and no wonder mine never stayed in slices! It didn’t really alter the taste dramatically, but it probably does distinguish a kugel from a pudding.

  3. Hannah:

    March 2nd, 2010 at 5:33 PM

    LeahGG, I did add pepper but not enough salt. At least one of my kids said he really liked it.

  4. Hannah:

    March 2nd, 2010 at 5:34 PM

    Kugel without eggs! That could be a problem. :) . Thanks for the seasoning ideas.

  5. Mrs. S.:

    March 2nd, 2010 at 7:56 PM

    I like the garlic idea. Also, I’d consider adding a lot more sauteed onions.

  6. Selena:

    March 4th, 2010 at 9:21 PM

    I make these for Pesach when I have tons of extra potatos and I would definately say you need a little oil…

  7. Hannah:

    March 4th, 2010 at 9:39 PM

    There was some in the sauteed onions. Thanks for sharing your experience–I’ll add more next time!

  8. Hannah:

    March 4th, 2010 at 9:39 PM

    Thanks, Mrs. S, that’s a good idea.

  9. Devo K:

    March 9th, 2010 at 11:53 AM

    This sounds yummy. I think I’m going to add this to my Pesach recipe collection.

Leave a comment





CommentLuv badge