Potato Pancakes My Way: Gluten Free and Dairy Free

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!

 

Learning About Turnips: Turnips Sauteed with Apples and Mustard

It's time to learn about turnips. The few times I've tasted turnips, I've been less than impressed. The mashed ones are ok, but nothing compared to mashed potatoes. It occurred to me that I have been lax in learning about this vegetable and have maybe written it off too soon.

My daughter told me that you can't really trust Wikipeda. They learned at school that anyone can enter information on Wikipedia, so it may not be the most trustworthy source.  I figure no one is going to lie about turnips, like they would about a Khardashian or something, so I headed over there for some turnip information.

The turnip is a root vegetable that is very high in vitamin C, while the greens are full of vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium and luetin. Whoa. Who knew?

The article also stated that for some, the flavor of turnips will always be bitter due to your genetics. I generally have this bitter-flavor reaction to cooked spinach (raw spinach is fine). When I read this, I almost sent it to Gran Fran so she would finally understand why I couldn't eat cooked spinach as a kid without crying.

But I digress. With the potential bitterness in mind, I decided to add some apples and apple cider vinegar to my turnip dish to sweeten it up a bit. What a nice combination! Once I tasted it, I realized it would be a great complement to the Real Simple Slow Cooker Bratwurst that I made recently.

I will continue to experiment with turnips, and please do share your turnip recipes with me!

Turnip and Apple Sauté

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 ½ to 2 cups turnips, greens removed, peeled, cut into cubes
  • 1 apple, skinned, cored and cut into even pieces
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Heat up the olive oil in a pan that is large enough to hold the turnips and apples, preferably one with a lid.
  2. Put the turnips and apple cider vinegar in the pan, stir once, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
  3. Add the apples and sautee until browned, about 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in the mustard, making sure to coat all the turnips and apples and cook for 5 more minutes.

Cook’s note: You can serve this with grilled sausages or a hearty toasted brown bread.

 

Greek Sandwich Salad Style

Recently, I went to dinner with my uncle (known as Uncle), who is Gran Fran's brother. For the most part, I'm a lettuce with olive oil and salt kind of salad girl. Uncle ordered just this as his salad, which floored me. I hadn't realized there maybe a family connection to my style of salad. He told me that he has always eaten his salad this way, and that he thought it did come from his parents. Who knew?!

Warm weather has arrived in San Francisco. You never know how long this nice patch of weather will be in town, so it's fun to pretend like we have seasons and cook like it's going to stay warm for a few months.

This weather puts me in the mood for a good salad. I made a nice roast pork with Greek flavor a few weeks ago, reminiscent of a the Greek sandwich I had in Paris.  Since I have salad on my mind, I decided to take all the Greek sandwich fixings and make a huge salad.

Seeing as I don't usually make fancy salads (except for my salad nicoise) , I really had to think about how to layer everything in. Some special dressing, which includes Za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice, added a nice extra kick. It's earthy, sour, salty and just interesting. You can just use oregano here, but I love the unexpected flavor.

You don't have to follow my ingredients exactly, but do put the roast pork, red onions and fried potatoes in the salad as these are the keys to the Greek sandwich-ness of the salad.

Greek Sandwich Salad Style

Ingredients

serves 2

  • 1 heart of romaine lettuce, cut into pieces
  • 2 potatoes, oven fried (recipe here)
  • 8 slices of Greek roast pork (recipe here)
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced into chunks
  • 8 to 10 small tomatoes cut in half
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon Za'atar spice blend or dried oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  • Lay the romaine on a platter, making a mound in the center.
  • Layer on top the red onions, potatoes, tomatoes and red bell peppers, with the pork on top.
  • Put the mayonnaise, olive oil, Za'atar (or oregano) and salt and pepper into a bowl and mix until combined.
  • Drizzle dressing over the salad and serve.

You can put some nice warm pitas out on the table to serve with this great salad.

 

Mother's Day Gift

My daughter really knows me. She got me the nicest Mother's Day gift a mom could ever want.

Two years ago, we went to London and Paris for the summer. We love to go to tea. We managed to go several times in France and once in England. Fortnum and Mason in London really made an impact on us. I loved the all of the place settings, especially the blue with gold rimmed teacups.

Well, my little lady found a very close replica of the teacup and gave it to me for mother's day. Such a thoughtful gift. Which, she told me, would also make a great prop for my photos.

There was also a nice set of photo magnet frames, that look like the outer edge of a Polaroid, but with lovely pastel patterns on them. We are going to clear off the fridge and make a fancy gallery up there. Both of these gifts came from a store called Typo, which I think is Australian.

We will get back to London someday to have more lovely tea, but for now, we can recreate it here in our own home with this great teacup.

Happy mother's day to you all!