Fabulous Potato Pancakes and "the Smell Test"

Growing up we regularly had potato pancakes for super. Served simply with apple sauce and a few breakfast sausage links, they were one of my favorites and remain part of my food heritage and culture. Potato pancakes are a common dish in Germany and throughout Eastern Europe, and like many of the foods I eat, reflect on my ethnicity. Such is the enculturation power of the kitchen table. More on that a bit later.

Here is the recipe for Fabulous Potato Pancakes. It's my own and they are fabulous.

2 Large russet potatoes

1 handball sized onion, minced

1 egg

2 oz. cream or milk

2 oz. water

3 heaping Tbs. flour

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. pepper

Butter for frying (vegetable oil if you feel you must)

Grate the potatoes into a bowl of water. In a separate bowl dissolve the baking powder in 2 oz. of water, then add the cream, egg, salt and pepper and beat together.

Squeeze as much of liquid as possible from the potatoes then add, along with the minced onion, them to the egg mixture. Thoroughly mix, then gradually mix in the flour until the liquid is the consistency of a light batter.

Melt butter in a medium high to high skillet and drop heaping tablespoon of the potato mixture into the skillet, flatten and brown to a crispy golden brown on both sides.  Because these are fried in batches, hold the cooked pancakes on a sheet pan and wire rack in a 300^o.

Fabulous Homemade Applesauce

2 large apple, pealed, cored and cut into bite sized chunks

½ to 1 cup of apple cider

¼ cup apple butter (optional)

Ground cinnamon to taste

Place the apple chunks in a heavy sauce pan and add apple cider to cover. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer for twenty to thirty minutes until the apples soften. Mash the apples with a potato masher then add apple butter. Add ground cinnamon to taste finish the sauce.

This recipe will serve two when garnished with few sausage links, or four as a side to say breaded pork chops.

Potato pancakes have a lot going for them. They are delicious, economical, easy to make and versatile.

While traditionally topped with apple sauce or sour cream, I wouldn’t hesitate topping them with a robust goulash or chicken curry.

Now I shall return to a few brief thoughts on the enculturation power of the kitchen table.

The particulars of any ethnic heritage are not important. Broader cultural characteristics, such as table manners, the art of social conversation and communal behavior, are. A child raised in a household where potato pancakes are on menu can participate in cooking the say meal, by grating potatoes or mixing the ingredients, and take pride in his or her contribution to the meal. In the kitchen can learn the value and virtue of thrift. At the table the unwritten rules of manners and social grace are taught. It’s from the household and the kitchen table where the foundation is laid for the socially polished adult.

This isn’t trivial. This is where “the smell test” comes in.

One of my sons is a mid-management employee at a small business services company, in Milwaukee. He is involved in the process evaluating potential new hires. It’s his job to administer “the smell test.” He meets a job candidate for either breakfast or lunch and then gives the company president his general impression of the possible new hire.

His report on a gentleman under consideration for a senior position went something like this “manicured nails, a cheep suit…” The executive under consideration had lost his job in Chicago during the current recession.             

My son continued: “…wants a fat paycheck. Will bolt as soon as something comparable comes up in the Chicago area.”

The soft skills, social polish, confidence, and others are crucial to how well we navigate in life. These are the skills acquired in the household, the kitchen, and family meals around the kitchen table.