Gamja Jeon – Korean Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 egg
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1 hot red Korean pepper OR 1/4 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 hot green Korean pepper OR 1/4 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced
4 pyogo (shiitake) mushrooms, finely diced
2 scallions, white and pale green parts only, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
pinch of salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Crack the egg into a large bowl and beat lightly. Add the cornstarch and mix until thick and smooth.
2. Add the red and green peppers, mushrooms, scallions, and garlic and mix well.
3. Using a box grater or food processor, grate the peeled potatoes. Add the grated potatoes to the peppers and mushrooms. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fold together all of the ingredients only until evenly distributed.
   
4. In a cast iron or nonstick skillet, heat about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat just until a wisp of smoke appears.
5. Use a spoon to drop mounds of batter on the skillet, about four at a time. Gently flatten each mound into rounds about 3 to 4 inches wide. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden brown. Repeat with the remaining batter and oil.
6. Serve the potato pancakes as a side dish or appetizer with a bowl ofcho ganjang (vinegar soy sauce dip, recipe follows) .

초간장 – Cho Ganjang
Vinegar Soy Sauce Dip

makes 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cheongju (Korean rice wine) OR vermouth
2 tablespoons rice vinegar OR apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
a pinch of salt

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped pine nuts OR toasted sesame seeds
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Mix together the soy sauce, wine, vinegar, sesame oil, lemon juice, and salt.
2. Add the pine nuts or sesame seeds and ground black pepper just before serving. Store leftover sauce in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week.

Zucchini Pancakes with Basil Chive Cream

I love potato pancakes (latkes) and these were a delicious variation…. a great way to use all that beautiful summer zucchini! They don’t get quite as crispy as potatoes do, but I thought the flavor was delicious. Topped with the basil chive cream, yum! We substituted plain yogurt for the sour cream, and it was still a cool and delicious topping.

We think it’d be fun to do a “mixed veg” pancake, a little zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potato… it’d be pretty that’s for sure!

Zucchini Pancakes with Basil Chive Cream

Makes approx. 15-20. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
For basil chive cream
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

For pancakes
4 cups coarsely grated zucchini (1 lb)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large egg whites
4 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

DIRECTIONS
Make basil chive cream:
Blend sour cream, water, basil, chives, and salt in a blender until smooth and pale green. Chill until ready to serve.

Make pancakes:
Put zucchini in a colander and toss with salt. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes, then wrap zucchini in a kitchen towel and twist towel to wring out as much liquid as possible. Transfer zucchini to a large bowl and stir in flour, sugar, and pepper.

Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using an electric mixer until they just hold stiff peaks, then gently fold into zucchini mixture.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 5, spoon 2 tablespoons batter per pancake into skillet, flattening slightly with back of spoon. Cook pancakes, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes total, transferring as cooked to paper towels to drain and adding more oil to skillet as necessary.

Serve immediately, with basil chive cream.

Potato Leek Pancakes with Red Onion-Apple Compote

Another recipe discovered while ogling the images over at tastespotting…

If only potato pancakes didn’t take so long to cook, I’d make them every week. Every day even! But seeing as the act of cooking dozens of hockey-puck size pats of potatoes takes upwards of an hour and a half, we’ll save these for the rare occasions when we make the conscious decision to stand in the kitchen for that long.

That said, these were well worth the extra effort. They are a ‘twist’ on the typical latke – with leek instead of onion, and a sweet and sour compote that becomes beautifully pink.

Potato Leek Pancakes with Red Onion-Apple Compote

Makes about 15 pancakes. Recipe from Marcias Kitchen.

INGREDIENTS
Compote:
1 large Granny Smith apple
1 small red onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
splash of brandy

Pancakes:
3 large Idaho (russet) potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and shredded
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced very thin
1 egg
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2- 3/4 fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS
To make compote:
Slice the onions as thin as you can, Core, but don’t peel the apple. Chop it into a small dice- about 1/4 inch.

Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan. When it starts to bubble add the onions. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes until limp. Add the apples, liquids, and sugar. Continue to cook for a couple minutes until the apples start to caramelize a bit. Will keep for several days in the fridge.

To make pancakes:
Put the shredded potatoes into an (old) dish towel. Wrap and squeeze all the water out of the potatoes. Combine in a large bowl with everything but the oil and butter. Mix very well.

Heat a griddle or sauté pan over med high heat and add enough oil and butter to coat the pan.

Working in batches, place small portions, about 2 tablespoons of the potato mix onto the hot griddle. Flatten the pancake with the back of a spatula. Repeat. Add more butter/oil as needed. Cook until bottom is golden, then flip.

To serve, add a little finishing salt and a grinding of pepper- then place a small dollop of the red onion-apple compote on each pancake.

Saucy Tofu and Scallion Pancakes

Remind me to get a post-it pad for Taylor’s brain.

This is another example of a recipe that just kind of came out, loosely based on our Better-Than-Takeout Sesame Tofu, which I had originally planned to make, but Taylor decided he didn’t really like (or rather, remember) and wanted to try try something different. Right, ok dear, it’s all you.

“Sauteé some garlic and green onion (whatever was leftover from the pancakes) in some canola oil. Then add soy sauce (no idea how much, probably 1/4 cup at least), maybe 1/4 cup water, ummmm, ok not that much, just some water, some brown sugar, maybe 3 tablespoons (honestly I don’t know), a little bit of rice wine vinegar, a couple teaspoons maybe, um… at the end I thickened it with a little bit of a cornstarch/water mixture… and then added some Chili Sambal (rooster) sauce.

“What else went in there? I used all the original ingredients from the original recipe, except brown instead of white sugar. Soy, sugar, water… what else did I add in there? Wait. Let me go look in the pantry. Oh, sesame oil, a glog or two. (sound of bottles clinking). That’s about it I think. Probably why it wasn’t very good.”

Actually it was pretty good, at least I thought so. Sorry that the above two paragraphs is the best ‘recipe’ you’re going to get. Thanks Taylor! :)

I didn’t see a thing he did, as I was making a mess on the other side of the kitchen. Flour and oil everywhere, but pretty darn tasty and worth the cleanup. And for as few ingredients as go into them, they come out tasting delicious.

A great step-by-step recipe with photos for these delicious pancakes can be found over at Use Real Butter.

Tell me one thing though – what is missing from this meal? Oh yes. Something green on the plate. Whoops. Easy to forget that part sometimes. I should have taken the photo ON a green plate, then it wouldn’t be as obvious.

German Apple Pancakes

German pancakes just might be one of my favorite things for breakfast. Especially in the winter. They are rich and satisfying, and fun to watch. If you’ve never made them before, don’t turn away from the oven. Right before your eyes, you’ll see the batter begin to rise and form beautiful golden peaks and valleys of puffed goodness. Almost like magic. Don’t forget to lower your oven rack, though, as the peaks can often rise to extraordinary heights, and you don’t want them to run into the top of your oven!

These pancakes are great as is, but this past weekend, we decided to make use of the beautiful bounty of fall apples available now. Think of it like a light and fluffy apple pie, that you eat for breakfast. I’m sure you could eat this for dessert as well, it actually might be more appropriate, but it is always a breakfast in my mind. It is, after all, a pancake. :)

German Pancakes with Apples

Makes 4-6 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
6 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter

Optional Apple Topping
1-2 apples, of your favorite variety, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
Combine milk, flour, eggs, and salt in medium bowl and mix until just combined.

Move oven rack down to bottom 1/3 of oven, lower if you have a small oven. Place butter in a 13×9 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray, put in oven, and preheat to 450ËšF. When butter is hot and sizzling, remove from oven and carefully pour batter into pan.

Return pan to oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and fluffy.

Slice and serve hot with maple syrup and powdered sugar.

To make Apple variation:
Combine thinly sliced apples in bowl and toss with sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar and remaining cinnamon and set aside. Before pouring batter into hot butter, spread a thin layer of apple slices in bottom of pan (should use about 3/4 of the apples). Pour in batter, and arrange remaining apples sparingly on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Put back in oven and bake as usual.