EASY POTATO PANCAKES FOR OUR SON-IN-LAW AND LOADED POTATO PANCAKES

Making potato pancakes just won’t work in my tiny kitchen, but our son-in-law loves them served with applesauce and sour cream. I was watching a TV segment about a downtown Grand Haven restaurant famous for their potato pancakes.  They, of course, were not giving out their recipe, but in the cooking segment it looked to me like they were using frozen hash browns instead of grating fresh potatoes. I thought that looked doable for me. To the people of Grand Haven who may wonder which restaruant, these potato pancakes are Delight---ful. This is what I came up with for our son-in-law. We tested them the morning after the Coast Guard Festival in “08 and they were a definite hit. I fry them in cooking spray to cut down on fat calories and I find them nice and crispy. Tom likes the taste of them fried in a tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Easy potato pancakes with sour cream and Grandma's Homemade Applesauce.  Enjoy!!!!!

EASY POTATO PANCAKES FOR OUR SON-IN-LAW
3 c frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
2 T flour
2 eggs, beaten
3 T butter, melted
½ t salt
3 T grated onion, optional
1 T vegetable for frying or cooking spray
Sour cream, for garnish
Applesauce, for garnish

Ingredients:  Country-style (shredded) hash brown potatoes, flour, eggs, onion, butter, salt and oil or cooking spray.

Put frozen hash browns in the refrigerator overnight. If they are not completely thawed in the morning, place hash browns in a colander; rinse with cold water until completely thawed. Drain thoroughly; roll up in a non-terry cloth dishtowel to remove any recess water. Put the hash browns into a large bowl. Add the flour, eggs, butter, salt and onion, if using. Mix well. Heat griddle or nonstick pan with thin film of vegetable oil over medium heat. We use an electric fry pan set at 350°, or spray pan with cooking spray. Drop batter by 2 tablespoons up to 1/3 cupfuls into the oil, depending on what size you want your pancakes. Flatten batter with spatula and fry until golden brown on both sides.

Rinse potatoes in cold water if still frozen.  Drain well.

Put potatoes into a non-terry cloth dish towel and roll up to get all the left over water out.

Potatoes in a dish towel.

Put potatoes in a mixing bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Mix well.

Use between 2 tablespoons to 1/3 cup of potato mixture to make pancakes.

Put pancake mixture on pan sprayed with cooking spray or lightly oiled.

Flatten potato mixture with a spatual.

When brown on one side, flip and brown the other side.

Lovely and crispy, read to eat.

LOADED POTATO PANCAKES
Loaded potato pancakes make a lovely side dish for fried or scrambled eggs. Canned drained mushrooms would be a nice addition to these pancakes too. Sautéing the ham and vegetables before adding to the potato pancake mixtures takes out some of the water and keeps the pancake mixture from being too moist and liquidy.

Loaded potato pancakes garnished with sour cream.  Enjoy!!!!

One recipe EASY POTATO PANCAKES FOR OUR SON-IN-LAW
4 oz. diced ham
¼ c green onions, diced or red onion, finely diced
¼ c green and green bell pepper, diced
4 oz. Cheddar cheese, shredded, OR your favorite cheese
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Sour cream, for garnish

Ingredients of your choice.

Sauté ham, green onions, bell peppers until tender. Add to potato mixture with the cheese and stir to mix. Season with black pepper. Heat griddle or nonstick pan with thin film of vegetable oil over medium heat. Drop approximately 2 tablespoons to 1/3 cup potato pancake mixture onto griddle and flatten with spatula. Fry until golden, flip over and brown other side. Drain on towel, if needed. Serve with sour cream.

Grate cheese.

Chop vegetables.

Crumble or chop meat.

Saute vegetables and meat before adding to Easy Potato Pancake mixture.  Add cheese and black pepper.  Mix well.

Fry pancake on one side until brown and crispy.

Turn and brown on the other side.

Serve garnish with sour cream or garnish of your choice.

OTHER IDEAS FOR LOADED POTATO PANCAKES
MEXICAN
Chorizo sausage, crumbled, cooked and well drained
Green chiles and/or Jalapeno peppers, chopped and drained if canned
Green onions, finely chopped
Monterey Jack cheese or Mexican-blend cheese, grated
Salsa, for garnish

ITALIAN
Sweet Italian sausage, crumbled, cooked and well drained
Red and green bell pepper, chopped and sautéed
Onion, chopped and sautéed
Italian hot pepper, optional
Fontina, Parmesan or Italian-blend cheese, grated

FARMER’S LOADED POTATO PANCAKES
Breakfast sausage, crumbled, cooked and well drained
Roma tomatoes, chopped and sautéed
Green peppers, chopped and sautéed
White or red onion, chopped and sautéed
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Garnish with sour cream and Ranch dressing

VEGETARIAN
Your favorite vegetables, chopped and sauteed
Garnish with Ranch dressing