Tag Archives: Diners Drive Ins and Dives

hungarian-pancakes

Hungarian Pancakes

Recipes, Television, , , , , , , , , ,

Inspired by Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, episode aired February 24, 2014, between 11-12PM EDT.

I have made pancakes with potatoes and onions before but, watching this episode made me experiment with paprika, garlic, old bay. Plus I generally like to put a little bit of curry and or turmeric in too, it helps stabilize the potatoes as they tend to oxidize quickly once chopped. I have noticed red potatoes are better in this regard; they take a long time to discolor.

4 medium size potatoes
1 small onion
2 clove garlic
2 heaping tbsp white flour
1 egg, I used a large one
1 tsp turmeric or curry, more if you like
1 tsp baking powder
Oil or fat for the fan frying. I used coconut oil and bacon fat.

The following to taste
Salt
Paprika
Old Bay

1. Cut up the potatoes and onions, add in garlic cloves and run through a food processor on chop mode.
2. Dump into a bowl and add salt, mix.
3. In a second bowl add flour and other dry ingredients, mix thoroughly.
4. Start preheating pan, put the oil and fat in it. This is not deep frying, so coat the pan but coat generously.
5. Add egg to potato, onion and garlic bowl and mix thoroughly.
6. Add the premixed dry ingredients in slowly while mixing in. Slowly prevents lumps of flour from forming.
7. When the pan is hot enough, like when a drop of water will sizzle in it; drop in a serving spoon sized amount of the mixture and flatten it out a bit with a spatula.
8. After a few seconds, when it has set, shimmy the pan around so the oil can get under it and all around the edges.
9. When it is golden brown on the bottom flip it over and get the other side golden brown. This requires a guess, based on size the time may vary. The first few might get flipped over a few times until you get the timing down.
10. When done, place on a plate with paper towels to absorb excess oil. I like to keep them in the over on warm until I am done with the whole batch.

These pancakes are good as a side to many dishes and are a different way to use potatoes. The DDD episode shows them topped with goulash which looked great. The first time I made them I used them as “buns” for a nice grass-fed beef hamburger (Wegmans has great grass-fed beef). It was a great tasting and filling too.

potato-pancakes
Hungarian Pancakes

Kielbasa with Sauerkraut and Green Apples

Recipes, Television, , ,

This is a good Eastern European dish, I saw a variant of it on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. It was easy enough to remember and when I tried it, I was impressed.

Kielbasa with Sauerkraut
Kielbasa with Sauerkraut

Ingredients

  • One  length Kielbasa, approximately 16 inches long. I used fresh Kielbasa.
  • One green apple
  • Sauerkraut, approximately the same volume as the amount of Kielbasa

 

Kielbasa,Apple,Sauerkraut
Kielbasa,Apple,Sauerkraut

Process

I bought a approximately 16 inch long fresh Kielbasa, cooked it at 275 F in the oven for an hour, flipping over once.

Cooked Kielbasa
Cooked Kielbasa

Then in a big pan or a pot that has a cover, place about the same volume of sauerkraut as the size of the Kielbasa, I used some homemade kraut that was fairly fresh ( fermented 7 days ) and had some tooth feel to it still, al dente. Cut up one green apple into eight pieces, you can leave the skins on.

Cut Kielbasa into 1/2 inch slices and add to pan/pot and gently warm on the lowest setting, occasionally stirring for about 30 minutes or until thoroughly warmed.

Combines well with egg noodles or over rye bread.