Thursday, April 30, 2009

Potato Pancake with Ramps

I love potatoes - baked, fried, mashed, pretty much any way. Since ramps are still in season for a while longer, I have been trying to come up with some different recipes to use them in. Basically you can replace onions or garlic with ramps to get a similar flavor profile. I decided to make a potato pancake to go along with my blueberry pancakes. I combined shredded Yukon gold potatoes with sauted ramps and shredded Parmesan to create my pancake. You can use a cheese grater, a food processor, or a mandoline (like I did ) to shred the potatoes into a nice hash. The prep work takes some time if you don't have a food processor, but once everything is combined most of the work is done.

Here are the ingredients for a large potato pancake:
-4 Yukon Gold potatoes (or whatever you want)
-1 bunch ramps, chopped into small dice
-1 cup Parmesan cheese (or more if you like)
-Olive oil
-Salt and pepper to taste

To begin, wash your ramps and chop into a small dice. Remove the outer skin like you would an onion and discard the roots. Heat oil over medium heat in large saute pan (you can use the same pan for the actual pancake. Add ramps and season with salt and pepper. Saute until tender and leaves are wilted. Set aside for a later.
Peel potatoes and shred into fine hash. Place shredded potatoes in a large bowl lined with clean dish towel (not terry cloth). Wrap potatoes in towel and twist and squeeze to remove excess water. It important to get as much water removed as possible to insure a crisp crust.
Finely shred parmesan cheese. Combine cheese, ramps and potatoes. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Heat a couple tablespoons of oil to large saute pan over medium high. Place potato mixture in saute pan and flatten into an even layer. Let cook for about 15 minutes - do not stir during the 15 minutes so you can create a crisp crust. At 15 minutes check to see if you have a golden brown crust and that it is loose from the pan. Place a plate on top and flip pan to release pancake.
Then slide the uncooked side down into pan. Cook for about 12 more minutes until golden brown. Slide out of pan, slice and serve. If you aren't done cooking the rest of your meal, you can always pop the pancake in the oven at the lowest temperature on a baking sheet until everything is ready.You can make this pancake without the ramps and just add herbs.

1 comment:

  1. Yummy, that looked really good. I had never heard of ramps, once again, you taught me something new!!!!

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