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Happy August! To kick off this month's blog posts, I decided to do something a little different with potatoes without falling into the cliché of fries, chips, or baked potatoes. I found some panko crumbs in my pantry and put the two together in order to make this nice snack/appetizer. Pairing it with a cucumber raita gave the dish a fresh complement. I used Yukon Gold potatoes because they contain medium water and medium starch, meaning they are moist and keep shape (as opposed to Russets that are high in starch but low in water -- making them crumble more easily). 
Chef Tony Perez - Panko Crisp Potato Pancakes
Mis en Place:
  • 4 Yukon gold potatoes (about 2 lbs.)
  • 2 Cage free brown eggs for mashed potatoes
  • 1 Cage free brown egg for the eggwash
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper (small dice)
  • 1/4 cup Red Onions (small dice)
  • 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley (chopped)
  • Panko bread crumbs
  • Salt + Pepper to taste
Preparation

Potato Mash
Chef Tony Perez - Panko Crisp Potato Pancakes The preparation of this dish begins exactly the way mashed potatoes are made. Boil all 4 potatoes (2 lbs) in water until you can easily poke a fork through them. In a separate bowl, add butter, sour cream and eggs and mash in your potatoes. Once your potatoes are at an even consistency, fold in the bell peppers, onions, and parsley. Refrigerate this mixture for at least 45 minutes to an hour to allow the starches to settle, making it easier to handle and hold its shape.

Making the Potato Pancake
Find a mold that you would like your cake to be that is around 1/2" deep and 3" in diameter that you can easily use as a pancake template. (In my case, I used a cap from one of my rub seasonings that worked pretty well =]) Cover it with saran wrap, and pack the whole depth of the mold full with your potato mixture. Pull the saran wrap up off the mold to pop the pancake out and place it on a baking sheet. Repeat this process until your whole mashed potato mixture is gone.

Next, brush your potato cake with egg wash and fully coat the whole cake with Panko crumbs. The cake can begin to fall apart here, so make sure you don't get them soaked with egg wash.
Chef Tony Perez - Panko Crisp Potato Pancakes


Make the Yukon Gold potatoes, gold!
Chef Tony Perez - Panko Crisp Potato Pancakes Once you have all the cakes covered in panko crumbs, they are ready to fry. Pre-heat your frying pan with oil depending on the size of your cakes, (the temperature should be between 380 degrees and 400 degrees. The bigger/thicker your cakes are, the lower the heat should be.) Fry until the cakes are golden brown and serve hot/warm with a side of cucumber raita, or other preferred dip. This recipe yields about 15 to 20 cakes, in approximately 2 hours.
Chef Tony Perez - Panko Crisp Potato Pancakes
Chef Tony Perez - Panko Crisp Potato Pancakes
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