Eggs and toast are David and my usual weekend breakfast fare. Every Saturday and Sunday morning we choose between scrambled versus over-easy, toast a couple slices of bread, and put on a pot of coffee. The Recipe Redux challenge for this month is breakfast, so I’ve been experimenting with egg-based dishes on weekend mornings instead. I wanted to include both eggs and potatoes — two of my favorite foods that usually get a bad rap. Neither is actually a deal-breaker for people looking to eat healthy, and this recipe showcases both ingredients’ flavors without adding a ton of fat and salt. Instead of frying the potato pancakes, I baked them with a minimal amount of oil at a fairly high temperature to ensure they’d get a nice brown, crisp exterior. The pairing of runny egg yolk with a starchy base is a classic combination, and swapping these potato pancakes in place of toast or English muffins worked well.
The first time I made this I used Yukon Gold potatoes (two medium), but I found they didn’t brown as nicely or as evenly as the Russets. They tasted great, so feel free to swap them in instead. I also really like the idea of using sliced leeks in place of the green onions. Whatever you choose to incorporate into the potato pancakes, prep all the other ingredients before you start grating the potatoes. If the peeled, grated potatoes are left out while you slice onions, they’ll quickly turn brown, which makes the finished potato pancakes look a bit lackluster. Here are some tips on perfecting your technique that I recently received in my inbox from the Gourmet newsletter.
Sunny-side up eggs atop baked potato pancakes
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 Russet potato
1 Tablespoon olive oil + more to grease the pan
2 green onions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
4 eggs
Salt + pepper
Steps
1. Preheat the oven to 400-degrees. Grease a rimmed baking sheet with about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Peel the potato and cut it into quarters (or smaller, if needed). Using the grating blade of a food processor, shred the potato into thin, evenly sized ribbons. Transfer the grated potato to a medium sized bowl and combine with the green onions and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Working quickly, form six potato pancakes: shape 1/6 of the potato mixture into a ball. Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the potato over a separate bowl. Shape the potato into a flat pancake and transfer onto the baking sheet. Repeat five times with the remaining potato mixture. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping the potato pancakes after 15 minutes.
3. The eggs only take a few minutes to cook, so start the process just before the potato pancakes are done. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the eggs to the pan and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook 3-5 minutes, until egg whites are set and the yolk has reached desired consistency. To make over-easy or over-medium eggs, flip eggs halfway through cooking.
4. Arrange 3 of the potato pancakes on each plate. Top with 2 eggs. Season with salt and pepper, then serve immediately.
So simple but just a beautiful presentation. Love the idea of adding leeks to potato pancakes -thanks for the ideas!
Oh what a great combination!! And I love the idea of baked potato pancakes!!:)
yum, this looks great! If you ever find yourself taking more time than expected prepping and the potatoes are starting to turn brown you can prevent oxidation by soaking them in water. It takes a bit longer to squeeze all the water out afterwards but is a great emergency trick! Thanks for the recipe!
Serve the potato pancakes with runny egg yolk. That is the perfect dish for breakfast. With a glass of hot milk. YUM!!
How to Make Sweet Potato Fries
I heard lemmon juice will also stop potatoes from turing brown, but I just get myself to do it. The thought just of lemon juice just doesn’t appeal. I like the covering with water idea much better.