Potato Pancakes Stuffed With Meat - the recipe I recreated from childhood memories of my grandmother
My grandmother used to make these potato pancakes for me when I was a little girl. She never taught me how to make them, nor did she pass her recipe on to me. However, I’ve seen her cook this recipe enough times that I was able to recreate it from memory. It took me a couple of tries to refine the recipe and end up with potato pancakes just like my babooshka’s!
This recipe is pretty involved but very inexpensive to make. The meat actually goes two ways, first you make broth with it, then it becomes part of your dinner! My kids absolutely love it! So I feel that it’s worth the effort.
Health Benefits Of Potatoes
I recommend buying really big Russet potatoes, they seem to have more starch than other varieties, which helps the pancakes stick together better when cooking. Potatoes are not the most micronutrient rich food, but contain generous amounts of potassium. A medium potato has twice as much potassium as a banana. They have good amounts of Manganese and vitamin C, both needed for healthy connective tissue. Potatoes with colored skins are also high in antioxidants.
Potato Pancakes Stuffed With Meat
Ingredients:
1-2 lb meat from broth
1 big onion, thinly sliced against the grain
2 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 lb Russet potatoes
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- The meat can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use. Make the broth according the instructions. If you don’t want to make the broth just boil beef ribs and/or beef chunks in salted water for 1-2 hours.
- Peel and boil potatoes in salted water until soft about 20 minutes. Drain and mash right away, add the eggs and combine together. Set aside to cool a little bit but not completely. The potatoes need to be warm in order to assemble the pancakes.
- Peel the meat and all soft bits and pieces of the bones and place in food processor.
- Sauté the onion in olive oil for 5-10 minutes until translucent. Add to the food processor and blend together with the meat. Adjust the seasoning.
- Take some potato puree and flatten it on your palm. Add about 2 tablespoons of meat and onion mixture and place it in the middle of the potato pancake on your palm.
- Take some more potato puree and use it to cover the top of your pancake. Set aside. Continue with the rest of potato puree and meat until all is gone. You might end up with one or the other mixture leftover.
- In a skillet or frying pan over medium to high heat warm up the oil and place the pancakes in without crowding them. Let them brown slightly on one side for about 3 minutes and flip to the other side for another 3 minutes.
- Serve with Creamy Mushrooms, Creamy Dairy-Free Sauce or sour cream.