5 Ingredients or Fewer

Potato Pancakes with Ham, Gruyere and Fennel

by:
November 20, 2010
4
3 Ratings
Potato Pancakes with Ham, Gruyere and Fennel
  • Makes 4
Author Notes

Fennel, gruyere, ham and potatoes were meant for each other like pizza dough, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. There are a couple of ways to go about potato pancakes. One of the main debates for me is raw grated or bake the potato, cool and saute. For this recipe I decided to go the baked potato route because it insures the interior is cooked and you can do them on the stove top insuring a thick crispy crust. The next question is soft interior to crispy exterior ratio. To thin and you get no creamy and to thick and there isn't enough crunch. Finally the kind of fat is really important too. Oils don't seem to give you the golden brown and sometimes cook unevenly. Butter browns to fast but will give a good flavor and crust if added toward the end as if you were using it to finish. Finally chicken fat, lard, goose fat and duck fat are all great in my book. They flavor the potatoes nicely and brown the pancakes very evenly and make them golden. A couple of years ago I made some ring molds by cutting the tops and bottoms off of water chestnut cans. First off they only cost 99 cents and second they are a good size, 3 inches round and 2 inches thick. This is the size ring mold you will need for these pancakes. —thirschfeld

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 6 to 8 russet potatoes, I used smallish ones. Baked in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes, then cooled overnight in the fridge
  • 1 cup ham, julienned
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seed, coarsely ground
  • 1 1/4 cups gruyere cheese, coarsely grated
  • 1/4 cup schmaltz/chicken fat, plus extra for the greasing the molds
Directions
  1. Peel and grate the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater.
  2. In a non stick saute pan large enough to hold the molds comfortably, remember you will need to flip the cakes so you want some room, spread out the schmaltz. Schmaltz the inside of the ring molds and place the four molds into the pan.
  3. Sprinkle a quarter inch layer of potatoes into the bottom of each mold making sure to get a good even layer. DO NOT SPANK your potatoes down. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Spread ham into the molds and then cheese and a sprinkle of fennel.
  4. Add another layer of potatoes, season them and then add ham, cheese and fennel and then top with another layer of potatoes. DO NOT SPANK your potatoes it is fine if they are mounded up to a half inch above the rim of the mold.
  5. The reason you do not want to spank or pat down your potatoes is they loose the lightness in the interior. They will naturally shrink and become flatter you don't need to do anything.
  6. Place the pan over medium high heat. Once the potatoes start to sizzle reduce the heat to medium. It will take a lot longer than you think for the potatoes to become GBD (golden brown and delicious) so be patient. After about 7 minutes you want to check one by sliding a spatula, that is as wide as the ring mold, underneath and peek.
  7. If they are good and brown use the wide spatula flip them. You will see the potato cake drop in volume but do not spank them. If the crunch top doesn't fall and is stuck to the mold take a paring knife and run it carefully around the edges and then gently push at the edges to get it to drop.
  8. Once the other side is brown remove each cake from the pan and place them on a plate. Run a paring knife around the edges and lift the mold. Serve with mustard, ketchup and a pickle.
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18 Reviews

Sinamen78
Sinamen78 October 10, 2018
Can these be made ahead and reheated ?
 
Sinamen78
Sinamen78 October 10, 2018
Can these be made ahead and reheated ?
 
jstew52
jstew52 April 10, 2016
peek, not peak
 
Kathyw
Kathyw December 9, 2012
I made these once and my husband and I loved them! I mixed up all the ingredients instead of layering and then placed into the molds. I would love to have these for Christmas but just wont have the time to make them that day. How far ahead can they be made! A day or two? And then I would just reheat them in the oven.
 
NWB
NWB November 23, 2010
Do you think grated raw fennel would work in this recipe?
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld November 23, 2010
I think if you grated them they would be just fine, maybe even add a nice crunch. Let me know.
 
gingerroot
gingerroot November 22, 2010
This looks and sounds amazing. Love your use of ring molds to get a gorgeous, brimming with flavor (love your combination here), pancake. Happy Thanksgiving!
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld November 22, 2010
Thanks gingerroot. Hope you have a great thanksgiving too
 
cheese1227
cheese1227 November 22, 2010
I can't wait to have lunch!
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld November 22, 2010
Hope your lunch was tasty
 
AlizaEss
AlizaEss November 22, 2010
Gorgeous! Love your tips for getting a great crispy to fluffy ratio. Knowing how to explain that is where the real cooking skill comes in. I just saved all the drippings from a roasted chicken and now I know exactly what to do with all that schmaltz...
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld November 22, 2010
Thanks AlizaEss and it seems like a great thing to do withe the chicken fat
 
betteirene
betteirene November 22, 2010
My, my, my. Pretty picture, and I will be making these this weekend for breakfast with leftover ham. But KETCHUP?! Really? (I should know not to tease anyone about their food preferences. There is a person in my life who drinks Tabasco with his meals. Ugh. Ketchup is better.) Thank you for putting this recipe out.
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld November 22, 2010
Tease away, notice there is mustard on the spoon, there is someone in my house who prefers ketchup so. That said I don't get upset by peoples food preferences it is their food to enjoy. If I owned the French Laundry and some one asked for ketchup they would get ketchup. I might ask myself why they were there but ketchup they would get.
 
MyCommunalTable
MyCommunalTable November 21, 2010
This looks good, but the only problem I see is that you are using too small of a ring to form your pancakes. I would use a stewed tomato can so I do not feel guilty..." I only had one." LOL. Bravo!
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld November 22, 2010
Thanks MCT,lol
 
Kayb
Kayb November 21, 2010
Ohhhhh, my. These sound wonderful. Good idea on the ring molds; I use a small tomato sauce can as a biscuit cutter (and a small tomato paste can as a tiny biscuit cutter), but water chestnut cans for ring molds never occurred to me!
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld November 22, 2010
Thanks Kayb