Sweet Potato Platskis

You may be asking: What in the world is a platski? If you are not polish you may not know, they are also called latkes or pancakes. Now your next question maybe: And why would I want this? Well let me tell you platskis are delicious! The traditional recipe calls for regular white potatoes that are shredded, eggs are used as a binder with some flour. Then they are formed into little patties and then pan fried. My version is a tad different because I do not eat eggs and I happen to love sweet potatoes a little more than white potatoes. I also spice up my platskis rather strangely, but hey most of the food it eat is rather strange for "normal" people =] Usually applesauce and sour cream are served along with platskis to dip them into. I am not a fan of sour cream or other creamy dairy foods like yogurt and I only like some cheeses (one of my weakness being a veg, I do eat cheese, the ones I like, and drink milk just in case you never knew that), so please add extra applesauce to my plate!

This is also what I ate for dinner today. Also a little side note on my What's For Dinner? postings, well I am a baker so I get up at 3 am and tend to eat something before I go into work (5 am), so then my "lunch" time is now around 9:30/10 am, making my "dinner time" when I get home from work, so say 3 pm. I do eat something also around 7:30/8pm before I go to bed and start the routine all over again. So if you were wondering my I post my dinner around 4 everyday, I have just helped you understand a bit!

And now for my platskis... feel free also to experiment with other root veggies as the platski, I have. I like sweet potatoes the best, but I have used butternut squash, and various types of sweet potatoes like purple, white, and Korean yams, all of which have been yummy. So far my absolute favorite has been a white sweet potato. To make the platskis bind with out eggs I have discovered a new way of making them by roasting the potatoes first, no shredding necessary. My platskis do not look like the traditional in this sort, but roasting them adds so much more flavor and I just love anything roasted!

What's For Dinner
Monday, December 13th

(I have purple potatoes in this pic)

(here is a peeled purple sweet potato)

Sweet Potato Platskis
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
pinch dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2-6 tablespoons flour (I use white whole wheat)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
cornmeal

1-2 tablespoons oil

Optional accompaniments:
apple sauce
cinnamon
roasted hazelnuts, skin removed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss cubed potatoes with oil and my favorite spice mix (the first section of ingredients).
Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of your cubes, until the potatoes are just slightly browning.
Let them cool just a little, place in a bowl and start to mash with a potato masher.

Add in the second group of spices except the caraway seeds and flour. Do this while the potatoes are still warm so they help awaken the spices, and mash them in.

Slowly add in the flour using a spoon or spoonula, until the potatoes pull away from the sides of the bowl (I like to use a glass bowl).

Then mix in the caraway seeds, feel free to leave them out if you do not like them.
Form in to patties and coat with the cornmeal.

Heat a pan with the oil. Brown each side of the platski.

I then mix the cinnamon and applesauce together and serve the platskis with roasted hazelnuts too. Yummy!!

The pictures accompanying the recipe were when I made a batch using butternut squash, purple potatoes, and white sweet potatoes.

This is one of my favorite dinners! I hope it intrigues you to maybe try platskis aka potato pancakes at some point in your life if you haven't already!!