Ukrainian - Potato Pancakes - (Deruny)(Terchenyky) many variations

[Olga Drozd]

UKRAINIAN POTATO PANCAKES:

Tender pancakes just like Baba made.

3 large potatoes, grated on the small holes of the grater
1 or 2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon grated onion
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Pare, wash, and grate the potatoes on a fine grater. Pour off some of the potato water. Add all the ingredients and mix them thoroughly.

Drop the mixture from a spoon in small rounds about the size of small pancakes onto a hot, well-greased frying pan or griddle.

Bake over a moderate heat about 5 minutes on each side, or until they are well browned and tender. Serve very hot with sour cream.

Variations on Country Kartoplyanyky:

Add one or both of the following to the batter :

• 1/2 cup of cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes.



POTATO PANCAKES (DERUNY)

These pancakes made of coarsely grated potatoes are also known as terchenyky.  In the old days, grating a large amount of potatoes by hand was daunting and many a finger was scraped.  Today the food processor makes the whole preparation very simple.

6 large potatoes
1 large onion
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Peel potatoes and cover with cold water.  Cut potatoes and onion into cubes and grate in a food processor. Remove some of the potatoes and process the rest with the metal cutting disc.  Add eggs, flour, salt, and pepper.  Pulse a few times. (Potatoes should not be pureed; shards of potatoes should be left.)

Heat enough oil or lard to cover the bottom of a heavy skillet.  When oil is hot, drop in spoonfuls of batter without crowding and flatten lightly.  Brown, then cook other side.  Keep warm in oven.

Serve with sour cream in a bowl, on the side.  Pancakes are best served fresh; however, they may be reheated.



DERUNY OR TERCHENYKY:

1 1/2 lb. potatoes, peeled
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated onion
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons peanut oil

Grate the potatoes and squeeze as much water out of them as possible, by hand, or by squeezing them in a piece of cheesecloth. You should have about 2 cups grated potatoes.  Place in a bowl with the eggs.

Sift the flour with the salt and add it to the potato mixture.  Stir in the onion and mix well.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet.  Form spoonfuls of the potato mixture into 3 inch wide pancakes.

Fry 4 pancakes at a time for 5 minutes on each side or until cooked and golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and keep hot while cooking the remaining deruny in the same way. Serve immediately.  Makes 12.

[Olga Drozd]

Ukrainian Potato Pancakes (Deruny or Terchenyky)

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper
6 medium potatoes
2 eggs
1 minced garlic clove
1 Tbsp. grated onion
1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup crumbled bacon
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and pepper together in a mixing bowl

Pare and grate the potatoes, pat and squeeze dry completely.  Stir into the dry mixture, beat in the eggs.  Add the garlic and onion.

Heat the butter in a skillet and fry small pancakes to golden brown on each side. Serve with bacon and sour cream.  Serves 4.

[Olga Drozd]

Potato Pancakes - Deruny

You can coarsely shred these potatoes which gives them lacier edges, or potatoes diced with a steel blade in the food processor result in a denser, smoother texture.

6 baking potatoes, peeled
1 onion
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying

Grate the potatoes and onion by hand or with a food processor.  Squeeze out the excess moisture.

In a large bowl, combine the potato/onion mixture, eggs, salt, pepper and flour.  Let rest for 5 minutes.

In a large frying pan, heat 1/4 inch oil over medium heat until it is hot but not smoking.

Place about 1/4 cup potato mixture in the hot oil and flatten with a spatula.  The potatoes will be irregularly shaped.

Fry until well browned and crisp around the edges, about 3 minutes per side.

Serve with sour cream.  Makes about 30.


Potato Parsnip and Green Onion Pancakes (Deruny or Terchenyky)

1 pound russet potatoes, peeled
1 pound medium parsnips, peeled and cored (take inner core out because it is hard)
3/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (white and green parts)
2 large eggs, beaten
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil for the griddle

Using a food processor fitted with the medium grating disk, grate the potatoes and parsnips separately.  Put the potatoes in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.  In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, parsnips, green onions, eggs, flour, 2 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper and mix well.

Generously oil a griddle and heat over medium heat.  Working in batches, spoon about 1/3 cup of the mixture onto the pan at a time to form pancakes.  flatten the pancakes with a spatula (they should be about 1/2 inch thick) and cook until the bottom is well browned and crisped, about 5 minutes.  Flip and cook until the other side is well browned, about 5 minutes more.  Sprinkle with salt.  Serve immediately or keep warm in a low oven until ready to serve.  Makes 8 to 10 pancakes.

[Olga Drozd]

POTATO PANCAKES (Deruny)(Terchenyky)

Another way to make delicious Deruny/Terchenyky. First you grate the potatoes and then parboil them for a few minutes.  This way they don't have that raw potato taste and they come out thin, crisp, and light.  The potatoes can be grated and parboiled as much as 3 or 4 days ahead.  The fully assembled batter also keeps surprisingly well.  You can fry a small amount one day, store the batter, then fry some more a few days later.  Keep the batter in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

2 large potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 medium sized onion
2 eggs
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (optional)
Cayenne, to taste (optional)
Vegetable oil for frying

Sour cream (optional)
Fried onions (optional)

Scrub the potatoes (peeling is optional) and grate them (The food processor's grating attachment does this in seconds).

Heat a medium sized saucepan of water to boiling. Lower the heat to a simmer, and drop in the grated potatoes. Parboil for 3  to 5 minutes, than drain in a colander over a sink and rinse with cold water. Drain thoroughly and transfer to a bowl.

Grate the onion.  (You can do this with a few quick pulses of a food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment.) Don't over process onions or they will taste bitter.

Combine the potatoes, onions, eggs, flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Place a heavy skillet or griddle over Medium High heat.  Add about 1/2 inch of oil, and wait until the oil is VERY hot (hot enough to sizzle a drop of water on contact). Spoon in the batter to form pancakes, and press them down to make them thin.  Keep the heat Medium-High and fry on both sides until uniformly crisp and brown.

NOTE: It will probably take more than one shift to get all the pancakes fried.  Add fresh oil if needed for each batch, making sure it gets very hot each time before you add the batter.  Keep the cooked ones warm in a 200º F. oven on a bed of paper towels.  Don't stack the pancakes or they'll get soggy. Yield: 16 to 20 (4-inch deruny)

Serve hot, with sour cream and fried onions, if desired.

CARAMELIZED ONION:

1 medium sized yellow onion
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Peel the onion, and cut it in half, then in very thin slices.

In a heavy skillet cook the onion slices in oil over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the onions are very, very well done, remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil if you wish.  This recipe is very easily multiplied if you want more onions.

[Olga Drozd]

Ukrainian Potato Pancakes (Deruny or Terchenyky)

These thin potato pancakes are made of coarsely grated potatoes and are also known as terchenyky or deruny (meaning to grate).  In the old days, grating a large amount of potatoes by hand was daunting and many a finger was scraped.  Today the food processor makes the whole preparation very simple. To make crisp and tasty potato pancakes, you must first, soak the grated potatoes in cold water with the lemon juice in the refrigerator overnight; then press all the water out of the soaked potatoes and then add a touch of baking powder to the batter before frying. NOTE:  I left my grated potatoes in the refrigerator for a day and a half before I put them together and fried them. 6 medium potatoes (2 pounds total) (Yukon Gold used) Juice of 1 lemon 2 Tablespoons coarsely grated onion (squeeze out the liquid) 2 eggs 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon  pepper 1/2 cup vegetable oil (approx) or half oil and half butter 1 cup sour cream (optional) Preheat oven to 200º F.

Grate potatoes on a medium grater or with the grating blade of a food processor.  Place in a bowl, cover with cold water and juice of 1 lemon and let stand overnight in the refrigerator.

Drain potatoes in a colander, pressing and squeezing the potatoes dry with your hands.  In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onion, eggs, flour, salt, baking powder and pepper.  Mix until well blended.

In a large skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons of the oil until hot.  (I used a non-stick electric frying pan -- temperature at 350º F.) Take a tablespoon or two of the pancake mixture and place in pan, patting it thin and flat with a fork or spatula. Do not overcrowd them.  Fry over medium-high heat until the potato pancakes are very crisp and the edges are brown.  Turn and brown other side pressing down on the deruny--this should take about 6 to 8  minutes total.  Regulate the heat so that the pancakes sizzle without burning.  Place fried deruny in an oven proof paper towel lined pan and place in the oven to keep warm as you continue frying the rest of the batter, or keep them warm on a wire rack set in a shallow baking pan in oven. Add more oil to keep pan greased as you continue frying the deruny. Season with salt and pepper if you wish and serve with sour cream.

Although deruny are at their best right from the pan, they can be reheated in a single layer on a baking sheet at 400º F. for 5 minutes.  Makes enough for 6 servings or 2 Ukrainians!

Deruny, tertyuhi, kremzliki, kiyzliki, tarchaniki! All these funny names are given to the same dish - potato pancakes! Traditionally, the deruny don’t have the filling, but sometimes in the midst of these delicious things can be found cheese, roasted mushrooms or meat. In the territory of Ukraine, this dish has appeared relatively recently, with the spread of the potato, just 150 years ago. Having gained popularity in the north of country, where the soil is more favorable for the potatoes, the recipes of deruny spread throughout  Ukraine. Now they can be found on the table of almost every Ukrainian lady.