Stephencooks

Root Vegetable Pancakes

About 6 pancakes 4" diameter pancakes.

2 medium carrots or parsnips, peeled and shredded
1 medium onion, sliced thin, slices halved crosswise
2 tsp kalonji (black onion seeds - from Indian market) [see note]
1 tsp ground turmeric [see note]
1 tsp ground coriander [see note]
2 T Parmigiano Reggiano, shredded
3/4 C panko flakes
salt, hot sauce to taste
2 eggs

Mix all ingredients well. Correct seasoning. To cook, place a mound of the mix in an oiled skillet over medium heat and flatten it down with an oiled metal spatula to the desired thickness. Cook about 5 or so minutes on a side, until browned. (Note that since the vegetables are uncooked to start you need to avoid browning them too fast or the inside will be uncooked and crunchy, with distracting overtones of uncooked onion.)

Note: the flavorings added to the pancakes can be varied to fit your menu. For example: to accompany a pork roast accented with caraway seeds I replaced the Indian flavoring set with crushed caraway seeds; the pancakes pictured in this post were prepared to accompany pork braised in milk (subject of a future post) so for the carrot cakes I replaced the Indian flavors with sliced garlic and in the parsnip version I used a tablespoon of minced fresh rosemary in their place. Likewise, toppings can be selected to suit your purposes: sour cream never hurt a vegetable-based pancake, and various salsas (like the persimmon-apple salsa used the other day with the avocado mousse) would work, as would a ragout of sautéed apples and onions. The pancakes pictured in this post are topped with little knots of Mushroom Ragoout.