Lemon and Strawberries: Potato pancakes (Placki ziemniaczane) with mushroom sauce & garlic dip

Another dish that brings my childhood memories! Potato pancakes ("placki ziemniaczane" in Polish) are one of the most popular Polish food - crunchy, delicious and easy to make.

This time I've decided to make them with mushroom sauce and garlic dip, but they go well with other sauces too. And if you feel adventurous - I suggest trying them with sour cream and sprinkled with sugar. This is how I used to eat them when I was a kid and believe me - however crazy it might sound, it's actually amazing!

INGREDIENTS (10-12 pancakes):

3 big potatoes
1 onion
1-2 garlic clove
1 egg
3tbs flour
1/2tsp salt & pepper to taste
2-3tbs olive oil for frying

Peel the potatoes, grate them and set aside for 5-10 minutes to get rid of excessive starch and water. Cut onion in small pieces (you can grate it too, if you want).

Squeeze out liquid from your grated potatoes add salt and pepper and mix them with onion. Add crushed garlic, egg and flour and mix with a spoon until combined.

Heat up a pan with olive oil and when it's hot start frying potato pancakes - take 1-2 tablespoon of the mixture, place it on a pan and flatten it up to form a round pancake. Let it get golden-brown on one side and flip it using spatula. Usually it takes about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Take out your pancakes and put them on a plate covered with paper towel to get rid of some of the oil.

While your pancakes are resting, prepare the sauce:

MUSHROOM SAUCE:

300g mushroom
1 onion
handful parsley
100ml 18% cream
salt, pepper to taste
1tbs olive oil for frying

Preheat a pan with olive oil and when it's ready add finely chopped onion and mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Cut parsley in small pieces and add it to the mushrooms. Cover the pan and let it cook on low fire for another 5 minutes. In the end add cream - before pouring it in - mix it with few spoons of the liquid you got from cooking mushrooms.
Cook for few minutes until the sauce thickens a little bit. If it's still too thin to your taste - take some of it in a bowl, mix in 1-2tbs flour and add it to your sauce.

GARLIC DIP: