Growing up in a Polish and Catholic household, I remember all the traditional foods my grandma and mom would cook. I can recall every year for Lent we'd forgo eating meat on Fridays and our Friday dinner menu usually consisted of salmon cakes (fish was allowed in our home) with Latkas (potato pancakes), some sort of fish and chips meal brought home by my dad from a local Roman Catholic Church's Fish Fry dinner with a healthy serving of cole slaw on the side or when my mom was working her second job, dad would order plain cheese pizza... UGH! No pepperoni?
This went on until Good Friday.
So for six weeks, we had no meat Fridays. No lunch meat sandwiches for lunch. No bacon for breakfast. No meat was allowed to be consumed on Friday. (This didn't even count the thing(s) we had to give up for Lent). Giving up meat once a week seemed to take its toll on my brothers; but I was OK with it.
- Side note- I AM even giving up having my Fat Tuesday tradition of eating a paczki.
In Poland, pączki are eaten especially on Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek), the last Thursday prior to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. The traditional reason for making pączki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because their consumption was forbidden by Christian fasting practices during the season of Lent.
In North America, particularly the large Polish communities of Chicago, Detroit, and other large cities across the Midwest and Northeast, Paczki Day is celebrated annually by immigrants and locals alike. The date of this observance merges with that of pre-Lenten traditions of other immigrants (e.g., Pancake Day, Mardi Gras) on Fat Tuesday. With its sizable Polish population, Chicago celebrates the festival on both Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday; pączki are also often eaten on Casimir Pulaski Day. In Buffalo, Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, South Bend, and Windsor, Pączki Day is celebrated on Fat Tuesday.
I'm not sure if it's the upcoming Ash Wednesday in two days, thoughts of memory lane or the fact that we have been a keto-friendly household for the last nine weeks... but I was craving some Latkas. But potatoes are on the no-no list of foods we eat now.
So what to do?
Substitute the potatoes for this newest creation... Mashed Cauliflower!
Mock Latkas' (Potato Pancakes') Recipe
- 2- packages of the frozen mashed cauliflower heated according to package directions
- 1/2-3/4 cup of flour- I used Almond Flour
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 fresh onion grated- I ran mine through my food processor
- Garlic powder to season
- 1/2 teaspoon parsley
Mix all together and form the dough- it should be a thicker consistency of regular pancake mix. Let thicken for about half hour before frying.
Heat oil in non-stick pan. I used grapeseed oil as it does well under intense heat and to properly prepare these potato pancakes, you need high heat. Once oil is heated, spoon some of the pancake mix into the pan (see image below on left).
Let the first side fry up for a good ten minutes. Keep checking the bottom of the pancake to make sure it is browning up correctly.If you try to flip the pancake too soon, it will fall apart.
Once you have flipped and fried the second side, remove from pan and place in a 250-degree oven for another 15-20 minutes until completely cooked through. If not, it will be doughy on the inside.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, ketchup or even cocktail sauce; which every condiment is your preference.
Honestly... if you did not see the package stating it was cauliflower, you would have NEVER known!
Mr Golden D loved them; as did I. We are definitely going to be having these again when the carb munchies hit us. I have a few more packages of these in the freezer and will not think a second longer when the craving for potatoes strikes.
