Potato Pancakes W/Katenspeck and Cheese (German)

Few things are more-identified w/traditional German cuisine than potato pancakes. This recipe from *Modern German Food* by Roz Denny takes your garden-variety potato pancake & expands it to include the flavors of ham & cheese. Katenspeck is from the word *Katen* & means "barn" in German, i.e. this ham is made farmhouse-style (cured, smoked & cooked). Roz's intro read: "Potato pancakes are a traditional Rheinland confection. Once it was mother who wielded the pan. Nowadays spec dys in bars & cafes are the ideal opportunity to sample this dish & there are street stalls selling them. The most famous is outside the Cologne railway station, so visitors have no excuse not to sample this delicacy! The pancakes are sometimes served w/applesauce, but this version w/chopped crispy Katenspeck, grated onion & cheese is always popular." Made me hungry just to think about it & the pic pushed me well over that hunger edge. (Pls see notes after prep Re cheese & cooking time). *Enjoy* !

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  kg  firm potato (peeled)
• 1  small onion (grated)
• 2 1⁄2 tablespoons flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
•  fresh ground black pepper
• 1  tablespoon fresh parsley (chopped)
• 1  sprig fresh thyme (leaves from sprig, chopped)
• 115  g ham (finely chopped)
• 85  g  emmenthaler cheese (coarsely grated, may use Swiss cheese)
•  canola oil (for frying)

Directions

1. Coarsely grate potatoes & squeeze dry w/your hands or a colander, pressing down w/the back of a ladle.
2. Place in a bowl w/the grated onion & mix in the flour. Add salt, some freshly ground black pepper + herbs & set aside.
3. In a lrg non-stick fry pan, fry chopped ham till crisp. Remove ham from pan, but leave rendered fat in pan. Stir crisped ham + cheese into the potato mixture.
4. Heat 1 tbsp canola oil w/the rendered fat. When hot, drop in a rounded tbsp of potato mixture & flatten w/the back of a spoon to a round shape or as neatly as you can.
5. Fry for 2-3 min over med-heat till golden brown & flip to cook the other side. Repeat w/the mixture in batches. Top up the oil as needed & make sure it is hot b4 frying ea batch. Drain on paper towels, keep uncovered in a warm oven till all batches are cooked & then have a feast.
6. NOTE RE CHEESE: Suggested ideal subs for Emmenthal are: American Swiss cheese, Raclette, Gruyère, Jarlsberg & Alpine Lace from Wisconsin.
7. NOTE RE YIELD & TIMES: # of servings was shown, but not the yield. Since the pancakes are cooked in batches & w/o the yield, the cooking time was entirely guesstimated.