Dinner & a Movie Countdown to Valentine's Day: Bewitching Potato-Carrot Pancakes & #7 Pride & Prejudice

I know I've been totally MIA forEVER, but I'm not gonna miss this opportunity to share some of the delicious recipes we've been enjoying and gush about some of my favorite romantic movies...just in time for the holiday of lovers!  See last year's countdown HERE.

Folks, this is a cooking/foodie blog, so let's get right to the heart of this post...the food!

The first time I tasted potato-carrot pancakes was in San Francisco at the Home Plate, where I fell in love with their breakfast menu.  I've tried to re-create some of the other dishes we tasted there, to some disappointment I must admit, but these little latkes were a delight!  Plus, they gave me an excuse to use my new-ish food processor that Grandma Shirl gave me for my birthday!  Not gonna lie, the power of food processors is a little frightening, but it was an adventure nonetheless. If you love breakfast for dinner as much as I do, and you're sick of resorting to pancakes/waffles/french toast every single time, then this is just the ticket, my friends.  I hope you are bewitched by these potato-carrot pancakes as Mr. Darcy is for E. Bennet!  Horrible transition, but just scroll down, will ya?

Potato-Carrot Pancakes

From Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast

Ingredients

3/4 lbs (about 3 medium) white potatoes, peeled

8 oz. (about 3 medium) carrots, peeled

1/2 c. thinly sliced scallions

coarse salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 c. matzo meal

1/4 c. vegetable oil, for frying

1/4 c. reduced fat sour cream, for serving

1/4 c. apple sauce (sweetened or not), for serving

Directions

1. In a food processor fitted with a fine-hole grating attachment (or on the small holes of a box grater), grate the potatoes and carrots.  Transfer to a large bowl; add the scallions and 1 1/2 tsp. salt.  Using your hands, mix thoroughly.  Mix in the egg and the matzo meal until combined.  Divide into 8 mounds of equal size.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over med-high heat, swirling to coat bottom of pan.  Add half the potato mounds; flatten each to a 1/2-inch thickness.  Cook until golden brown, 2-4 minutes per side.

3. Transfer to paper towels or parchment paper to drain.  Rpeat with the remaining mounds (reduce the temperature to medium if browning too quickly).  Sprinkle with salt, and serve with sour cream and apple sauce, if desired.

#7 - Pride & Prejudice (the newer one)

I just finished reading this book (yes, the book) for the first time ever today, and may I tell you that Mr. Darcy is just as horrible and wonderful on pages as he is on the silver screen?  He has bewitched ME body and soul, and I am now a die-hard Jane Austen fan.  For real.  Not just because I love the movies that are based on her books.  To tell you the truth, I actually hope that Sense and Sensibility is a much better book than movie because I don't like that movie at all. 

If you can get your man to watch this with you, then you have more lady powers than I do because Dick is so not a fan of this flick.  May have something to do with Kiera Nightly's underbite, but that can't be the only reason. 

Because I do love Jane Austen, I must also add this honorable mention:  Becoming Jane.  I do love Anne Hathaway, but this movie is just so romantic, and sweet, and tragic.  I love it.  And I love James McAvoy.  Enjoy, my lovely friends!