A perfectly poached egg over a crispy Potato Latkes with a sliver of smoked salmon, is how to make the Best Brunch for all occasions!
Poached Egg And Potato Latkes For The Best Brunch
Holiday brunch never felt more like a holiday than with this amazing, and oh so easy recipe.
Latkes, Rosti, Hash browns are all really just a big ole potato pancake. Pancake, you ask?
No, not as in, egg and all purpose flour pancakes; these are simply potato cakes sautéed to a crispy finish. These fantastic additions to brunch are nothing short of ‘down-home’ delicious!
Potato Latkes Brunch
Three ingredients go into this delicious potato recipe; grated potato, salt, and a pat of butter added to the cooking oil just before flipping them over.
Sure you can add other ingredients, like grated onion, the way I did the Potato Crusted Quiche I made on The Great American Recipe with PBS Season 1, but you really won’t need to.
Just a few finely chopped green onions or chives are all the onion flavor needed, besides, onions add more liquid to the potatoes, and we need hand dried potatoes, not more liquid!
How To Make Potato Latkes
Latkes aren’t really pancakes, because they have only grated potatoes in them and no flour, which makes them crisp and delicious.
They aren’t deep fried, like French fries, not swimming in butter and oil the way many a potato side dish is.
Latkes are grated potatoes with the moisture squeezed out so that when they hit the heat of a large skillet.
These scrumptious potato latkes cook quickly, with minimal oil, making them ideal to serve a poached egg on top for the best brunch option.
Potato Crust For Your Best Brunch Quiche
While a potato latkes is kind of like a potato pancake or even hash browns, it seemed the perfect approach for replacing the dough in a quiche, instead of a flour and butter crust.
Same concept; grated potatoes, onions and spices pressed together and baked along with a favorite quiche filling.
Potato Crusted Quiche is not only a better crust than a flour crust but it’s like having a giant French fry wrapped around a yummy quiche.
Who Loves Eggs For Brunch?
While there are so many delicious ways to prepare eggs for that holiday or weekend brunch, I prefer to let the egg be the star and not mix it with lots of ingredients.
A perfectly poached egg sitting on top of anything, just allows the egg to get the attention first, which is what makes a potato latke the perfect bottom for the perfect egg.
A little salt and pepper and that’s about it, no need for calorie ladened sauces.
Fancy Eggs For Your Best Brunch
Unless you are willing to get a little fancy and make a luscious Cloud Egg, which is really much like a poached egg only the whites and yolks are cooked separately.
The yolk is still drippy, but the whites have been whipped to clouds and briefly cooked first in the oven before popping the yolk in the center to finish cooking in the oven.
Either way, poached or clouds, are a showstopper egg sitting on top of a crisp latke, and nothing short of fabulous!
Eggs For A Brunch Gathering
Who doesn’t love the Perfectly Poached egg! It sits high and proud on the plate and when a fork goes into the center, luscious, creamy, fatty yellow yolk streams out over whatever it’s being served on top of. Yum!
When I was a kid, I used to ask my mom for a ‘drippy egg’ when she was making eggs.
Where I got that from, I’m not sure but to this day, that is how I like my eggs; well unless they are hard boiled and going into a salad.
However, making eggs for a brunch gathering often requires us to be at the stove right up until brunch is served.
Not the case when making poached eggs, as least not when you have a professional tip from a restaurant chef.
How To Cook The Perfect Poached Egg
I used to be intimidated to poach an egg. I even bought an expensive egg poacher, which made the poached egg look like it had been cooked in a factory.
Then, I went into a professional kitchen (my son is a chef), and watched how lots and lots of poached eggs were cooked at the same time when serving a large crowd for brunch.
In a pot of boiling water with a small drizzle of white vinegar, the egg gets cracked open and gently poured into the boiling water. Not crazy rapid boil, but a nice movement.
With a slotted spoon you quickly gather the whites and move them towards the yolk so they cook nicely into a mound and not sprawled out all over the water.
Lift them out after about three minutes and set them on a plate, or parchment paper.
Protein With Poached Eggs and Latkes For The Best Brunch Meal
Sure you can serve these delicious brunch showstoppers with a little bacon or sausage, but why not bring the smoke flavor to the dish with smoked salmon!
Smoked salmon is the perfect flavor pairing with the crisp potato and rich gooey poached egg. One less thing to cook too!
Ingredients Needed
- Russet Potatoes
- Salt
- Black pepper and Cayenne pepper
- Butter
- Eggs
- Smoked salmon
- Chives
- White Vinegar
Equipment Needed
- Box grater or Food Processor with an easy grating attachment.
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
- Saute pan
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Medium stock pot
- Slotted spatula
- Sieve
- Stovetop or burner
More ‘Best Brunch’ Recipes To Love
Since brunch is often thought of as a special meal for those relaxed days when there is time to enjoy an exceptional meal that is later than breakfast and somewhere around lunch.
Often when we think of brunch, we think of eggs, and for this reason, I have created some darn delicious recipes for eggs, potato latkes are the recipe I served ever Christmas and New Years Brunch!
- Easy Tomato and Peppers Egg Shakshuka – with smoked paprika, garden peppers and tomatoes is a recipe for all seasons!
- Savory Quail Eggs And Bacon Tart Hors d’Oeuvres – with 2-ingredients in mini tart shells, are easy, impressive and delicious Hors d’Oeuvres.
- Cilbir – Poached Turkish Eggs Over Garlic Yogurt – with Aleppo pepper flakes and your best olive oil. Doesn’t get more Mediterranean!
Potato Latkes Recipe – How To Make The Best Brunch
Equipment
- Box Grater or Food Processor
- Large skillet
- kitchen towel
Ingredients
- Potato Latke Recipe
- 2 Large potatoes russet potatoes work best
- 1/2 tsp Salt or to taste
- pinch White or cayenne pepper
- 3 tbsp Vegetable oil with high smoke point sunflower or rice oil is good
- 3 tbsp Butter
- Best Brunch Toppings
- 4 Eggs room temperature
- 1 tbsp White vinegar
- 4 oz Smoked Salmon or prosciutto
- 1 tbsp Chives or green onion finely chopped
Instructions
- Best Way To Make Classic Potato Latkes
- Perfect latkes are easy to make but first we need to grate potatoes. A food processor fitted with a shredding disc makes the job fast and easy, however a hand grater works well too, simply use the large holes of a box grater over a large mixing bowl.
- The next step is to remove as much liquid from the potato shreds as possible. Squeezing the shredded potatoes and placing on a clean kitchen towel is an easy way to do this, by rolling up the towel and allow the excess moisture to be absorbed by the towel.
- In a clean dry bowl, place the prepared potatoes, add salt and pepper and toss.
- Drizzle a small amount of oil in a hot pan, preferably a large cast iron pan or a non-stick skillet, over medium-high heat, and before the hot oil begins to smoke, place 4 dollops of the potato mixture (even portions) into the pan.
- When the underside turns golden brown, and before turning to the second side, place a small pat of butter on the tip of a fork and go around the edges of the pan to drizzle melted butter into the pan, quickly turn over the crispy latkes to finish the other side, until golden brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack with a paper towel-lined plate underneath and allow any excess oil to drip off.
- To keep the potato Latke warm until ready to serve, place on a parchment paper lined, rimmed baking sheet in a single layer, so they remain crisp, and place on oven racks in a very low, 175 degrees oven, just to keep warm.
- Brunch Toppings
- In a medium size pot, filled halfway with water, add vinegar and bring to a boil with the lid on.
- Before cooking the eggs, it helps to crack open the eggs into 4 individual little cups. Have a paper towel or parchment paper ready on a plate. When the water boils, drop one egg in at a time into the water and with a slotted spoon, swirl the water for a second and set a timer for 3 minutes. If the pot is large enough and you feel confident enough, do two eggs at a time. Remove the egg with the slotted spoon and set on paper towel. Do the same with the other eggs.
- Assembly
- Prepare the plate by placing 2 latkes per plate. Arrange a slice of salmon on top of the potato latke, set 1 poached egg per latke on top, and sprinkle with chopped chives and serve.
Notes
- A little sour cream or crème fraîche can be added in a small dollop on top to add a creamy aspect to the salmon and potatoes, though the egg is really perfect without it.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.