Bacon & Potato Pancakes with Sorrel Cream

Mmm...a childhood treat these were indeed. I loved when my mom made these! But there was never a set recipe, it was always by texture of the "batter." And she knew when it was just right.  And I asked my husband to show me how he makes them, (as I drove him crazy, with the precision of it). Taking his grated potatoes and measuring them out by the cupful. Measuring, by memory the size of the  potatoes he chose, leveling off his spoonfuls of flour, lol, feverishly writing as he gave me the crash course the other day. And he said the same thing, you just kinda know, when it's right. I wanted to be sure, before I experimented a little myself. I knew I wanted to add bacon, for sure, lol and polenta. And I was set on the cream ever since I nibbled on the lemony freshness of the sorrel leaves. I knew they had to be combined with sour cream to accompany a crisp potato pancake. This makes a little over two dozen potato pancakes. Enjoy!

  

• 5 medium size potatoes, peeled and grated about 3 cups
• 1/2 cup instant polenta
• 4 slices thick bacon, cut into small pieces *optional
• 1 large onion, grated
• 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• sea salt
• ground pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 8 sorrel leaves, chopped, save some for garnish
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream

For the polenta, just bring one cup of water to a boil and pour in the polenta and stir and let it cool. Cook your bacon until it's semi-crisp, it will cook through once you fry your pancake. Reserve the bacon drippings, so you can fry the pancakes. I know, lol you can always use canola oil. I ended up using grape seed oil, once the bacon drippings got low and it came out great. For the pancakes, combine the potatoes, polenta, bacon bits and the onion. Using a fork, break up the polenta if its' hardened. Once all is combined, add the eggs, flour, a nice amount of sea salt and ground pepper. Get your drippings or oil nice and hot on medium to high heat. Place a tablespoonful of batter down into the hot oil and flatten them a little with the back of your spoon. You can always make them a little bigger or smaller. Cook each pancake for two minutes per each side. You will see it brown around the edges, it's a built in timer, telling you that you should flip the pancake. Make one as a "tester" to check for seasonings, add more if needed. Drain your pancakes on paper bags if you have any on hand or paper towels. Combine the sour cream, sorrel and heavy cream to make the sorrel cream. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with some chopped leaves. If you don't have sorrel available, use any herb you like, dill is great as is parsley. Serve the potato pancakes nice and hot!