Campfire Cast-Iron Polish Potato Pancakes with Farmers-Market Tomatoes and Chives

Build your campfire early and let it burn down to a steady bed of orange coals, then set a large cast-iron skillet on a grate roughly 4 inches above them to preheat while you prepare the batter.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground marjoram
• 6 tablespoons sunflower oil, for frying
• 3 ripe farmers-market tomatoes, thickly sliced
• 3/4 cup soured cream or full-fat sour cream
• 1 small bunch fresh chives, finely chopped
• Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Instructions

1. Build your campfire early and let it burn down to a steady bed of orange coals, then set a large cast-iron skillet on a grate roughly 4 inches above them to preheat while you prepare the batter.
2. Grate the potatoes and onion on the coarse holes of a box grater into a clean kitchen towel, then gather the towel and wring hard over a bowl to squeeze out as much liquid as possible; let the liquid settle for a minute, pour off the water and keep the pale starch at the bottom.
3. Tip the squeezed potato and onion into a large bowl with the reserved starch, the beaten eggs, flour, salt, pepper and marjoram, and stir until the mixture holds together in a thick, spoonable batter.
4. Pour about 3 tablespoons of oil into the hot skillet; when it shimmers and a shred of potato sizzles on contact, drop in heaped spoonfuls of batter and press each into a thin round about 4 inches across, leaving room between them.
5. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes per side, sliding the skillet toward a cooler edge of the coal bed if the pancakes are browning faster than they cook through, until deeply golden and crisp at the edges.
6. Lift the pancakes onto a rack or a plate lined with paper, sprinkle with flaky salt while hot, and repeat with the remaining batter and oil, adding fresh coals under the grate if the heat starts to fade.
7. Season the tomato slices with a pinch of salt and let them sit for 5 minutes so they release a little juice and taste sweeter.
8. Pile the hot pancakes onto plates, layer the tomato slices over the top, add a generous spoonful of soured cream and finish with a heavy shower of chopped chives.
9. Serve immediately, straight from the fire, with extra soured cream on the side for dipping.
10. Placki ziemniaczane are the workhorse of the Polish home kitchen: cheap, filling and endlessly adaptable, cooked on a stovetop through the winter and over open fires at summer allotments and lakeside camps. Late summer is when they are at their best, because the plain, starchy pancake exists to carry whatever the garden is overrun with. In August that means tomatoes at their absolute peak, still warm from the sun, whose acidity cuts through the fried potato exactly the way the soured cream does. Cook them over coals and the smoke adds a layer no kitchen burner can.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 486 kcal
• Protein: 10g
• Fat: 27g
• Carbohydrates: 53g
• Fiber: 5g
• Sugar: 6g
• Sodium: 890mg