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Inspiration to try a new recipe springs from many a source. In this case, several.
				In late July MT penned a piece about a call from a 72-year-old gentlemen who felt &mdash; as most of us do this summer &mdash; a yearning for an ethnic food bazaar, church festival or county fair. MT delivered the sad news that most of them had been KO&rsquo;d by COVID-19, but promised to scour the region once more. To her surpirse, she found Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Dupont poised to hold its 73rd annual picnic that weekend &mdash; shorter and smaller, with food as take-out only, but happening. She interviewed the person in charge of potato pancakes.
				Ergo my pining for an iconic ethnic dish my mother used to make by the scores, serving them up to the clan of 11 (nine kids, two parents), with little to nothing else besides salt (and sometimes halved hard-boiled eggs for protien). Mom did this single dish thing every once in a while, making a side into a solo: mashed potatoes and buttermilk, shucked and boiled corn on the cob, home-baked bread with sugared fried dough for dessert (a Good Friday traditon), and those potato pancakes. Simplicity incarnate, she pretty much grated spuds, drained out excess moisture and fried them up.
				To people used to entrees and a few sides, these meals may seem sparse, but to me they were amazing treats, a chance to gorge on one thing you really liked, no mandate to sit there until you ate the peas or broccoli or creamed corn (that last is culinary malpractice, in my book).
				Alas, I suggested buying some potato pancakes too late for us to put in an order. Yet the seeds (or eyes) had been planted, a feeling reinforced a few days later when I got an email notification from Facebook about a posting by Beverly Jean Johnston, who had &ldquo;made Jaques Pepin&rsquo;s potato pancakes.&rdquo; The photo looked great.
				Mark Zuckerberg is no diety, but this sure felt like a sign from, um, social media. At the very least, it cranked up the craving. Initially I figured I&rsquo;d make mom&rsquo;s potato pancakes, but Pepin beckoned. I don&rsquo;t watch his show much and never tried a recipe until now, but his demeanor is inviting, his accent charming, and by the end of his show you feel like his recipes could be the food version of a warm hug.
				The recipe I found for Pepin&rsquo;s &ldquo;Criques&rdquo; did not create a finished product akin to Beverly&rsquo;s Facebook photo, but Pepin has published 30 some cookbooks and appeared on American TV for about as many years; it&rsquo;s hard to believe he only has one potato pancake recipe.
				This one eliminates the grating by using a food processor, and adds a sizable serving of onion and garlic, so if you&rsquo;re a purist who wants little between palate and potato, maybe don&rsquo;t try it.
				Or maybe do. I was a bit of purist, but these expanded my idea of what a potato pancake can be. As for MT, she praised the lightness, the lack of grease, and pretty much everything else. &ldquo;This is the best potato pancake I ever had!&rdquo;
				Jaques Pepin&rsquo;s Criques (Potato Pancakes)
				Ingredients
				&#8226; 2 cups peeled and cubed (about 1-inch) Russet potatoes
				&#8226; 1 cup (100g) cubed (about 1-inch) white or yellow onion
				&#8226; 2 cloves garlic, peeled
				&#8226; 2 large eggs
				&#8226; 2 tablespoons potato starch or all-purpose flour
				&#8226; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
				&#8226; 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
				&#8226; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
				&#8226; 1/4 cup minced scallions
				&#8226; Peanut or canola oil, to saut&#233; the pancakes
				&#8226; For the salad:
				&#8226; 4 cups salad greens, like arugula or a mix
				&#8226; 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
				&#8226; 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
				&#8226; Dash salt and freshly ground pepper
				Put the potatoes, onion, garlic, eggs, potato starch, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Process for about 30 seconds to combine the ingredients well. The texture will be grainy. Stir or briefly pulse in the scallions.
				Heat about 3 tablespoons oil in a large, nonstick skillet over high heat. When it is hot, add about 1/4 cup batter, spreading it out to form a pancake about 4 inches in diameter. Repeat this to have 4 pancakes cooking side by side in the pan. (If using a smaller pan, make multiple batches.) Cook the pancakes for about 3 minutes on each side over medium to high heat, fiddling with the heat as needed to make sure they don&rsquo;t burn before they cook through. They should be well browned and not squishy in the middle&mdash;you want to be sure the onions in the batter have a chance to cook through and lose their raw taste.
				Transfer the pancakes to a wire rack so they don&rsquo;t get mushy on the underside. Continue making pancakes until all the batter is used, adding more oil to the pan as needed. Serve. (The criques are best fresh from the pan but can be made 1 to 2 hours ahead and reheated on a baking sheet in a 425&#176; F oven for about 5 minutes before serving.)
				To make the salad, toss the greens in a bowl with the olive oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Divide among four plates and arrange the criques on top.

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Potato pancake of potato pancakes from the chef of chefs?