February 13, 2015
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Potato pancakes benedict, served with fresh greens.
Brunch hotspot and catering staple Day by Day's shtick is pretty simple: Fresh food on the daily -- day by day.
"The name came from, I used to change the menu every day because I wanted to make it fresh -- we were really ahead of our time, in that regard," Robin Barg, who's owned and managed Day by Day for 34 years, told PhillyVoice.com. "People didn't used to buy fresh foods to cook at home, so our concept was totally new [at the time] -- everyone got frozen food, so they didn't quite 'get it.'"
For years, the company specialized in lunch and take-out dinner, she said. Then she started brunch at Day by Day about nine years ago and launched with the potato pancake benedict -- a delicate balance of sweet, smoky and savory -- as one of her menu's signatures; it's a dish you'll now see topping tables every Saturday and Sunday at her 65-seater brick-and-mortar at 2101 Sansom St.
"The potato pancakes are among my favorites on the menu," she said. "They're crispy on the outside, moist inside, they're not greasy and all the textures make the dish special. It's like Hanukkah every day of the week."
She added: "Our food, it's not 'rustic,' but it is real. It's genuine, it's not pretentious, it's full of flavor and beauty -- it's real food that you want to be able to enjoy."
So, go ahead: enjoy. Below, find Barg's all-original recipe for the potato pancake benedict.
Yield 6-8 pancakes
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and grated
1 sm onion, grated
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp flour
½ cup beer
2 tsp salt
Pepper
Have potatoes and onion at room temperature. Then, grate the potatoes.
Sprinkle with salt, and drain reserve liquid foam. Toss liquid and potatoes together w grated onion.
Add remaining ingredients.
Heat oil to 350 degrees. Fry til golden brown; both sides
Hollandaise
Simple method
1 lb of melted butter
2 whole eggs
Mix slowly in processer
Then add 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp cayenne
2 tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
Poached eggs
Bring at least 2 inches of water to a boil in saucepan, add salt and vinegar ( tsp each) want the water simmering not hard boiling.
Crack eggs into a bowl and then slide into the water.
Eggs cook in about 3-4 minutes.
Remove from water and put on kitchen towel to drain.
Assemble
Heat potato pancakes in oven
Drape smoked salmon over each pancake
Poach egg drain and place on smoked salmon
Drizzle with hollandaise
Sprinkle with chopped fresh chives
