Tasty Tuesday: Latkes

The holidays are a time to forget the diet, and go for what’s traditional and super tasty.  Being a (non-practicing) Jew, there are few traditions I take part in.  In fact, they include the following:

• Eating Latkes (potato pancakes) at some point during Hanukkah
• Celebrating Passover with a Seder (but not keeping kosher for Passover the rest of the time)
• Eating Hamantaschen during Purim

This year, I decided, after years of watching my mom make Latkes around Hanukkah time, that I would try my hand at them, and make Graham be my guinea pig.  I followed from memory, what I’ve watched my mom do for years.

2 boxes of potato pancake mix.  Yes, mix.  You can use Manichewitz, Streit’s, whatever.  Just Jewish mix.  Mixed to box specifications (usually adding eggs and water.)

2 large potatoes (of any kind) grated, with the excess liquid squeezed out (just wrap the potato shreds in a paper towel and SQUEEZE!)

A healthy sprinkle of salt, pepper, and dried onion flakes, to taste.

Mix it all together!  If the mixture looks a little “wet,” add some flour to bind everything together.

I used an electric skillet to make my latkes, and while convenient, the process was slow.  A cast iron skillet over a gas burner will get a lot hotter and the latkes will cook a lot faster.  This 2 box plus potatoes mixture took about an hour to fry up, tablespoon sized pancakes, five in the pan at a time.

A few suggestions:

• Vegetable oil to fry in, of course.  Make sure the oil is HOT before starting.  I test this by dropping a miscellaneous potato shred into the oil.  If it sizzles up right away, you’re good to go.
• You should have PLENTY of oil in the pan.  Enough so that it will reach ½ way up your latkes once they are in.
• Use a regular tablespoon, not a measuring tablespoon to distribute your batter.   I use the 2 spoon method to flatten them out a bit.
• Only flip them once.  When they’re golden brown on one side, flip and cook until golden brown on the other.  
• Drain Latkes on newspaper.  Much less wasteful than paper towels.
• Preheat your oven to 200*.  Keep your cooked latkes on a baking sheet in the warm oven so that everyone can eat together and your Latkes won’t be cold.
• Serve with apple sauce and sour cream.

Enjoy!  L’Chaim!