filed in Foodstuff, Holiday Cheer
A Night for the Perfect Food
Cooking latkes (the Yiddish word for pancake) wreaks havoc on my kitchen, turning the floor and stovetop into an oily mess. But once a year, it’s worth it, to bite into the crispy potato cake infused with grated onion and salt (and to be the one with a stash of leftovers in the freezer.)
I’ll be serving them to a few friends this evening in honor of the first night of Chanukah. And though I can’t yet vouch for this recipe from Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking (after the jump) I’m going to give it a try. I appreciate that he allows for some leeway to reheat the latkes in a 425 degree oven, hours (or even days) after they’ve been fried, rather than insisting we serve them immediately from the pan. I am not of the generation of women (like my Latvian-born grandmother) who were happy to toil over a hot, messy stove, while their guests sat down to eat. I want to join in the fun.
Potato Latkes from Jewish Home Cooking, by Arthur Schwartz
makes about 24, serving 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 1 pound russet (baking) potatoes 2 eggs
- 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 8 pieces
- 1/4 to 1 1/3 cup matzo meal
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
- Peanut, corn, or canola oil, for frying
Procedure
- Make the batter: Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks to prepare them for the food processor. Reserve in a bowl of cold water until ready to process, but don’t leave them there longer than 2 hours.
- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs together to mix well. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse the onions, scraping them. down a few times, until very finely chopped, almost a puree. Scrape the onions into the bowl with the eggs and stir them in.
- Drain the potatoes, then set a strainer over a bowl. In the same processor bowl, process the potatoes until very finely chopped but still with some texture. Immediately scrape into strainer. With a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon, press out the moisture so it drains into the catch bowl. Immediately stir the potatoes into egg mixture. Discard liquid and potato starch collected in bowl. Add the matzo meal, salt, and pepper. If not using a tarnished silver spoon (see above), add a pinch of cream of tartar. Stir well; let stand while oil is heating.
- Cook the pancakes: Heat about 1/8 inch oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Spoon out the batter, using a scant 1/4 cup for each pancake. The batter should sizzle as soon as it hits the fat, but not wildly. If the edges of the batter separate, the oil is too hot. If there are just slight bubbles when the batter touches the oil, the oil is not yet hot enough. The first round of latkes is inevitably less good than later batches.
Fry the latkes for about 4 minutes on the first side, slightly less on the second. They should be well browned before turning them. Drain on absorbent paper or on a rack.
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We have a similar recipe here in Germany. The name differs from family to family. My grandmother calls them “Kartoffelpuffer” but they also known as “Reibekuchen”. She sometimes adds chives or something like that to the batter which gave it a slighty green color. She serves it with applesauce.
I like them but it takes forever to get the stench out of my tiny kitchen.