My grandmother is not a particularly proud woman, but when it comes to latkes she will be the first one to tell you that hers are
the best. She recently emailed me her recipe with tips and other musings, and I was delighted to see that (a) for the most part it's a fairly fail-proof process (b) most what I needed - like potatoes, eggs, olive oil, carrots, onions, flour and apples - I could snag at the farmers market. So here it is, enjoy!
Potato Latke Recipe
- Baking potatoes either grated by hand or done in a food processor
- Enough eggs to make it quite moist
- Salt & pepper
- A bit of baking power and optionally, a bit of flour or oat bran
Heat oil in skillet: use mix of canola and olive
Fry away until crisp underneath, then flip to other side.
My grandmother is adamant that the most important, yet tricky, thing is not letting the latkes get soggy post frying. Her trick: put them in the oven (at 300 F, less if they'll have to sit for a long time) on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet under it that way the hot air can circulate under and over the latkes.
For a twist on the original, my grandmother (she does have a name, it's Susan) suggests adding grated carrots and zucchini to the potatoes (equal portions of each). She also does one verson that's completely potato-less, using instead celeriac and some grated onions (she admits she may even like better than the traditional ones).
As far as condiments go, she likes to replace sour cream with greek yogurt. But the most important thing (second to the crisp factor, of course) is that you must have cold applesauce to go with your warm latkes. She makes her own using an old fashioned food mill, and, of course, apples.
Wishing you a very merry holiday season,
Rachel Fletcher
Market Manager