I almost never deep fry. One exception: potato latkes (pancakes) at Hanukkah. There are probably as many latke recipes as there are Jewish cookbooks, but I gathered today’s� recipes from the hints and suggestions of friends and came up with one or two that are really simple, just potatoes, onions or scallions, and optional eggs or carrots.
These are the organic, thin-skinned potatoes I used, leaving the skins on when I grated the potatoes.
Potato Latkes #1
Utensils: Fry pan, cutting board & knife, food processor or hand grater, bowl
Prep. Time: 10-15� minutes
Cook. Time: 5- 10 minutes
Category: Vegetarian, gluten-free
Note: If you are going to make a “lotta latkes” consider preheating the oven to keep the first batch warm
Ingredients
3-4 potatoes (I use small, organic� potatoes with light yellow skins and leave them on), scrubbed and cut into chunks
1 egg, beaten
1/2 small onion, cut coarsely
salt& pepper to taste
peanut or olive oil
organic applesauce &/or sour cream/yogurt
Directions
Hint: Preheat your fry pan with oil before grating the potatoes, enough to allow the latkes to “swim in shallow waters.”��The raw ‘taters turn brown quickly, so you want to be ready to fry them as soon as they are grated and mixed. If you are using a non-stick pan, don’t preheat.
1.Place 1/2 the potato chunks and half the onion in the food processor on grate and whir until shredded. Place in a bowl while grating the other half.
2. Whip up the egg and add to the potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
3. Take a large spoonful of the potato/egg mixture ad place in the �pan heated with oil. (Actually, the amount of oil is not as much as real deep frying.)�Flatten with the back of the spoon and fry until crisp on one side; flip over and fry the other side. The amount of crispness is up to you. (My husband likes almost burnt!) Since there is no flour, they may spread, so space them far enough apart to be able to flip them.
5. Remove the cooked latkes and place on a paper towel to drain. Serve as soon as possible, or place in oven while you fry the rest of the potatoes.
6. Serve warm with applesauce and/or sour cream. Makes about 5 – 6 medium-sized latkes.
Potato Latkes #2
Utensils: Fry pan, cutting board & knife, food processor or hand grater, bowl, spatula
Prep. Time: 10-15Â minutes
Cook. Time: 5- 10 minutes, depending on desired doneness
Category: Vegan, Gluten-free
Note: If you are going to make a “lotta latkes,” consider preheating the oven to keep the first batch warm.
Ingredients
3-4 organic potatoes (See above)
one carrot, sliced into chunks
2-3 scallions (white part), minced
salt& pepper to taste
peanut or olive
non-dairy sour cream and/or organic applesauce
Directions
Hint: Preheat your fry pan and add oil before grating the potatoes. They turn brown quickly, so you want to be ready to fry them as soon as they are grated and mixed. If you are using a non-stick, don’t preheat.
1. Place 1/2 potato chunks, carrot chunks, and scallions in food processor and shred. Place in a bowl. Put the other half of the veggies in the food processor and shred; add to bowl.
2. Drop soup spoonfuls of the mixture into the pre-heated, oiled fry pan, allowing them room to spread when you press them down with the back of your spoon.(Because these have no eggs and no flour, they tend to fall apart if made too large, so keep them smaller than the recipe above.) Fry on one side; flip; fry on the other to desired doneness.
3. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with applesauce or non-dairy sour cream. Makes 6-7 small latkes.
Note: For “traditional” latkes, made with flour, eggs, and onions, feel free to Google potato latkes.
P.S. Thanks to my daughter Basha for these lovely ginkgo dishes with tiny ones for the applesauce and sour cream They were her Hanukkah present to me last year.