Potato Latkes

The best thing about having married a Jewish woman isn't the gifilte fish.

My wife possesses many wonderful qualities but cooking isn't one of them. Bad cooks aren't born that way so I do my best to indulge her food cravings, the latest of which was potato latkes. I'd never made them before, so the recipe below is an amalgam of a few different recipes I researched online. 

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs basic baking potatoes
• 1 Carrot, peeled and grated
• 3 Scallions, chopped
• 2 eggs, beated
• 2 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 Tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for frying)

Rinse the whole potatoes under cold water to remove any surface dirt. Peel the potatoes then grate them coarsely, placing the grated potato in a large bowl of cold water. Once all the potato is grated and submerged in the water, strain it all in a colander. With the grated potatoes in the colander run cold water over them again, making sure to rinse all the potato once again.

Working in batches, place the grated potato onto layers of paper towels. Roll the potatoes in the toweling and squeeze. The idea here is to remove as much excess water as possible.

Place the rinsed and dried potatoes into a (dry) mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients (except the olive oil) and mix well - using your hands, it's the only way.

Coat a large skillet with about 1/8 inch of olive oil, then warm it over medium high heat. Test the oil with a single shred of potato and when it starts to sizzle, the oil is hot enough. Using a spoon or your hands, scoop up a mound of the potato mixture and place into the hot pan. Push down on the mound so it flattens into a circle-ish shape - about 1/4 inch thick. Cook latkes till golden brown on both sides (about 5-6 minutes per side).

Serve with Sour Cream and Applesauce.

Comments

My mom just made some latkes recently, but I have to wait until I come home for winter break from school to try them, unfortunately. These are making me want some now and with all the fixin's. The carrot sounds like a nice addition and a lovely bit of color!

I cant get enough of potatoes and latkes is one of them.I like your photo of these beauties!I found your site from the foodieblogroll and like what you have here.

Thanks, Alisa!