PDA

View Full Version : Latkes


kgreene10
12-22-2008, 09:09 PM
Last year around this time, djg posted a recipe for the best latkes I have ever had. I'm a little late in reposting, but here it is:

A recipe was requested, so here's one:
For the past few years, I've been favoring yukon gold taters.
3 pounds of taters, shredded
2 medium or so yellow onions, trimmed and shredded (err by going a bit larger, rather than smaller)
about a pound and a half of zuchini, shredded
couple of large eggs, beaten (not stirred)
matzo meal (a couple of handfuls--adjust given the amount of moisture and how things are holding together, but it shouldn't be more than half a cup and you could start with a third and see how it is)
a handful of kosher salt
freshly grated black pepper

You can delete the zuchini if you want, but it really does help make a nice light, faintly sweet latke

Peel the spuds, and then stick them in a pot of cold water, removing each when you are ready to grate/shred it.

After shredding the spuds, rinse them well in a colander (if you work slowly, rinse again). Press whatever water you can from all the veggies, then mix them well--then see if you can press out just a bit more juice. Then mix the veggies with the beaten egg, and mix in matzo meal a bit at a time as a binder (how much sort of depends on how damp it is, the eggs, etc., but it shouldn't be too much in the end.

Although I've often used peanut oil in the past, with good results, this year I tried canola oil and it worked well (olive oil has too low a flash point). Get the oil hot. Scoop up a ball of the mixture, press (as if making a meatball), then press roughly into a patty (as if making a burger). Drop onto the hot, well oiled pan, flatten just a tad with a spatula, and let it sizzle. When the edges are browing, flip it. I keep a little ramekin of kosher salt by the fire, and toss just a bit on top of the latkes.

Serve with apple sauce and sour creme (creme fraiche with chopped chives is nice too).

As the cousins on my dad's mom's side of the mishpocha say, bonne chance (really, it's easy as pie).

For more traditional latkes, delete the zucchini, go back to the box grater and grate the taters and the onion pretty fine -- sort of like the texture of a thick and slightly chunky applesauce.

For something completely different, shredded sweet potatoes, a little onion, egg and matzo meal to bind, and salt and pepper.

The thread containing my first recipe, and those posted by others, was started by me and had "oy" in the subject heading.

CNY rider
12-23-2008, 06:35 AM
Well done.
We had a serious latke-fest on Saturday evening using this recipe.
Thanks again to djg.

oldguy00
12-23-2008, 06:38 AM
Do you need to keep adding oil to the pan as it gets used up by the first 8 - 10 latkes? Or am I cooking at too high a heat if I'm losing oil that quickly??
:beer:

93legendti
12-23-2008, 07:22 AM
My wife made me gluten free levivot with sweet potatoes - unreal!

CNY rider
12-23-2008, 07:28 AM
Do you need to keep adding oil to the pan as it gets used up by the first 8 - 10 latkes? Or am I cooking at too high a heat if I'm losing oil that quickly??
:beer:

A little dollop between each bunch of latkes.
Peanut or canola seem best.

Ozz
12-23-2008, 08:13 AM
My wife made me gluten free levivot with sweet potatoes - unreal!
+1 on adding sweet potatoes to the mix!

znfdl
12-23-2008, 09:27 AM
DJG was serving up his fabulous latkes and brisket on Sunday evening. A good night ws had by all.

paczki
12-23-2008, 09:45 AM
This is a bit off topic about a half a year off-topic, but any horses in the cart on whether matzoh brei shold be made an egg to a matzoh or two eggs to a matzoh? In my opinion the two eggers are probably clincher riders -- I will say no more. :banana:

znfdl
12-23-2008, 10:11 AM
I am a one egger and a clincher rider.

Your hypothesis is false. ;)

93legendti
12-23-2008, 10:14 AM
This is a bit off topic about a half a year off-topic, but any horses in the cart on whether matzoh brei shold be made an egg to a matzoh or two eggs to a matzoh? In my opinion the two eggers are probably clincher riders -- I will say no more. :banana:
Depends which shtetl the recipe comes from...

OperaLover
12-23-2008, 10:27 AM
Thank you for the recipe. Where it says shred the potatoes, does that mean to use a food processor?

The Jewish friends I grew up with used box graters, and by the end of the night we all had a bloody knuckle or two.

The big debate as I recall, was how much nutmeg to put in the koogle and how it was properly pronounced!

Fond memories of Hannukahs past (in Honolulu of all places).

paczki
12-23-2008, 10:41 AM
I am a one egger and a clincher rider.

Your hypothesis is false. ;)

Dang. I ride clinchers occasionally and have been know to go two eggs when my matzoh runs out. Maybe it's a Shimano/Campy correlation. I'll have to experiment further.

kgreene10
12-23-2008, 11:50 AM
Thank you for the recipe. Where it says shred the potatoes, does that mean to use a food processor?

The Jewish friends I grew up with used box graters, and by the end of the night we all had a bloody knuckle or two.

The big debate as I recall, was how much nutmeg to put in the koogle and how it was properly pronounced!
I would say -- and this is just me -- that bloody knuckle is the way to go unless you are on the Upper East Side, in which case it's someone else's bloody knuckle. Also, I'm going with kugle with a mild "u", but then again, I grew up on the West Coast and live in the South now, so I could use some aculturatin'.

fiamme red
12-23-2008, 11:55 AM
I would say -- and this is just me -- that bloody knuckle is the way to go unless you are on the Upper East Side, in which case it's someone else's bloody knuckle. Also, I'm going with kugle with a mild "u", but then again, I grew up on the West Coast and live in the South now, so I could use some aculturatin'.Where my mother's side of the family comes from (southeastern Poland), it was pronounced "kigel." Where my father's side comes from (northeastern Poland), it was "kugel," with the "u" pronounced like the "oo" in "good."

kgreene10
12-23-2008, 12:25 PM
Where my mother's side of the family comes from (southeastern Poland), it was pronounced "kigel." Where my father's side comes from (northeastern Poland), it was "kugel," with the "u" pronounced like the "oo" in "good."
My mother's side is also from southeastern Poland, right on the border with Ukraine and Slovakia. We just tracked down the village of 600 people a few years ago and traveled there. It was quite an interesting experience -- no sense that kugle, kigel, or koogle had ever been made there.

Ozz
12-23-2008, 12:40 PM
Thank you for the recipe. Where it says shred the potatoes, does that mean to use a food processor?....

If you have to ask...... ;)

:beer:

djg
12-23-2008, 12:45 PM
Thank you for the recipe. Where it says shred the potatoes, does that mean to use a food processor?

The Jewish friends I grew up with used box graters, and by the end of the night we all had a bloody knuckle or two.

The big debate as I recall, was how much nutmeg to put in the koogle and how it was properly pronounced!

Fond memories of Hannukahs past (in Honolulu of all places).

I use a food processor with the shredding disk -- I happen to like the texture I get with that particular cuisinart disk. A box grater is fine, but you really can hurt yourself, and ruin the latkes, and it's no better at all (and a nightmare if you're cooking for 60 or 70 as I sometimes seem to do). I was a bit off my game this year -- tired and distracted -- and likely would have lost all of my fingers with a box grater.

I'm glad to hear people are enjoying them.

Chag sameach (happy holiday) to all.

capybaras
12-23-2008, 01:58 PM
The Jewish friends I grew up with used box graters, and by the end of the night we all had a bloody knuckle or two.

Keep the box grater but buy a kevlar mesh glove from a cooking store. Perfect for grating with abandon AND if you get a good one you can even cut a bagel while holding it in your hand!

Larry D
12-23-2008, 07:49 PM
Happy holidays to all the forum members.

The food processor is indeed a welcome tool to make latkes.

A couple of years ago my younger son and I experimented with our recipe and added lox and green onions to one batch, fresh grated ginger and scallions to a second batch and chipolte to a third. They were all good combinations and added a new twist to the traditional latke.

Remember latkes are not just for Chanukah.

johnnymossville
12-23-2008, 08:01 PM
My Grandparents are from Poland and Latkes are indeed a year 'round treat! Yum!

Steevo
12-27-2008, 10:17 PM
Thanks for posting the Latke recipe. I used it tonight with great success. This is not the first recipe I've used from the Serotta forum. Its amazing the great info that's available here.

Happy New Year to all!!!

CNY rider
12-13-2009, 06:19 AM
I'm bumping this one because I had some delicious latkes last night, and I want folks to see this recipe and enjoy the holiday. :beer:

djg
12-13-2009, 09:55 AM
Glad to be of service, folks.

Did it all over again this year.

znfndl couldn't make it, but we saved him some brisket (and some cab)

Also did some arancini di riso this time, just to have more fried starchy foods on the table