11-18-2013, 04:31 AM
dmann wrote:
Made hundreds (yes, 100s) of latkes today in anticipation of my family & friends Hanukkah party on the 30th. Regular potato and sweet potato. If you are in my neighborhood and notice it smells like a deep fryer, you have me to thank. A day of frying latkes will do that.
Regular potato:
4 cups shredded potatoes (russet or yukon gold or a combo of the two)
Several heaping tablespoons of shredded onion (we like sweet yellow onions)
3-4 eggs
Flour or matzo meal to keep it all together. Start with a few tablespoons and adjust as needed.
Lots of salt and pepper
Squeeze as much water out of the potatoes as possible before mixing with other ingredients. When everything is combined, fry latkes in hot oil until golden brown on both sides. Best when eaten IMMEDIATELY from the fry pan, but when you're cooking for 70 people, you make 'em in advance, freeze 'em and heat 'em up before the party.
Still trying to perfect the sweet potato latke but we mix the potatoes with onions (green and sweet yellow), zucchini, eggs and matzo meal or flour. Spice them up with cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper and salt.
DM
Dammit DM, that was a damn fine recipe, and it was beautifully written.
I wrote a while back about Colcannon. My recipe twisted the definition of Colcannon beyond reasonable bounds, but it still just fits in. You can find that recipe if you wish, just use the search function. But that is not really important, what is really important here is the morning after, the morning after Colcannon.
Since we always made too much Colcannon, (Making too much is part of the recipe.), we were stuck the morning after with a rather unappetizing congealed mound of potatoes, leeks, butter, and unassigned packets of aluminum foil. Remove the packets. They may prove useful elsewhen.
Set a large saucepan to a heady boil, a saucepan filled with lard, but I'm open to more recent, and arguably more healthful alternatives. Flour up your hands, and toss a chunk of Colcannon back and forth until it has the appearance, if not the authenticity, of a Latke.
Carefully lay the patty in the boiling, roiling oil, and stand back. It takes less than a minute. When it is safe to get closer, your Oirish potato pancake is done. Ladle out, and consume at a pace suitable to prevent too many tongue blisters. I think that a dab of sour cream would be just grand, and I may try that the next time.
Eustace