Emily RancerOy vey, the holidays are almost here! And while I may not have a recipe for honey-baked ham or roast duck, I do have a Hanukkah favorite: latkes (potato pancakes). No matter how many Jewish mothers you ask, each one will have a different recipe for you. This one happens to be my mom’s family recipe and is a hit at every Hanukkah dinner. In case you’ve never tried latkes before (gasp!) their taste resembles great, freshly-made hash browns.
Potato Latkes
6 potatoes
1 small onion
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
Oil for frying
Using a food processor (usually a Cuisinart), grate potatoes and onion. You can also use a hand grater if you don’t have a processor. Once shredded, place in large mixing bowl. Add other ingredients and mix with hands until all is combined.
In a large frying pan, heat 3-5 Tbs. oil. Scoop out about a golf ball-sized handful of latke mixture and squeeze out excess juice. Press into thick pancake shape and place in frying pan. Continue until about three or four latkes are on the pan.
Fry and flip until both sides are a golden brown.
Remove latkes and pat dry with paper towel. Serve with applesauce or sour cream.
A Note from the Chef:
This is unfortunately my last cooking column of the year. In early January, I’ll be taking off for the culinary capitol of the world – Paris – until summer. In the meantime, you can find all my recipes at www.mustangdaily.net and if you want to expand your cooking horizons, visit www.foodnetwork.com, which has thousands of recipes for every ingredient or occasion. Au revoir and happy holidays!
Emily’s cooking tip of the week:
Cooking with hot oil, as your mother may have warned you, can be a dangerous task. So make sure to wear long sleeves and shoes to avoid hot oil popping out of the pan and onto your arms or feet. And if an oil fire does break out, do NOT pour water on it! Try to cover it with something non-flammable or use a fire extinguisher.