I’ve written about latkes, how all these cooks out there on the web have their special secrets for crisp latkes with a soft interior. None of these recipes, however, are as good as the latkes my mother made, when we were growing up. Back in the day, we grated the potatoes by hand for my mother. Today, a food processor makes short work of this task.
Old School Latkes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 4 large potatoes
- 1 small onion
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper
- Flour
- Butter
- Shortening
- Paper toweling for draining the latkes
For serving:
- Sour cream
- Applesauce
- Salsa
Method:
- Grate the potatoes on the fine holes of a box grater or in a food processor, preferably using the fine holes of your grating disk. Switch to the knife attachment. Pulse the mixture a few times.
- Drain off most of the liquid.
- Grate in some onion, to taste (can grate the onion in a food processor)
- Add egg, salt and pepper, and using a fork, mix in enough flour to thicken the batter to the consistency of thick soup.
- Melt a mixture of butter and shortening (butter for flavor, shortening to keep it from burning) in frypan. Drop large spoonfuls of batter in pan and fry. When golden, turn and brown on other side.
- Drain on paper towels and serve hot with sour cream and applesauce or salsa.