Two-Potato Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

[fitfool]

Hooray for Chanukah! Since it's a Jewish holiday, I'll have to give an explanation on its history since apparently that's what you do. Many many years ago, a Syrian tyrant was trying to unify his kingdom and all lands he could control by trying to Greek-ify everyone. Jews weren't allowed to do things like study the Torah and lived with many restrictions. Despite being vastly outnumbered, some Jews (including the Maccabees), fought a rebellion and won, driving them away. (In the words of Adam Brodsky, Jews kick ass!) After clearing the temple of the pagan gods left by the invaders, they wanted to light the lamp (I forget why -- sanctify the temple?) but they found they had only enough oil for a sigle day. They lit the lamp anyhow and in a miraculous sign (presumably of God's favor), the light continued to burn for 8 days. So now we take a moment every year to remember this event by lighting the Menorah candles, eating foods cooked in oil (for the oil in the lamp), exchanging small gifts for 8 days, and playing a dreidel game that was a secret way for them to study the Torah but now seems like a gambling game to me. Or something like that.

In the list of Jewish holidays, I'm told Chanukah is not considered a major holiday but I'll take any excuse to eat latkes (potato pancakes). According to this bit on latkes on NPR (4 minutes), the potatoes themselves are unlikely to have been used in the original latkes (no potatoes there back then). The featured ingredient is the olive oil. These Two-Potato Latkes are made with baking potatoes and sweet potatoes for a nice twist on this traditional food. They tasted so good that we'll make these again tomorrow night despite the annoyance of shredding the potatoes (use a food processorif you've got it). Michael said they were the best latkes he had ever tasted.

Two-Potato Latkes
From Cooking Light (December 2005)

"One of the most well-known dishes of Hanukkah is latkes--potato pancakes cooked in symbolic olive oil. You can use a food processor's shredding blade for fast preparation. Serve latkes with applesauce and reduced-fat sour cream."

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup grated fresh onion [How do you grate an onion? I got a pulpy mess and switched to just finely chopping it.]
1 pound shredded peeled baking potato [2 medium potatoes or 1 large one]
1/2 pound shredded peeled sweet potato [half of a large one]
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
Green onion strips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
   
2. [Gather all ingredients. I recommend shredding the baking potato last since it changes color quickly. I don't know if that matters since it still tasted great. Just looked funny as I was doing prep. ]
   
   
   
   
3. Drizzle a jelly-roll pan evenly with oil, tilting pan to coat. [We don't have one of these so I just used a baking pan with higher sides.]
   
4. Combine grated onion and potatoes in a sieve; squeeze out excess moisture. [The sieve idea was unwieldy for me and didn't get much moisture out. I ended up just squeezing fistfuls of the shredded potatoes mixture over the sink to get rid of excess moisture.]
   
5. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine potato mixture, flour, and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl.
   
6. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, squeezing out excess liquid.
   
7. Shape each portion into a 1/4-inch-thick patty; place on prepared pan.
   
   
   
   
8. Lightly coat tops of patties with cooking spray.
   
9. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. [I baked it for 14 minutes here because I wanted to be sure the shape would hold together. I think the olive oil is just symbolic since it didn't prevent them from sticking to the pan. Be careful scraping them off the pan when you try to flip them.]
   
10. Carefully turn patties over; cook 30 minutes or until lightly browned, turning every 10 minutes. [I turned the heat down to 350F since the 2nd side was getting a little blackened. For the final 10 minutes, I think I left it in an extra 2-3 minutes.]
    
11. Garnish with green onion strips, if desired.
    
    
    
    

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 latkes)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 256(29% from fat); FAT 8.3g (sat 1.4g,mono 5.5g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 5.7g; CHOLESTEROL 53mg; CALCIUM 38mg; SODIUM 337mg; FIBER 4g; IRON 1.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40g

Lia Huber
Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2005

Thread at Food_porn
Thread at Cooking

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_leisurely/]

those look soo good.
mmm

[duckumu.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD I LOVE THESE THINGS

but i have yet to actually make ones that are *good*. i will try your recipe. perhaps tomorrow!

[winemedineme.livejournal.com]

Grated onion is supposed to be a mushy mess. :) It blends flawlessly with the potatoes. Those look great!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Thanks. After grating about a quarter of the onion, it just looked like the onion was disappearing and making everything wet. I'm glad to know it's supposed to do that and that I was indeed using the correct side of the grater thing. I'm sticking to mincing since it worked fine and I didn't have to worry about scraping off my knuckles. :)

[winemedineme.livejournal.com]

When I make latkes, I grate the potatoes with the onions, alternating-- but I also have a food processor, which makes the job so much easier (as you noted). :)

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

well now I'm confused. I thought the potatoes were to be shredded but the onions were supposed to be grated. Does that mean you switch out blades or some setting on the food processor?

[winemedineme.livejournal.com]

Yup. I switch the disks. :)

[pumpkinpjs.livejournal.com]

i just got my first food processor as a wedding gift. ive always wanted one! *tear*

THEYRE THE GREATEST THINGS EVERRRRR!

[winemedineme.livejournal.com]

That's some enthusiasm there.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Wow...that's how I felt when I received a bread machine. I think Michael even has a food processor stored in one of the boxes we never unpacked. I might have to go find it now. That's such an endorsement for those gadgets.

[winemedineme.livejournal.com]

They're fabulous. My cuisinart is what inspired me to make french onion soup, because I didn't actually have to slice the umpteen pounds of onions for it. :)

[mangosorbet007.livejournal.com]

For squeezing out moisture, wrap smallish amounts in cheesecloth or a dish towel, roll up, wring, done. My grandma used to do that for our (German-Lithuanian) version of Kugel - she also let the resulting liquid sit for a while and then used the starch that had settled at the bottom of the container for the batter.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip! Is the batter something used in the kugel or the latke?

[pumpkinpjs.livejournal.com]

those are gorgeoussssss. im not a fan of sweet potatos.. do you think itll matter? how much does the flavor come through?

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

It's pretty clearly on the sweeter side. The onions mix with it to give it a really nice blend of flavors. I haven't eaten latkes before so I'm not sure how it compares to the traditional kind. You could change the proportions so maybe try 1.25-1.5 pounds baking potatoes and just 0.25 pounds of the sweet potatoes. (or whatever works for you) For what it's worth, my boyfriend isn't a big fan of sweet potatoes either (He'll eat them and like them ok but he doesn't love them the way I do) and he still really liked these latkes.

[gwytherinn.livejournal.com]

Oh man.... incredible. When I was away at school my friend and I used to make potato pancakes from that fake mix on a little George Foreman grill in our rooms. Compared to what we were getting in the cafeterias, it was amazing. And I love everything I eat to be well done and crispy. And that's exactly how these look!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Yes, these were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. If anything, I worried I had made them too crispy but it turned out well. Now that you mention it, I had once made falafels from those ready-mixes but it had been such a blah experience that I forgot about it until just now.

[snarkactual.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm, lattkes, probably not originally Jewish food but rather an addition to Ashkenazy cuisine due to the widespread adoption of the potatoe as a staple in Europe, kind of like how Yiddish developed as a lingua franca. :-)
That said, I love lattkes. The recipe I've always used doesn't include the sweet potato or the green onion. I do grate the onion using an old fashioned hand grater (no pulpy mess) and a shred the potato using a large mouthed food processor (Cuisinart IIRC) so their pretty plain. I may try your recipe for a bit of variation and because I have a sweet tooth.
Thanks for posting this.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I was grating by hand too but maybe with a different tool? I used something that looked like this: http://www.kitchenetc.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=114890 and used the big holes shown for the potatoes and then the little holes for the onion. The onion ended up a pulpy mess and I worried about scraping my knuckles so I switched to mincing with a knife. These were great for my sweet tooth -- sweet but kept in check by the onions.

[snarkactual.livejournal.com]

I use the same kind of grater. The difference is that I use the large grate for both the potatoes and onions. The small one I've found works only for things like parmesano reggiano and other similar cheeses or carrots The middle sized grate also works for onion but I find that the area on the sides wiht the medium grate and the julienne makes grating an onion a chore.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Ah ok...cool...I'll use different holes next time. Thanks :)

[snarkactual.livejournal.com]

If that doesn't work, it may be time to buy a new grater. I go through them every couple of years when they get dull. I've never figured out a way to sharpen them although I hate just throughing them out.

[guitarcries.livejournal.com]

Ach, those look so good. I must make some for myself... maybe I could invite some people over and introduce these Japanese and Australians to the beauty of Jewish cooking...

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Introduce me too! I only know about latkes and kugel. I got a recipe for a delicious kugel that Michael's sister made but I haven't tried making it yet.

[missjaala.livejournal.com]

They look almost good enough for me to convert, yummo!

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

1/4 cup grated fresh onion [How do you grate an onion? I got a pulpy mess and switched to just finely chopping it.]

Pulpy mess is exactly what you get. It releases all those oniony juices and blends the flavor evenly.

As for your potatoes changing color, mix the egg and onion together FIRST, and add the potato to the egg/onion mixture.

The way I make latkes (not as healthy, since I fry them) is to run the onion and the potato through the food processor with the chopping blade (not the shredding blade). It's a different texture, and I like it both ways, I just find the chopping blade to be less work. Grating the onion with the potato keeps the potato from turning pink (and later black).

[cwhf.livejournal.com]

Those look mouthwatering!

[yesimthegirl.livejournal.com]

More stuff to add to my holiday cooking!

[noahsinking.livejournal.com]

oh yea, that's a keeper!

[mysticchyna.livejournal.com]

yummy! they look lovely, and the recipe sounds very flavorful. if i make these, i might not need the ketsup!