potato latkes

I have some sad news.  This will be the first year since its inception in 2001 that I will not be hosting our annual Christmukkah party, renowned for the extremely boozelicious egg nog and the scrumptious potato latkes.  That baby I alluded to in my last post (4 1/2 months ago!) has arrived and is keeping me too busy to make 100 latkes and several gallons of egg nog, much less post regularly on this blog.  It's all I can do to keep up with posting photos on our baby blog, and I regularly get crabby emails from my mother-in-law that I have been slacking in that department as well! So my holiday gift to you this year is, instead of a party I am passing on my well-honed recipe for the famous latkes.  They weren't always this good mind you.  I have made many a latke that was burned on the edges, soggy, or fell apart the instant you tried to pick it up.  But after literally years of trial and error, last year I found the holy grail.  The recipe for latkes that are flavorful, pretty, crispy on the outside, steamy and soft on the inside, hold together well in the pan and can be frozen and reheated and not fall apart and still STAY CRISPY!! 

The freezing and reheating part is essential for me.  The first year I made latkes for our party, I just mixed up all the batter ahead of time and thought I would just fry them up as the party began.  Well, that was completely unrealistic.  It takes a surprisingly long time to brown a latke properly, and even with all 4 burners going on the stove, I could only cook about 12-14 latkes at a time.  I spent almost the whole party in the kitchen, distractedly mumbling conversation with the guests who meandered in and out trying gamely to help.  The next year, the mother of one of my piano students told me she always made hers ahead of time for her Hanukkah party, placing the fried latkes on a baking sheet on the porch to freeze and then tossing them into ziplocs in the freezer until party day.  GENIUS!  But it still took me a while to refine the recipe until I was perfectly happy with it.  And here, I now bestow on you, the final version, a miracle of potatoes and oil:

Robin's Perfect Potato Latkes
Ingredients:
2 lbs russet potatoes - this is the starchiest variety of potato.
1 medium onion
4 scallions
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup flour
plenty of pure olive oil (not extra virgin), grapeseed oil, or peanut oil. If you use grapeseed or peanut you can mix in some extra virgin olive oil for historical authenticity.

Instructions:
Shred the potatoes in a food processsor, or by hand. (I used to think that machine shredded potatoes wouldn't cook evenly, but my laziness has prompted me to experiment with the food processor and I am happy to report they work just fine.) As you go, empty gratings into a salad spinner filled with cold water.  This keeps the potato shreds from discoloring.

Lift out the spinner basket full of potato gratings and transfer the soaking water to a large mixing bowl, then return the basket to the now empty spinner bowl.  As you do the subsequent steps, the potato starch will settle to the bottom of the bowl of water, forming a white sludge similar to this quicksand goo stuff that people love to make for a preschooler sensory activity. But besides being fun to play with, this is the stuff that helps your latkes hold together and not be a floppy wet mess so don't get rid of that soaking water!

Grate the onion and finely chop the scallions.

Spin the shredded potatoes in a salad spinner several times, pouring off the excess water into your water bowl.

Slowly pour off the water in the mixing bowl, reserving the layer of white potato sludge at the bottom. Add the eggs, onions, scallions, and salt to this and mix well.

Wrap about 1 cup of potato shreds in an absorbent dish towel and squeeze to remove any more excess moisture. I can often get so much water out with the salad spinner that nothing more will come out with squeezing, and I go ahead and add all the potatoes to the egg/onion/starch mixture. If squeezing the potato shreds does produce water, then you can either squeeze them in the dishcloth a cup at a time before adding to the batter, or just try a few more rounds with the salad spinner.

Sprinkle the flour over the potatoes and mix well. 

Put a large, heavy bottomed non-stick or cast iron skillet over high heat.  Add oil until it is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.  When the oil seems hot, test by dropping a smidgen of latke mixture into the pan and see if it sizzles. It does take a while to fry these, especially the initial batch - I highly recommend utilizing multiple frying pans at the same time to get this done a little sooner.

When it does, spoon 2 tablespoons-worth of latke mixture into the skillet.  Flatten with a fork until the latke is about 3 inches across.  Repeat until there are 4 latkes in the pan.  Do not be tempted to put too many latkes in the pan or they will reduce the temperature of the oil and take forever to cook.  (Alternately, you can do one tablespoon's worth per latke if you want little cocktail party-sized latkes - these will be about 2 inches in diameter when flattened and you can cook 5 in a large frying pan.)  Reduce heat to medium high and cook until undersides are browned, about 5 minutes. Turn latkes over and cook until undersides are browned, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. 

If you are making them to serve immediately, keep the baking sheet in a warm oven so the latkes stay hot.  If you are making them for later, put the baking sheet in the freezer (or outside if it's cold enough and you're not worried about animals stealing your latkes!) and when all the latkes are frozen, transfer them to a ziploc and keep in the freezer until ready to serve.  Reheat in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes or until sizzling. 

Makes about 25 latkes, or 40 cocktail-sized latkes.  Serve warm, with applesauce or sour cream.  (I like to top mine with sour cream and caviar!)

Comments

[Shalom]

[this is good]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this recipe and all the tips.  I cannot wait to try it.  My latke trials have been quite error-ridden.

Mazel tov on the little one.  Hopefully you will get some time to relax soon.

[Jorie]

Fascinating. I have a big bag of russets all in waiting to make some latkes this weekend!

I did the Joy Of Cooking ones last year they turned out insanely perfect (even using Cuisinart shortcut), but I am tempted to go the Robin Way this year.

Oh, and I like mine with sour cream AND applesauce, together.

[Girly Mae]

Thanks for the comments, guys!  I just made a double batch of these to bring to some holiday parties, and I did mini-sized ones this year.  I made a couple of edits in the recipe accordingly.  Happy Hanukkah!

[laura]

[this is good] oooh....next year i will have to try the robin method.

[Laura Gitelson]

felt like this post needed some updated love. made my latkes the robin way for the 3rd year in a row. feel like i am a robin disciple as i just emailed the link to the recipe to yet another friend wondering how these amazing little fried delights are made. yum yum yum.

[Robin Morgan]

Aww, thanks Laura! It's good to know the method is working for you! I'm very sad to say that we won't be able to make it to the party this year but at least I'll be there in recipe spirit!