Latke Season
One of my favorite ways to celebrate the holidays is through food, no surprise. I love to be traditional, with a twist. For Chanukah we fry up a different food each night, with latkes making the most appearances. In addition to a good old fashioned potato and onion latke, I like to throw in a few new ideas too.
Below you’ll find my base recipe and technique for latkes along with a few suggestions for spicing them up. One hit from the past few holidays is a salami and fried pickle latke with everything bagel seasoning topped with a dijon mustard sour cream. I combined two recipes (linked below) for these. If you don’t want to stray from a traditional latke, consider creating a toppings buffet. Anything from taco latkes, to sweet and savory, to a variety of dips. If you somehow have extra latkes, recrisp them in a pan and top with a poached egg for breakfast or use them to sandwich leftover brisket.
One note here, feel free to use your food processor to make grating potatoes quick and easy. My family likes the tradition of hand grating. It is truly a labor of love.
We love food and marketing, so let’s connect latkes with marketing your business! When you think about your marketing, you have a core recipe that you know works. Take that and innovate! Use inspiration from others, new ideas, and a sense of adventure to keep tweaking your recipe. You might be surprised and delighted by how it turns out!
INGREDIENTS
Traditional Latkes
3-4 russet (Idaho) potatoes, peeled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 white, yellow, or sweet onion
Potato starch (see instructions below)
Salt and Pepper
Vegetable oil for frying (not olive oil!)
INSTRUCTIONS
Using a food processor with a shredding blade, a mandolin, or box grater, grate the potatoes into a large bowl and add cold water to cover
Into a second bowl, grate the onion with a food processor with a shredding blade, a mandolin, or box grater, set aside
Remove potato shreds from the bowl of water, squeezing either in cheesecloth, a clean towel, or by hand (letting excess liquid drip back into the bowl)
Place dried potatoes into the bowl with the grated onion and gently mix (the onion will prevent the potato from turning gray)
Carefully drain off the water from the potato water, leaving the potato starch at the bottom of the bowl, set aside
Add the beaten egg and potato starch to the potatoes and onions, mix until evenly distributed
If the mixture seems really wet, add a little matzo meal or additional potato starch from your pantry
Place a wire baking rack over a baking sheet in your oven and heat to 200 degrees (to keep latkes warm as they are cooked)
Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (cast iron works great)
When a small piece of shredded potato sizzles in the oil, it's ready!
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, add the latkes into the pan in batches
Cook for 2-3 minutes per side (until golden brown and cooked through)
If they are browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly
Place the cooked latkes in the heated oven while you finish frying all the latkes
Serve warm
For leftover latkes, let them cool completely
If you plan to eat them the next day, wrap them tightly in foil and refrigerate
If you plan to keep them longer than a day or two, place them on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer
When they are frozen, wrap them in plastic wrap and then foil (to prevent freezer burn)
Either way, reheat in a 350 degree oven before serving or recrisp in a skillet
Serve with your choice of toppings:
Applesauce, sour cream, chili crisp, smoked salmon and pickled onions, jam, ketchup, whatever you can dream up!
If you’re feeling adventurous, here are the recipes that served as inspiration for my salami fried pickle latkes! I used the recipe for the salami latkes and the technique for adding a pickle into the middle for the ultimate bite. I also have just grated the salami and pickles into the potatoes to make it even easier. Top with your favorite deli mustard!
