Recipe: Potato Latkes

By Arwen O’Reilly
I’m not Jewish, but I absolutely love latkes, so I cook them every December anyway (and a few other times throughout the year, just because). The smooth fried potato flavor marries beautifully with tart sweet applesauce and rich sour cream. It’s the perfect dish for a party – you can make up a huge batch of batter with little fuss or expense, trade off frying up latkes with your guests, and feed lots of happy people. Best of all, they make great leftovers!

Ingredients

3 large potatoes (approximate)

2T chopped onion

1-2 eggs

1T flour

1 pinch salt

Applesauce

Sour cream

Olive or other oil for frying

Cheesecloth or clean dish towel
Makes 10-12 latkes

Directions

Step 1: Grate the potatoes and let them sit a few minutes. While they’re resting, finely chop the onion.

Step 2: Place the grated potatoes in a cheesecloth or clean dishtowel, and squeeze out as much liquid out as you can. (You may be surprised at how much there is!)

Step 3: Mix the rest of the ingredients together. The flour is not strictly necessary, but I find it makes the latkes more forgiving (if you don’t have especially starchy potatoes, the latkes have a tendency to fall apart). Use two eggs if you prefer more of a pancake, and one egg if you like more texture.

Step 4: Let the oil heat in a cast iron or nonstick pan and dollop out the batter into the pan. When the edges start to brown, flip the latkes and cook until done.

Step 5: Serve with a generous serving of apple sauce and a dollop of sour cream. As my imaginary Yiddish grandmother would say, “Esn, esn!”
About the Author:

Arwen O’Reilly Griffith is staff editor at Make and Craft and mama to a 2-year-old rapscallion.