Latkes – Potato Pancakes – Kristina Says Cook

Growing up, my parents worked very long hours throughout the week, Saturdays were resting days and then Sundays were family days. Family days always started off with my mom making an elaborate breakfast for us all. Most times involving some sort of meat in fried dough. Think like meat stuffed pancakes. Anyway, after I moved out shortly after turning 18 and my husband returned from his deployment to Afghanistan, I began the same tradition of making fun, unique and at times elaborate breakfasts every Sunday.

Latkes are one of those foods that can be dressed up with toppings like lox (smoked salmon), sour cream, herbs, cheese and so on or dressed down and just eaten plain and they are always amazing. The best thing about them though, is how easy they are to make and how little ingredients they truly take to put them together. Give them a try and play around with the toppings. Maybe you’ll start a Sunday breakfast tradition too.

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INGREDIENTS :

4 medium to large Yellow/Yukon Gold Potatoes, grated
1 medium Onion, grated
2 Eggs
2 TB (Tablespoons) Flour
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil for frying (roughly 1/4 cup or enough to line the bottom of a pan)
Sour cream and chives (for topping)
Onion Powder (optional)
Garlic Powder (optional)
Paprika (optional)

STEPS :

Begin by using a cheese grater to grate your potatoes into a bowl. Once grated, rinse them under cold water a couple of times to wash off the starch. I like to use a fine mesh sieve to wash my grated potatoes because it makes it much easier to be able to squeeze out the excess water after rinsing them.
Clean off your onion from its skin and begin grating the onion into the same bowl as your potatoes. Add your eggs, salt and pepper, optional seasonings and your flour. Mix everything together until you form an almost paste like consistency in between each shred of potato. If the liquid part of your grated potato mixture doesn’t resemble a slightly loose glue, add more flour. The eggs and flour will be your binding agents in this recipe, holding together the grated potato pieces.
Heat your oil on medium to medium-high heat. Once your oil is ready, use a fork to take out a fork full of potato mixture from your bowl and put it on to the oil. Use the bottom end of the fork to press the mass down into a flat mass resembling a pancake. It doesn’t have to be perfectly round. Its shape matters less than its thickness, because you do want to make sure you’re able to cook the potatoes through all the way. Cook for 2 or so minutes per side, or until each side is golden brown.
Remove your latkes from the frying oil and lay on a paper towel covered plate to remove excess oil from each piece.
OPTIONAL – Top your latkes with sour cream and chives or serve sour cream on the side for dipping.

SOME TOPPING IDEAS :

Cheddar cheese, sour cream and chives.
Sour cream and chives.
Lox (smoked salmon), sour cream and chives.
Sour cream and bacon bits.
Quail egg, feta and spicy mayo.
Sliced avocado and feta cheese.
Sour cream and caviar.

Latkes topped with quail eggs, feta cheese, sriracha mayo and parsley. (pictured above)

Use a cheese grater to grate your potatoes into a bowl and rinse them to remove excess starch. Preferably using a mesh sieve.

Grate onions into the same bowl with your potatoes. Add eggs, salt and pepper, flour and optional additional seasonings. Mix everything together.

Heat oil in a pan over medium to medium-high heat and begin adding fork fulls of your grated potato mixture onto the hot oil in your pan. Use the back of the fork to press the mass down to create a thin pancake formation.