Ingredients
1 stephen ceideburg
2 lb mealy russet potatoes, peeled
1 medium onion, coarsely grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp matzo meal, or as needed
1 salt to taste
1 pepper
1 dash sugar to encourage browning
1 vegetable oil for frying
1 sour cream, yogurt, and/or applesau, ce
Directions
Grate potatoes.
Squeeze to remove as much moisture as possible.
Combine potatoes, onion, eggs, matzo meal, salt, pepper and sugar.
Take half of this mixture and puree in a food processor or blender,
then recombine it with the remaining mixture.
Add more matzo meal if needed to make a thick batter.
Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan.
You will probably get by on a slick about 1/8 inch deep, especially
in a nonstick pan, but the deeper and hotter the oil the crisper the
pancake.
Use a large spoon to drop portions of the mixture into the hot oil.
For thicker pancakes leave the batter mounded up high, for thinner,
lacier and crispier-edged disks, flatten the batter with a spoon as
soon as you add it to the pan.
Cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes, then turn and repeat on the
other side.
Latkes don't take kindly to being turned too man times and become
rather heavy as the continue to flip.
When golden on both sides, remove to paper towels and drain for a
moment before serving.
Accompany hot latkes with sour cream, yogurt and/or applesauce.
Sage latkes: Season with 1/2 teaspoon or so crumbled dry sage leaves
(or 1 teaspoon fresh) and 1/4 cup chopped parsley. Fry in duck or
goose fat.
Garlic rosemary latkes: Omit onion and add 2 cloves chopped garlic
along with 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary. Cook in olive oil and
serve with a sprinkling of salt rather than sour cream.
Leek latkes: Omit onion and substitute julienned leeks.
Brussels sprouts: surprising and deliciously wintry. Add 6 or so
coarsely grated Brussels sprouts to the potato batter. Serve with
sour cream seasoned with a dash of Dijon or whole-seed mustard. Do
not let Brussels sprout latkes sit around too long; they become
bitter.
PER SERVING (Classic version, using a total of 2 tablespoons oil and
not counting accompaniments): 260 calories, 8 g protein, 37 g
carbohydrate, 10 g fat (2 g saturated), 105 mg cholesterol, 45 mg
sodium, 1 g fiber.
Marlena Spieler writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, 12/16/92.
Posted by Stephen Ceideburg
Servings: 4 servings
Classic Potato Pancakes Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Breakfast; Cake; Pancake; Potato
The History of Recipes
It is possible to track the history of `recipes` way back into distant history, certainly as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and possibly even further. Interesting though that maybe, mostly, these old recipes were just very basic hieroglyphic recipes for preparing food.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe found, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are some ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made those who drank it feel blissful. Later on, in Roman times 25BC a man called Apicius created some documents showing how to cook the recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his publication, Apicius recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvre, main meal and dessert, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. He also recounts how the ancient chefs used a good variety of herbs and spices, including many that are still in use today like bay, mint and parsley. In the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many new spices and herbs from the East, including spices such as coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new foods and spices prompted an explosion in manuscripts on food, the majority of which still exist in private libraries. During the succeeding few hundred years, the rich families of the West strove to lay on the most exotic meals, and as a result chefs and their recipes were highly sought after. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the 19th century that formal cookery and cookery books really came of age. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, devoted their lives to collecting, verifying, and recording recipes to allow everyone to enjoy them. By the arrival of the 1900s, cooking publications were starting to become popular mostly due to increased literacy, leisure time and being a little richer. Like it or not, the introduction of television brings us celebrity TV chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. And that neatly brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, permitting us all to access thousands of recipes such as those found on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Classic Potato Pancakes recipe.
