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
Written cooking instructions as a concept can be traced way back into distant history, certainly as far back into recorded history as the Egyptians, and possibly even further than that. However, in the main part, these old cook books were just basic hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe discovered, according to experts in ancient history is a series of ancient tablets in ancient Sumerian which describe the preparation 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 wonderful. During the time of the Roman Empire a roman called Apicius wrote a few documents describing recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his publication, he recounts how the meals were divided into hors d`oeuvre, main meal and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. He also recounts how the ancient cooks used a good variety of herbs and spices, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks such as bay, mint and asafoetida. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years we find some recipe books published in the 14th Century : a book called `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, these have no connection with the indian curry that is popular today, but rather accounts of the types of food on the menues of the nobility of that time. In the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought back many foods and spices from the holy land, such as basil and rosemary. These new foods and spices caused an explosion in recipe books, many of which are now in private libraries. Over the following few hundred years, the powerful and wealthy competed with each other to offer the most extravagent banquests, and consequentially cooks and their collection of recipes increased in prestige. Nevertheless, it wasn`t until the 19th century that cookery and recipe collections became really popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the USA, dedicated their lives to collecting, verifying, and publishing recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. By the arrival of the 20th century, cook books were in great demand, as a result of better eduction, more free time and a general increase in wealth. |
We hope you enjoy this Classic Potato Pancakes recipe.
