Potatoes. What’s not to like? All kindsmashed, hashed, chipped or scalloped.
And potato pancakes. Every year about this time, when Hanukkah is in the air, my own cravings start to stir. Because when it comes to latkes, I’m just a goy who can’t say no.
Here’s a recipe I’ve tried before, with good results.
Potato Latkes
Recipe from “The Good Housekeeping Cookbook” (Hearst Books). Best straight out of the skillet, but they can be kept warm in a 250-degree oven until ready to serve. Makes about 20 latkes.
Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds baking potatoes (4 large), peeled
1 medium onion, peeled
1 large egg
2 tablespoons matzo meal or all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or dill
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 cup vegetable oil for frying
Applesauce or sour cream
Directions
In a food processor with shredding blade attached, or with coarse side of box grater, shred potatoes and onion. Place in colander. With hands, squeeze to press out as much liquid as possible. Place potato mixture in large bowl; stir in egg, matzo meal, parsley, lemon juice, baking powder, salt and pepper.
In 12-inch skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat until hot. Drop potato mixture by scant quarter-cups into hot oil to make 5 latkes. With back of spoon, flatten each latke into 3-inch round. Cook until underside is golden, 4 to 5 minutes. With slotted spatula, turn latkes and cook until second side is golden brown and crisp. Keep warm in a 250-degree oven.
Delicious.
But.
Say you have a larger gathering planned, and want to serve little potato pancakes with crème fraîche and cured salmon on top as pass-around hors d’oeuvres. These puppies would simply be too big. These are fork- and-knife latkes, designed to be eaten sitting down — too big and unwieldy for a large, festive gathering.
I wondered: Would smaller, cocktail-friendly potato pancakes be as easy as just shrinking the size of the latke in the pan and cooking for a little less time?
Alas, no. I tried spooning out a couple of tablespoons of the smaller latkes, but they didn’t cook evenly. I was looking for a crunchy edge and a tender interior; these smaller latkes cooked too quickly on the outside, leaving the insides undercooked. Leaving them in the pan left them crunchy all the way through. They were also very delicate, and fell apart much too easily.
What’s more, these baby latkes tasted as much of the filler as they did of potato.
So, I started asking around. Reading. Googling. I tried recipes from Arthur Schwartz, Jeffrey Nathan and Jacques Pepin. All were good, but none would produce the bite-sized potato cake I was looking for — crispy on the edges, tender in the middle, and tasting of potato, not flour or matzo.
My gut told me that part of the reason the smaller latkes were cooking unevenly was the fact that they were grated, mixed, and put into the pan raw. Once there, the insides didn’t have enough time to cook before the edges were nearly burnt.
If I could find a way to cook the potato first, then add the crispiness later (much as you might bake a casserole, then stick it under the broiler for a last-minute crisp), perhaps I’d find the right texture.
Maybe this: Maybe get rid of some filler and use better potatoes.
I found this recipe from Laura Frankel’s charming 2006 cookbook, “Jewish Cooking for All Seasons,” which is not for latkes at all, but which sounded like a good substitute.
Pan-Fried Smashed Potatoes
From “Jewish Cooking for All Seasons,” by Laura Frankel (Wiley)
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, scrubbed well
Olive oil
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast the potatoes on a baking sheet for 1 hour, or until they are easily pierced with a thin knife.
Cover your hand with a kitchen towel and gently smash each potato to flatten it.
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat, and generously coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil. Pan fry the potatoes until they are crispy and golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer the potatoes to paper towels to drain and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
They were good — the right size, and the right style, for canapes. Not latkes, but by this point I was willing to divert. Still, they took too long — 90 minutes before I was done. Could I find a way to make this recipe happen faster?
Perhaps by boiling the potatoes, I could streamline the process. I tried it, and it worked. Within about 40 minutes, I had a platterful of party-ready potato-cakes.
Not Latkes (But a Fine, Bite-Sized Substitute for a Festive Gathering)
Makes 20.
Ingredients
About 20 small yellow potatoes
Plenty of salt
Olive oil
Directions
Place potatoes in large saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. (You may do this step ahead of time and refrigerate the potatoes for several days until ready to use.)
Lay potatoes out on a rack to air dry for several minutes. When completely dry, press between your palms to a thickness of 1/2-inch. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat, and fry the potatoes, in batches, until crispy brown on both sides. Salt and serve while still warm.
Traditional latkes? Nope. But topped with a slice of cured salmon and a few dill fronds (dollop of crème fraîche optional), these savory little nuggets disappear quickly. I get my potato craving quenched, and my guests don’t spill their drinks trying to wrestle down latkes.
(They would be even better with big, lavish spoonfuls of expensive caviar. Hey, a guy can dream.)
Got a recipe you’d like tinkered with? E-mail dining@denverpost.com.
