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latkes on a plate

Heidi Billotto's Family Recipe: Potato Latkes for Hanukkah

Ingredients

  • 6-8 Medium Russet Potatoes, shredded or 4 large ones
  • 1 small white or yellow onion, shredded
  • 3-4 large local, or pasture, raised eggs
  • 1/3 cup Cracker meal or traditional matzoh meal
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • omemade shmaltz or vegetable oil for frying as needed

Instructions

  1. Peel the potatoes and keep them in cold water.

  2. Alternately grate the onions and potatoes into a big bowl. This is very quickly done with the shredding blade of a food processor. (But the traditional way is the old box grater my mom used to use!) The processor is a lot easier on your fingertips!

  3. Blend the grated potato mixture with the matzoh or cracker meal, eggs, salt and pepper.

  4. Heat one inch of oil or chicken fat in the bottom of a large frying pan.

  5. The easiest way to do this next step is to use your hands.

    Scoop up a small handful of the potato mix and give it a squeeze to release any excess moisture.

  6. Drop the potato batter into the hot fat in the pan and repeat the process to make several pancakes at the same time.

  7. Fry until golden brown, turning once or twice. Drain on several thicknesses of paper towels as my mom originally did; or even easier now, is to drain the potato latkes on a wire rack, arranged in a baking sheet with sides..

  8. Serve warm as is and enjoy. Or, if you would like, top with ketchup, applesauce, sour cream. The sour cream topped latkes are also delicious topped with smoked salmon.

Recipe Notes

If I am making a big batch of latkes I now love making them in my Carolina Cooker 15 inch cast iron pan - plenty of room to cook up 6-8 latkes at a time. Plus its a pan you'll use over and over again for browning and baking chicken, pork and seafood and  all of your one dish meals.