The Grate Latke Cook Off Results

Well folks the results are in and I am a bit surprised.  My son's version of traditional latkes tasted better that mine.  We all got together in my kitchen the last night of Hanukkah.  I had already made a batch earlier in the day following the steps I posted last week with one change.  My daughter uses her immersion blender to get the desired consistency in the grated potatoes.  I decided to try that and boy was it easier.  I used the food processor to  grate all the potatoes and the onion, dumped it into a large bowl and used the tool below to finish the job.  It was so much easier and faster that grating the potatoes twice in the food processor and there were many less bowls to wash.

As for the latkes, he used the same basic recipe but followed the Bon Appetit steps and really drained the grated potatoes and onions.

http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2012/12/the-best-latke-recipe.html

The key differences are:  Lots of onions (about 1 lb for every 3 lbs of potatoes, but you can use slightly less if you like); DRAIN the mixture. let them sit in the colander and you can use your hands to squeeze them.  To make THIN crispy latkes (no hockey pucks) he took my quarter cup measuring cup and filled it with the potato mixture.  He dropped it into the hot oil and then used the back of the measuring cup to flatten them and salted them when they come out of the pan.

Those are his keys to success.  Also, you don't need a ton of oil, just make just sure it's very hot.  Not so hot that the latkes burn, but hot enough so the oil doesn't simply absorb into the latkes.

For reheating his favorite technique is to put them in the toaster oven on 375ish for 5-7 minutes until the oil in the latkes is bubbling on the outside.  Then cook for 90 seconds on each side in a hot pan with a little drizzle of hot oil, to recrisp and make sure they taste fresh.

As for topping the latkes, my friend sent me an interesting recipe that she modified from the December 5 edition of the NY Times, which can be used to serve with latkes or for vegetable dip.

Garlicky Beet Spread with Yogurt, Dill and Horseradish

TOTAL TIME

20 minutes, plus 1 to 1 1/2 hours’ roasting 

Ingredients

·  2 medium beets, scrubbed and trimmed (you and use Trader Joe's from refrigerator section)

·  2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for beets

·  45 grams walnuts (about 1/2 cup)

·  1 very large clove garlic, minced (if it is too garlicky-adjust to your taste.)

·  3 grams kosher salt (1 teaspoon), more to taste

·  1 cup Greek yogurt (plain, get the thickest variety) or if doubling, you can use 1 part yogurt and 1 part sour cream to improve the taste & thickness.  (Can use 0% fat for both.)

·  2 tablespoons lemon juice, more to taste- my friend used more used more

·  2 teaspoons chopped dill – my friend used more & added lemon zest.

·  1 1/2 teaspoons prepared horseradish – (my friend thought it was too much. So adjust to your taste.)

Preparation

1. To roast beets, heat oven to 375 degrees. Place beets in a small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Add 3 tablespoons water to bottom of dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake until tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, turning beets after 45 minutes. Let cool, then peel. (Or you can use fresh cooked beets from Trader Joe's refrigerator section & skip the messy roasting/peeling)

2. Using a food processor, grind walnuts, garlic and salt until very finely ground. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add the peeled beets, oil, yogurt, lemon juice, dill and horseradish and pulse until relatively smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon or salt, or both, if needed. Serve with latkes or fritters, or use as a dip for vegetables. (You can start with a mini food processor and finish with the immersion blender which makes for easier clean up.)

YIELD- 2 cups; It’s very pretty. Also my friend thinks it tastes better if you let it sit overnight or for 1-2 days.

Enjoy!

The Grate Latke Cook Off Challenge

Last week I was challenged to see if I could make latkes that were better than the ones bought at a famous deli on Third Avenue.  The tasters were several friends one of whom was a vegan so I had to make two batches one with an egg and one without an egg.  Finding the right egg substitute was not difficult since there are literally hundreds on the internet, but almost all of them are intended for baking.  I did choose the Flax Vegan Egg Substitute below because I thought it would work the best.
 http://www.food.com/recipe/flax-vegan-egg-substitute-104832

In the past, when I have made latkes, I have taken the lazy girl's approach.  I threw all the ingredients into the blender and blended until the mixture was the consistency of pancake batter.  Although the latkes tasted terrific, they lacked the crunchiness associated with the ones that were grated by hand by all our mothers.

I knew that the lazy girl's approach would not work for this challenge. My ancient Cuisinart blender only has three blades, and the one intended for grating produces large chunks of potato that could not be used for frying.  So I tried a different approach.  I also bought two kinds of potatoes that required no peeling, yukon gold and and white potatoes. I started with two bowls.  I scrubbed the potatoes and cut them into quarters.  I also cut the onion in half because I wanted to work in batches.  I grated two potatoes and half the onion, transferred the mixture to the first bowl, put the mixture back into the food processor and using the blade intended for mushing, I pulsed the mixture for 5 pulses. I put that mixture into the second bowl and repeated the process with the remaining two potatoes and onion.  This method produced a mixture that was very similar to the one that you can get using a hand grater.

LATKE INGREDIENTS:
4 large potatoes or 6 medium
1 medium sized onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, well beaten
3 tablespoons matzo meal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
vegetable oil for frying

NOTE:  For vegan latkes substitute the flax vegan egg substitute

I then added the remaining ingredients and mixed them well.  I added some oil to my largest frying pan and first formed the mixture into egg shaped balls and then flattened and fried them.  I made two batches, one vegan and one non-vegan.

Now came the taste test.  All 3 batches of latkes were transported to my friend's house and reheated in a 325 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

After some agonizing moments, the results were in.....and it was unanimous. My home made latkes were the best (both non-vegan and vegan) and the famous deli ones were a distant second.  And because I used potatoes that I did not have to peel, the entire process was much less tiring.