Lovely latkes
I love latkes. They’re amazingly delicious and super duper easy to make; inexpensive, too. And the best thing about them (today) is that they fit the bill for my Dark Days Challenge. (I realise it’s been more than a month since I last posted a DDC meal, but it’s not because I’ve not been eating local, rather it’s because I haven’t been blogging about it.)
Latkes, or potato pancakes, are part of the traditional cuisines of several Eastern European counties (often under different names). I learned how to make them when I was in high school and soon developed my own recipe. You know, because I like to do things my way!
So, what makes this a DDC meal? Well, for starters, I’ve used Scottish-grown potatoes and onions, and Scottish eggs. I used butter from Graham’s Family Dairy, just outside of Stirling, and locally milled flour. I also used a pinch of Maldon Sea Salt and British made crème fraiche. Oh! And the sautéed mushrooms were Scottish, too, with a pinch of English garlic. The wine, whilst not local in origin, fits the organic bill.
Here’s the recipe:
Lovely Latkes
- 2 cups shredded potatoes
- ½ small onion (diced)
- 2 eggs
- 2-4 tablespoons flour (depending on how doughy you want them)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Butter for frying
Mix the potatoes, onion, egg, flour, and salt in a bowl and let sit for 15-30 minutes. Heat frying pan (I prefer a cast-iron skillet when available) and place a pat of butter in to melt. Once melted, drop the potato mixture in by the spoonful. About a 1/4 cup or so of batter should do it.
Fry for three minutes, then flip over and fry for another three minutes. Serve with sour cream and/or apple sauce.
And I’ve had a couple of people mention they’d like to see more videos, so I’ve even prepared a cooking demo for you. Yay!
Awesome! You keep promising to make those for me…!
I thought of that when I was making it. I guess we’ll have to plan a night for you to come over for dinner! I mean, I’d happily eat these over and over again!
I never really liked the ones with onion in them, but they’re quite good without. I remember Mom used to make potato “pancakes”, using our left-over mashed potatoes. I need to make some soon.
I like mine really savoury, so the onion adds to that. I try to use less salt than I used to and sometimes like a bit of pepper. In researching for the blog post, I found a couple of recipes that called for dried parsley or dill. That might be nice to try another time.
I do like fried mashed potatoes–totally different flavour and texture though! I’ve taken to baking my leftover mashed with a bit of bacon though. Yum!
Baking your leftover mashed with a bit of bacon sounds really good. Too bad we never have enough to do that with.