Potato Latkes

I love to make latkes for Hanukkah.  I truly believe that holidays are made better many times by the food you are eating.  And of course, who you are enjoying said food with.  Latkes are a traditional Jewish dish prepared for Hanukkah.  The latkes are potato pancakes fried in oil; typically, they are topped with sour cream or apple sauce.  I love them with both.  The key to making these fried rounds of delight are to get them crispy and crunchy on the outside and a bit softer in the middle.

One of my good friends let me in on an amazing trick - use the food processor to shred your potatoes.  I now cannot claim that latkes are too much work.  Try it, it will change your life. I actually googled how to shred potatoes with a food processor and a great little YouTube video popped up.  Watch it to see how it's done.

The delicious meal made complete with latkes!

Without further ado, the directions:

Potato Latkes
Time: 30 minutes
Makes 12 latkes

Ingredients:
2 baking potatos
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 tsp or more cracked black pepper
1/2 or more tsp salt
1 Tablespoon flour
1 large egg slightly beaten
1/4-1/2 cup vegetable oil (should be about 1/4 inch filled in pan)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Fit food processor with shredding blade.  Peel potatoes and onion.  Shred potatoes and onion in food processor.  Take potatoe/onion mixture out and squeeze out excess water over a strainer.  Let mixture stand about 10-15 minutes to drain out extra liquid.

Put potatoes in bowl and mix with salt, pepper, egg and flour.  Once mixture is combined, heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat.  I used a cast iron skillet to fry the latkes, I find that non-stick pans don't do as good of a job frying...

Once oil is hot, drop tablespoons of potatoe mixture in pan, cook about 4 minutes on each side or until brown and crispy.  Cook the latkes in batches and keep done ones warm in the preheated oven.

Serve with sour cream, applesauce or topping of your choosing! YUM!