(no subject)

There was a recent request for my latke recipe. My recipes are more templates, in that I alter to add enough of what seems to be missing at the time and will play with proportions a bit. That said, here is a very rough version of my latkes.

Hardware required:
Large frying pan; metal spatula
Food processor (for ease of shredding and chopping) with both shedding disc and chopping blade
Large bowl, small serving spoon (the one one size up from a tablespoon and a size down from what you use for sauce)
Collander
Large plate
Paper towels

Ingredients (roughly)
3-4 lbs potatoes, red or russet
1 sweet potato, no more than 1/2 lb
2 large onions, no more than 1 lb each - sweet preferred
2-3 cored, skinned apples
3-4 cloves garlic (optional)
2 eggs large-jumbo size
1 cup matzah meal
1/4 cup commercial grade 'balsamic' vinegar (we all know the good stuff is aged at least 15 years, but this is good enough)
2 chopped scallions (optional, tastes great)
Spices to taste: I use a little black or white pepper, dill (weed, not seed), kosher salt, and whatever else seems to suit my fancy.
Canola oil (as needed)

Prep your frying pan with a goodly amount of oil. I tend to go with about 1/4" or so. After shredding the potatoes, put your frying pan on medium high heat.

Now the prep work.
First, the potatoes: shred them in the food processor, then squeeze the shreds hard over the collander (until the liquid is very hard to force out) before placing in the metal bowl. You'll be surprised how much moisture comes out of them. If you want to save the liquid to make sourdough bread, feel free.
Next, take out the shredder. You heard me, be like a teenage mutant ninja turtle and take out the shredder! Put in the chopper.
Now, chop the sweet potato; after adding them to the shredded potatoes, chop the onion (and garlic), again taking care to squeeze the juice out before putting in with the potatoes. Lastly, chop the apples; again, squeeze out the spare liquid (If you've cleaned the food processor right before this step you might get a few sips of apple juice out of the deal).

At this point, add the spice, vinegar and eggs, mixing everything thoroughly. Now add the matzah meal.
You now have your fryable stuff.

Time to fry. Use the spoon I specified earlier. Latkes shouldn't be more than 2-3 inches long, and should be round to oval. I tend to fry until golden brown or so, then flip. When done, put them on the plate, one layer at a time, with paper towels separating the layers.

Serve how you like. Some like a side of sour cream; some like to add extra salt; some like to use applesauce, but you don't need as much as you would with a standard latke.

This recipe is good for anywhere from 4 hungry people to 12 noshing people.