Hannukah is an eight-day excuse to go on a fried food craze. The most prominent fried food in this craze is the imminent latke. In fact, you cannot have a proper Hannukah celebration without latkes — you just can’t, it’s against the law. Because I like to be trendy, let me be the first to tell you that plain potato is so 3 years ago. Fusion is all the rage. We’re talking zucchini, sweet potato, cauliflower and parmesan, or, really, whatever your mind can think of; let your love for latkes soar through all the ingredients. This recipe, by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, blends potato and parsnip into a cake and tops it with a horseradish cream. The parsnips lend an almost spicy bite and the texture of the root vegetable meshes perfectly with the potato. The cream topping is zesty and springy, adding a snappy cool note to offset the heaviness of the fried-status. These are bite-sized miracles in themselves.
Recipe by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: roughly 7 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
½ pound (about 1 large) Russet potato
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 pound parsnips (about 2 large or 4 medium)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
A mix of olive oil/vegetable oil for frying
Sauce:
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly grated or prepared horseradish
Directions:
1. Peel your potatoes and parsnips.
2. Using a box grater, shave the vegetables on the largest holes of the grater.
3. Once fully grated, transfer vegetables to a paper towel and wring out as much liquid as possible. Let them sit in the towel, and wring them out again after 2 minutes. NO LIQUID WANTED.
Photo by Amanda Shulman
4. Put grated vegetables in a bowl. Add the lemon juice.
5. In a separate dish mix the dry ingredients together.
6. Toss this dry mixture with the vegetables so they are evenly coated.
7. In the smaller dish (the one that you mixed the dry ingredients in, crack and beat the two eggs). Stir beaten eggs into the veg-flour mixture and toss to coat.
8. Line an area of your counter with paper towels and set up a cooling rack (or a grill rack) on top of it.
9. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with oil, you want it to be about 1/4 inch up the sides. Once hot (you can test this by flicking a drop of water into the oil, if it hisses and sputters it’s ready) you are good to go.
10. Using a spoon, gather the batter into mounds. Pat each mound down with your hand and gently drop into the skillet.
11. Cook until bottom is golden brown for about 3-4 minutes, and then flip and cook the other side for about 2-3 minutes.
12. Transfer latkes to grill rack and let excess oil drip off. Continue until all the batter is used up, adding more oil to the pan if needed.
Photo by Amanda Shulman
13. To make the sauce, simply mix all ingredients together.
14. Serve the latkes warm with a dollop of the sauce.
Photo by Amanda Shulman