We’re in the midst of Hanukkah, Christmas is almost upon us, and there’s still Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and plenty of other holidays to go, leading up to New Year’s Eve. Every family has their own food traditions, and with 2020 being the year it is, your food prep plans are likely a bit different this year. So, in the spirit of giving, why not pass along some good Holiday Season recipes, be they tried and true, or new experiments?

I generally don’t attempt to make latkes from scratch, but since we won’t have any other holiday plans to speak of, I thought I’d give it a whirl this year. There are a bazillion recipes out there, but this is the one that I’ll likely try:

Hanukkah Latkes

Ingredients:

• 2 large Russet potatoes (about 1 pound), scrubbed and cut lengthwise into quarters
• 1 large onion (8 ounces), peeled and cut into quarters
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon fine sea salt), plus more for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Safflower or other oil, for frying

Directions:

1) Using a food processor with a coarse grating disc, grate the potatoes and onion. Transfer the mixture to a clean dishtowel and squeeze and wring out as much of the liquid as possible.

2) Working quickly, transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the eggs, flour, salt, baking powder and pepper, and mix until the flour is absorbed.

3) In a medium heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, pour in about 1/4 inch of the oil. Once the oil is hot (a drop of batter placed in the pan should sizzle), use a heaping tablespoon to drop the batter into the hot pan, cooking in batches. Use a spatula to flatten and shape the drops into discs. When the edges of the latkes are brown and crispy, about 5 minutes, flip.

4) Cook until the second side is deeply browned, about another 5 minutes. Transfer the latkes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt while still warm. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with applesauce and/or sour cream.

Notes/Tips (taken from comments beneath the recipe):

-After grating (whether in food processor or box grater), rinse and spin dry in a salad spinner.

-Brush each side with oil, flatten, and bake in a 425 oven until crisp on both sides. You can do all of them at once and not have used oil to deal with later.

-Grate twice – using a food processor to coarsely grate the potatoes, then putting them quickly back through with the propeller-like chopper blade, before draining and squeezing out the excess liquid. Eliminates the hashed-browns look and feel, makes it more like finely hand grated. Also, I use matzoh meal, not flour. Unpeeled potatoes work fine.