Marc Silverstein Latkes Food

OVEN-FRIED LATKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Mist a baking sheet with the cooking spray.
• Peel the potatoes and then grate on the large holes of a box grater. Transfer to a fine-mesh sieve and squeeze out as much liquid as possible into a bowl. Let the liquid settle for about 10 minutes, and then pour off the watery liquid, reserving the potato starch.
• Beat the egg white in a large bowl until it holds a soft peak. Gently fold in the potatoes, scallions, reserved potato starch, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Drop the mixture by tablespoons on the prepared baking sheet, spacing the latkes about 2 inches apart. Gently spread and flatten into 2 1/2-inch rounds. Roast until the bottoms are browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Flip and roast until the potatoes are cooked through and the bottoms are spotted brown, 4 to 6 minutes.
• Serve with the applesauce and sour cream.

FRESH SALMON LATKES

Steps:

• Place the salmon pieces in a deep, medium-sized skillet or shallow saucepan. Pour in enough boiling water to almost cover fish. Add lemon slices. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, or until salmon is opaque in center when flaked. Remove salmon with a slotted spatula. Remove the skin and bones and flake fish into a medium bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Add flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Whisk just until blended. Pour batter over cooked salmon. Stir gently to mix.
• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour batter, 1/4 cup for each latke, into the hot butter. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook latkes until nicely browned and crisp on bottom, about 4 minutes. Turn over and cook until second side is crisp and browned, about 2 minutes longer. Repeat in 1 or 2 more batches to use remaining batter, adding more butter as needed.
• Drain on paper towels. Serve warm, with lemon wedges. Garnish with Cucumber and Red Onion Salad, if desired

BEET AND CARROT LATKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Grate the potatoes and carrots on the large holes of a box grater and transfer to a large colander set over a bowl. Grate the onion and add to the colander. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Firmly squeeze the mixture with your hands to extract as much liquid as possible; blot dry on paper towels if especially wet. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Mix in the beets and parsley. Add the flour and egg and stir until thoroughly combined.
• Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Working with 1/4 cup of the mixture at a time, form tightly packed pancakes 3 to 4 inches wide and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
• Heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Working in batches, fry the pancakes until golden brown and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking sheet and put in the oven while cooking the remaining pancakes.
• Serve with sour cream.

MELISSA CLARK'S FAVORITE HEIRLOOM LATKES

Steps:

• 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.
• Working quickly, transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the four, salt, baking powder, and pepper and mix until the flour is absorbed.
• 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 3 to 4 latkes at one time. 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. Cook until the second side is deeply browned, about another 5 minutes. Transfer the latkes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining batter.

MARCY GOLDMAN'S WORLD FAMOUS POTATO PANCAKES LATKES

Steps:

• The best way to fry these are in tiny dollops, dropped from a spoon (or I use metal kitchen tongs and pick up small clumps of batter) and use a deep wok. the cooking method is so important so follow the directions exactly for perfect results.
• Place potatoes in a medium saucepan and just cover with cold water. Turn heat to high and allow to come to boil. As soon as potatoes are boiling, put a kitchen timer on for 10 minutes. When timer rings, remove potatoes from stove and cover with cold water. Drain immediately, then cover again with cold water. Let sit five minutes. Remove potatoes and pat dry.
• Using a hand shredder (best) or food processor fitted with a medium disc, shred potatoes (with skins on). The potatoes should be slightly softened, but still firm enough to produce shreds. If the peel separates from the potato, discard it. If the peel gets grated in with the potatoes, it's fine and just incorporate it into the mixture. I like the hand grater best. When I use the processor, I use two thirds shredded then pulverized potatoes and one third shredded for a mixture than is bulky but still has shreds. Worth the trouble.
• In a large bowl, blend shredded potatoes, grated onion, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Place newspaper on work surface (near frying area) and cover with a few paper towels. In a large deep skillet (I like to use a wok), pour in enough vegetable oil to fill about two thirds. If using an electric fry pan, set the temperature to 350°F or 375°F (depending on how fast you want the pancakes to cook). Drop potato batter by teaspoons (for small ones) or soup spoonfuls in small dollops, flattening slightly with a metal spatula if desired. I use large metal tongs for dropping and turning. Brown one side, turn once, and complete cooking on other side. These cook quickly. You're looking for a puffy centre while retaining some crisp shreds of potato on edges.
• Serve immediately or freeze. To reheat, place latkes on a large wire cake rack on a cookie sheet. Warm at 250°F until crisp. For freezing purposes, fry them a little underdone to allow for browning in the re-heating stage.

DAVID "THE LATKE KING" FIRESTONE'S CRISPY LATKES

Steps:

• Pulse the onion in a food processor a few times until the onion is diced into crunchy bits. Remove the blade and scrape the onion into a small bowl. Return the food processor bowl to the machine. (Don't wash it yet.).
• Cut the potatoes lengthwise to fit in the food processor feed tube. Put the medium-coarse food processor shredding disk and turn it on. Begin feeding the potato slices into the machine.
• When the potatoes are shredded, put them in a colander over a large bowl. Dump in the onion bits and mix everything around with your hands, squeezing the potato moisture out as you work. Let the mixture drip for a few minutes.
• Pour out the potato liquid from the bowl, but leave the starch that clings to the bowl. Dump in the shredded potato and onion mix. Add the eggs, matzoh meal, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Then let it sit for about 10 minutes.
• In a large cast-iron skillet, pour in ¼ inch of oil. Over high heat, get the oil very hot. Using a ¼-cup measure or a long-handled serving spoon, spoon the batter into the skillet. Flatten each with a metal spatula to a diameter of 4 to 5 inches. Don't worry about them being uniformly round. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the latkes until golden brown on one side. Then turn over and fry them some more. When crispy on the outside and moist inside, about 5 minutes per side, remove and place on several thicknesses of paper towels. Keep doing this until you run out of batter.
• Serve the latkes immediately.