Potato Latkes

It is the first week back from being in San Diego for two weeks for work, and I am finally able to get unpacked and settled back into things. It is a funny feeling, wrapping up a conference. It feels like planning a wedding. I've clearly never been married or even close to getting married, but I can imagine it feels similar to the planning of a conference. You plan and plan and plan and work and work and work and then the time comes, it flies by, and then it's just POOF. Done.

My boss always says to me, "Sleep while the baby is sleeping", so while things at work are a little slow this week, my at home priority is cleaning up old blog posts and catching up on my cooking magazines. I'm not sure how I landed on potato latkes, but I was craving them and it sounded delicious. It's still unclear whether or not making them or eating them for reasons other than Passover is kosher, but it's basically like fancy hash browns and we'll just leave it at that.

The original Food Network recipe calls for using a food processor. I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I thought that this would work. The first potato I put in there turned into a soup immediately and I quickly realized I'd made a huge mistake. I don't know if I was missing an important piece of the processor or not, but clearly what I was using was not what they were talking about. After my potato soup debacle, I went straight to the cheese grater which worked perfectly. Who knew? I love finding new and weird ways to use kitchen gadgets. I need to find more reasons to use this cheesecloth...

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt and freshly ground pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1. With a cheese grater, grate the potatoes. Twist cheesecloth into a pouch, squeezing out some moisture into a bowl.

Let mixture drain for 15 minutes in a sieve above the bowl. After 15 minutes, pour off liquid from the bowl but leave the white potato starch that settles in the bottom of the bowl.

2. To that starch add shallots, eggs, flour, 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt and freshly ground pepper. Return drained potatoes to this mixture and toss to combine.

3. Line a baking pan with paper towels. When you are ready to eat, in a large skillet heat 1/4 inch of oil over medium high heat until hot. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of potato mixture and cook for 3 to 4 minutes a side; latkes should be golden and crisp on both sides. 

Serve with applesauce or sour cream or cottage cheese mixed with sour cream.