Latkes are a great thing to have in your culinary repertoire, and while they are admittedly a little time consuming, they’re incredibly easy. I love these dolloped with hot red pepper jelly in place of apple sauce at the this time of year when there’s so much rich food and frantic busyness–the heat of the pepper jelly makes me feel lit up, and the pleasant simpleness of the potatoes is comforting. If you want to serve them with a fancier topping for a holiday brunch, or as a weekend treat, top them with caramelized onion sour cream.

Latkes

• 1.5 golden potatoes
• 1 sweet onion
• 2 eggs
• 2 T. flour
• 1 t. salt, or to taste
• neutral oil for frying

Line a colander with a thin kitchen towel and set the colander in a bowl. The towel may get stained so choose one you’re not attached to. Coarsely grate the potatoes and onion (I use a food processor with a grating attachment for this step which makes the prep very quick). Drain the potatoes by adding them to the colander, wrapping the towel into a pouch and gently squeezing out excess moisture. Allow the potatoes to sit in the colander for 15-20 minutes. After the potatoes have dried out a little, remove the colander and pour the liquid out of the bowl, but do not discard the potato starch in the bottom.

Into the starch whisk in the eggs, flour and salt. Pour in the grated potatoes and onion and mix gently to combine.

Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat, and fry the potatoes in medium-sized cakes by forking dollops into the hot skillet and gently flattening the mounds into thin cakes with the tines of the fork.

Cook until golden and crispy, about 5-7 minutes on each side. You can keep the cooked latkes hot by placing them on a paper lined, heat safe plate in your oven at 175 degrees while you finish frying the rest of the cakes.

Makes 8 latkes

Caramelized Onion Sour Cream

• 1/4 c. sour cream
• 2 T. mayonnaise
• 2 sweet onions
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional, since they’re not in season)
• pepper to taste
• neutral oil and two large pinches of sugar for caramelizing

Thinly slice the onions into half moons (again, you can use a food processor with a slicing attachment to save time). Cook the onions in a large pan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, with enough oil to keep them from sticking and two big pinches of sugar to help them brown. When they are uniformly golden brown, drain them briefly on some brown paper or paper towel. I like to spread these on a cutting board and run my knife over them a few times to break the pieces up, but this step is optional.

Mix together the remaining ingredients and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes or in the refrigerator for 2 hours (or overnight) and serve on hot latkes or as a topping for baked potatoes.

Makes approximately 2/3 c.