Potato and Carrot Latkes

Breakast of champions – potato and carrot latkes.
These latkes are both sweet and savoury, and are a great base for all kinds of toppings. Serve with yogurt and simple cranberry sauce, rhubarb compote, applesauce or birch syrup, or, for a heartier breakfast, try melted cheese underneath the applesauce. For Sunday brunch go all out and make Eggs Florentine with sautéed greens topped with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

Ingredients


10 oz (285 gr) potatoes (about 2 medium)
6 oz (170 gr) carrots (about 2 medium)
½ cup (125 mL) finely chopped onion
1 large egg

Optional:
2 Tbsp (30 mL) chopped pork cracklings or browned milk solids from ghee-making
¼ cup (60 mL) ghee for frying

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 250°F.
  2. Peel and coarsely grate potatoes and carrots into the same bowl.
  3. Gather grated vegetables into a clean tea cloth or cheesecloth, twist and squeeze as much juice out as you can. Save the juice for soup.
  4. Return grated vegetables to bowl and stir in the onion.
  5. Beat egg briefly and stir into vegetables.
  6. Stir in pork cracklings at the end. If using browned milk solids, warm to room temperature before adding, or, to save time, finely chop milk solids straight from the fridge.
  7. Melt ghee in a cast-iron frying pan over medium heat until it’s hot but not smoking, about 2 minutes.
  8. Making four latkes at a time, scoop two tablespoons each of latke mixture into the hot ghee and flatten with a spatula.
  9. Cook until the undersides are browned, about 4 to 5 minutes, flip and cook until the other sides are browned, about 4 to five minutes more.
  10. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels or a tea cloth and keep warm in the oven until all the latkes are finished.
  11. Latkes can be made ahead and reheated on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes. Cooked latkes freeze well, and can be reheated in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Tip: When making ghee, after straining the clarified butter through a fine sieve, return the milk solids — the white residue — to the pan and cook until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Reserve for use as a seasoning crumbled onto cooked meats or vegetables, or added to latke or potato pancake batter.

Makes about 20 3-inch latkes.
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