Latkes with Applesauce

My friend Dorothy makes the best latkes. I had them once, more than 12 years ago at a homeschool Channukah celebration, and I still remember how wonderful they were- warm, crispy, with applesauce and sour cream. She generously shared her recipe with me, which was sadly and irrevocably lost in the Great Hard Drive Crash of 2008. But I think she must have had some latke magic that she didn't share with me, because even with her recipe, mine were never as good.

We made 2 batches from the recipe found here. One batch was the traditional kind made with white potatoes, and the other batch was made with sweet potatoes. (All potatoes from our garden, by the way!)

White potato latkes
Sweet potato latkes
Latke "batter"- white potatoes

Despite the recipe statement that we could make "palm-sized" latkes, I think these were too big, certainly too thick. Next time we'll go thinner. We also thought we would reduce the fat content by cooking them on the non-stick griddle- BIG MISTAKE! We had to move them to the cast iron skillet. They really need the oil to make them correctly.







white potato latkes in the cast iron skillet.



Latkes are best served with applesauce and sourcream, as in the top picture. Since my days of eating sour cream and living through the experience are over, I had non-fat plain yogurt. The Greek yogurt is an almost acceptable substitute. (They are also good as leftovers, with applesauce and pepperjack cheese melted on them.)