Potato Latkes with Caviar and Crème Fraîche

It’s that time of the month again. No, no. Not that time! Nicole from For the Love of Food has paired over 40 bloggers in her Taste & Create event. The idea is each partner has to make one of the recipes on the other’s website. This time round my partner is The Allergy Kid. All her recipes contain no eggs, dairy products, nuts or red meat, since her son is allergic to them all and in case he does get it into his system, he ends up in the Emergency Room.

Being sensitive to wheat and lactose myself, her potato latkes really stood out for me. What made them different was the lack of combining agents like eggs and flour. Yes, they ended up being slightly tricky to work with but it was all worth it, knowing I could eat all the crispy and lovely latkes stacked high on my plate without having to keel over of stomach pain half an hour later. You might think I confused latkes with blinis, having served them with crème fraîche and caviar but it works wonderfully. Let’s just call it a Russian twist.

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Potato Latkes with Caviar and Crème Fraîche

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Michelle Minnaar
• Prep Time: 40 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x

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Description

These potato latkes with caviar and crème fraîche make the perfect canapes. The secret is in the caviar crème fraîche. Make sure to make a large batch. These little potato latkes disappear very fast! 

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1kg (2 lb) floury potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for frying
• crème fraîche
• caviar
• parsley, for garnishing

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Instructions

1. Peel the potatoes and onion then grate or shred everything. (A food processor is really handy.)
2. Mix the potatoes and onion, add seasoning then place the mixture in a colander/sieve. The idea is to squeeze out all the moisture now, so try your best to get every last drop of liquid out of the mix.
3. Heat 1cm (½ inch) of oil in a large frying pan/skillet.
4. When you think the oil’s temperature is high enough, take a tiny piece of grated/shredded potato and add it to the pan. If the potato starts bubbling/sizzling, you know it’s ready.
5. With clean, wet hands, place a handful of the potato mixture between palms and squeeze out any additional moisture while making a nice palm-sized patty. Gently place the patty in the heated oil, and continue squeezing and shaping latkes until out of room in the skillet.
6. Fry until the bottom sides are golden brown then flip them over and cook until second side is also a lovely shade.
7. Place the latkes on paper towels to drain the fat. Continue the latke assembly line until all the potato mixture is gone.
8. Spoon a generous dollop of crème fraîche on each latke, plus a bit of caviar and serve immediately.

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Notes

• You don’t need to serves these luscious latkes with crème fraîche and caviar. They can be served the traditional way as well, i.e. apple sauce or sour cream.
• Luckily, I have this tacky, plastic hamburger press which all of a sudden became very useful in moulding the latkes in exactly the same shape and size. If you have one, do give it a try.
• In this recipe I used groundnut (peanut) oil as it has a higher smoke point than others.
• Simply use smaller quantities of the potato mix to make bite-sized latkes for dinner parties. That means the cooking time will also be considerably less.
• The price of caviar varies greatly. Buy the type that will suit your budget, whether it’s lumpfish roe, salmon eggs or sturgeon caviar.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 serving
• Calories: 504
• Sugar: 1.6 g
• Sodium: 63 mg
• Fat: 39.1 g
• Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
• Carbohydrates: 34.6 g
• Fiber: 3.4 g
• Protein: 5.2 g
• Cholesterol: 15 mg