On the Trader Joe’s thread, @vinouspleasure and I were discussing TJ’s latkes. I’m not a fan, but I also don’t enjoy making latkes completely from scratch. I’ve made two batches of this recipe so far, and they were a big hit.
From Food52: https://food52.com/recipes/86641-best-baked-latkes-recipe
What I changed:
Instead of grating potatoes, I used a bag of frozen shredded potatoes that I thawed in the refrig overnight.
Instead of raw onions, I caramelized a couple of finely chopped onions for about an hour (no oil, just 1 T. of water), and mixed some of them in with the potato mixture. I actually like the taste of the caramelized ones better.
Just to complicate things, one of the latke eaters is a vegan, so no eggs. I thought about using Just Egg, but, for some reason, it creeps me out, so I used extra cooked onions as a binder. Worked perfectly.
I used 2 T. of flour instead of matzoh meal because I didn’t have any.
I made “silver dollar” size latkes, and started checking them at 10 minutes instead of 15. 11 minutes on each side seemed to be the right timing for cooking, at least for my oven.
Also - be really careful taking the pan with the hot oil out of the oven. That step made me really nervous!
I thought they were good. The recipe made 14 latkes, and I was able to cook them all at one time which was great. And the cooking smells (which don’t bother me, but seem to be a problem for many) didn’t linger very long. I also learned that latkes are much more flexible and forgiving than I remembered, so I was more relaxed making these.
Good luck!
