If you prefer, you could instead serve these latkes with a hearty beef stew. Or for a special brunch dish use quail's eggs.
Makes: 10 latkes
Preparation: 60 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Ingredients
● 675g Maris Piper potatoes
● 250g sweet potato
● 1 white onion, grated
● 60g fine cornmeal or regular flour, sifted
● ½ tsp baking powder, (gluten-free)
● 1 large egg plus a large egg yolk
● Sea salt and white pepper
● 500ml sunflower oil
Garnish
● 4 tbsp crème fraîche
● 225g smoked salmon
● 4 large eggs
● Small handful chives, chopped
● Sprig of dill
Metho
● Grate the potatoes coarsely. Place in a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then place in a bowl.
● Grate the sweet potato and onion and add to the potato. Beat the eggs and yolk in a separate bowl. Season generously with sea salt and white pepper and mix well with the potato mixture. Stir in the cornmeal and baking powder until combined.
● Put a 2.5cm round cutter on a board and place a large tablespoon of filling into it. Squeeze the filling until level, lift off the cutter and repeat with the remaining mixture.
● Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium/ high heat. Use a spatula to carefully slide the latkes into the hot oil, and fry over moderate heat until brown underneath (3-4 minutes), then flip over using a fork and spatula and cook the other side until crisp and golden.
● Remove from the pan, drain on paper towel and serve hot. Keep a lined tray ready for the latkes to keep warm in the oven as you make more. They'll cook a little more in the oven. Don't stack them or they will go soggy!
● The natural sugar content of the sweet potato means they can burn and blacken easily - which is why it's important you don't have your stove heat too high and you don't keep them in the pan for too long.
● Serve two potato pancakes per person, topped with a poached egg. Add a spoonful of crème fraîche, a sprig of dill and some smoked salmon and serve sprinkled with the chives.
