from Gourmet Magazine, December 2004
- 1 large celery root peeled
- 3 large russet (baking) potatoes
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 lb onions quartered
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground celery seeds
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- Place oven racks at the upper and lower thirds positions and preheat oven to 250 F.
- Coarsely grate celery root into a bowl using the 1/3 inch-wide holes of a box grater.
- Peel potatoes and coarsely grate into a large bowl. Add lemon juice and toss. Coarsely grate onions into the same bowl.
- Transfer to towel, then gather the corners to form a sack. Twist tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible.
- Return potatoes and onions into a clean bowl and stir in celery root, flour, eggs, salt, pepper and celery seeds until well combined.
- Heat 1/3 inch of oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot, but not smoking. Fill a ¼ cup measure (but do not tightly pack) with the latke mixture and carefully spoon into the heated skillet, then fry until the underside is a deep golden color (1 ½ to 3 minutes).
- Turn over using 2 spatulas and fry until deep golden on all sides (1 ½ to 3 more minutes).
- Transfer to paper towels to drain briefly. Keep warm in a baking dish in the oven.
- Repeat frying process until all latkes are cooked.
Helpful Hints:
- You may fry latkes 1 hour ahead of serving time.
- You may shred the potatoes, onions and celery root in a food processer with the shredding disk.
However use 5 eggs (instead of 4), as the machine will grate more coarsely than hand grating and will require more binding. - Monitor the rate at which the latkes brown. If they brown very quickly, try reducing the heat to
moderate.