Roasted Garlic Latkes

Hanukkah is really a holiday to be shared. It's in the litany of voices reciting the prayer, the slight variations in pronunciation, the mild envy over the child who gets to light the candles. I need others around me during Hanukkah. During college, my roommates would take turns lighting the candles while I said the prayer. Before that, my family would get together with the sole other Jewish family we knew in the area and we would all make latkes; our family braided the challah, while they tossed the salad. This year, however, I asked my parents to mail me our mini menorah, but it was with the prospect of lighting the candles on my own. With housemates crazed by upcoming finals, arranging any sort of evening gathering is next to impossible.

But I did make latkes for the house. I spent the first night of Hanukkah filling the house with the smell of gently spitting oil, roasting a bulb of garlic in the oven while the potato shreds drained. I even bought a grater for the occasion. So we shared a batch of latkes fresh from the oil, dolloping sour cream onto the roundish potato pancakes—some thin and crispy, others thicker and more gumptiony. I like both kinds.

Latkes traditionally contain onions and potato, but I'm just not an onion person. Perhaps the one boon of cooking latkes for myself is in that I had no obligation at all to add onions to the batter. But I wanted some flavor beyond the classic russet, so I minced some roasted garlic and tossed that in as I added the egg and flour as binders. The result was a pure potatoey pancake with bursts of deep garlic flavour. Four large russet potatoes proved just right for the six of us. We even had leftovers, which I polished off as a midnight snack.

Roasted Garlic Latkes

Ingredients:

4 russet potatoes, scrubbed

1 bulb garlic

1 egg

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 TBSP salt

2 tsp. ground pepper

Oil for frying

Sour cream and applesauce for serving

Directions:

--Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Roast garlic, unpeeled, for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and when cool, peel cloves. Mince garlic and mix with 2 TBSP flour.

--Grate potatoes. Scoop into a colander and press down, using a clean cloth, to expell excess water. Let drain for 1/2 hour.

--Mix together potatoes, garlic, egg, remaining flour, salt and pepper until combined. Line a cookie sheet or a few large plates with paper towels for draining latkes.

--Pour oil into a medium sized pan or skillet to 1/4 inch deep. Heat on medium-high until a small bit of batter sizzles when dropped in oil. Add batter in 1/2 cup portions, patting down slightly with spatula when batter hits oil. Cook until dark brown and crispy, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove from oil with slotted spatula and let drain on sheet.

--Serve with sour cream and applesauce, if desired. Latkes can be kept warm in a 200 degree oven until everyone is ready to eat.  Makes approximately 14 latkes.