POTATOES

Potato Latkes

Mashed Potatoes

Potato Salad

Potatoes with Onions

Extra Crispy French Fries
Potato Pierogi

Potato Latkes

4 big baking potatoes (older are better)

2 cooking onions

1 c. flour/ matzo meal

1 ½ tsp. salt

white pepper

vegetable oil

Peel the potatoes and soak them in cold water for 40 minutes.  Dry the potatoes and cut them into big chunks.  Grate them using a food processor, and transfer to a large bowl.  Add ¼ c. flour/ matzo meal/ a splash of lemon juice to keep the potatoes from turning brown. 

Peel and chop the onions into large pieces.  Using the food processor, chop them into to very small pieces.  Add the potatoes to the food processor and blend everything to mush. 

Transfer the mixture back to the bowl.  Add ¾ c. flour/ matzo meal, salt, and a pinch of white pepper.  Mix well.  Taste the batter to make sure that you can feel the salt and pepper, but they are not overpowering.  Adjust the seasoning as needed.

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan in a thick layer of vegetable oil, and warm it over medium heat.  The oil is ready when a drop of water sizzles in the pan.  Cover a baking pan in paper towel.  Using a large, wooden mixing spoon, drop spoonfuls of batter into the frying pan.  Fry the latkes until the bottoms brown and the tops change colour.  The edges will turn green and then brown.  Flip the latkes and fry until the bottoms are brown.  Add more oil as needed.  Cool the latkes on the paper towel. 

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. 

Transfer the latkes to a broiling pan and bake them until they are extra crispy.  Enjoy them warm with applesauce, sour cream, or jam.

Mashed Potatoes

16 baking potatoes

½ tsp. salt

Butter

Milk

Black pepper

Peel and rinse the potatoes in cold water.  Transfer them to a large pot and fill it to the ¾ mark with warm water.  Add salt.  Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium.  As the potatoes soften, split them with a fork.  Cook them for 40 minutes, or until they fall apart when you press them with the fork.

Drain the pot by tipping it over the sink.  Uncover it slightly, creating a small space for the water run out, but holding back the potatoes.

Return the pot to the stovetop. The stove should be off, but still warm.  Remove the cover and let the potatoes dry for 10 minutes. 

Mash the potatoes with a potato masher.  Add butter, milk, salt, and black pepper to taste.  Cool and enjoy!

Potato Salad

2 baking potatoes

4 eggs

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. white pepper

2 celery stalks

½ red pepper

½ green pepper

2 tbsp. mayonnaise

1 ½ tsp. mustard

Wash the potatoes.  Boil the potatoes and the eggs until the potatoes feel soft when they are pierced with a fork.  Cool the eggs in a bowl of very cold water.  Peel and chop the potatoes into small chunks.  Peel and grate the eggs. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the potatoes, eggs, white pepper, and salt, and mix well.

Chop the celery and peppers into very small pieces.  Stir them into the potato mixture.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and mustard.  Stir this into the salad, and mix well.  Chill the salad in the fridge to marinade and enjoy!

Potatoes with Onions

4 potatoes

4 onions

vegetable oil

1 tsp. Lipton onion soup mix

½ tsp. salt

Peel the potatoes and soak them in a bowl of cold water.  Peel and slice the onions into rings.

Coat the bottom of a frying pan in oil, and warm on low heat.  Add the onions and fry them until they are golden brown.

While the onions cook, cut the potatoes into thick slices.  Transfer the pieces to a large bowl and sprinkle them with salt. 

Add the potatoes to the frying pan.  Stir in the Lipton onion soup mix and ¾ c. warm water.  Cover the pan and cook for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Cool and enjoy!

Extra Crispy French Fries

5 baking potatoes

vegetable oil

white vinegar

salt

Peel, wash, and slice potatoes into wedges.  Let them sit in a colander for about an hour to dry.

Fill 1/3 of the deep fryer with vegetable oil.  Heat the oil for 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and drop in the potatoes.  Turn on the heat and cook for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Remove the basket of deep fryer and drain it over the sink, shaking it back and forth.  Transfer the fries to large mixing bowl.  Sprinkle them with a few splashes of vinegar and a handful of salt. 

Spread the fries evenly on a large baking pan.  Bake them in oven until they are dry and extra crispy.  Cool and enjoy!

Potato Pierogi

Filling:

3-4 baking potatoes

1 egg

¼ c. grated cheese

1 tbsp. flour

salt and pepper to taste

Dough:

3 c. flour

2 eggs

salt

½ c. warm water

1 cooking onion

vegetable oil

Filling:

Peel and rinse the potatoes in cold water.  Transfer them to a pot and fill it to the ¾ mark with warm water.  Add a pinch of salt.  Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium.  As the potatoes soften, split them with a fork.  Boil them until they fall apart when you press them with the fork.

Drain the pot by tipping it over the sink.  Uncover it slightly, creating a small space for the water run out, but holding back the potatoes.

Return the pot to the stovetop. The stove should be off, but still warm.  Remove the cover and let the potatoes dry for 10 minutes. 

Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and let them cool.  Mix in the egg and cheese.  Then add the flour, salt, and pepper.

Dough:

Combine the flour, eggs, water, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.  Kneed the dough until it is very smooth.  Cover a counter or board in flour, and transfer the dough to the floured surface.  Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to an even thickness.  Cut circles out of the dough with the open end of a drinking glass. 

Place a spoonful of filling in the centre of a circle of dough.  Fold the circle in half and press the edges together with your fingers.  Repeat until all the dough is used up.

Let the peirogi dry on both sides.  Fill a large pot to the ¾ mark with warm water and add a pinch of salt.  Bring the water to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium, and transfer the pierogi to the pot.  Boil the pierogi for 7 to 10 minutes, or until they all float to the top.  Stir them gently every few minutes, so they stick to the bottom.  Fill a large bowl with cold water.  Transfer the pierogi to the bowl, and rinse them with more cold water so that they don’t stick together.

Slice the onion.  Coat the bottom of a large pan with vegetable oil, and warm the oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and pierogi, and fry them until they are golden brown. 

Or, fry the onions on their own.  Transfer the pierogi to a greased baking pan and cover them with the fried onions.  Bake on the top rack of the oven at 200 or 225 degrees for at least 1/2 hour.  Serve warm and enjoy!