Potatonik

This recipe took us around 3 hours to make, including prep and baking time.

Recipe:

1 package of active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water

Pinch of sugar

2 ½ lbs of potatoes

2 ½ cups of all purpose flour

1 ½ tablespoons of salt

2 medium onions sliced thin in circles

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Instructions: (Makes about 10 servings)

1. Place yeast in a bowl with the water and sugar and let it sit for about 10 minutes or until it starts to bubble slightly.

2. Peel and grate the potatoes and place with the flour in a mixing bowl and add the yeast mixture with the salt. Mix all ingredients well and let rise, covered, in a greased bowl for 45 minutes.

3. Layer the onions in a 9x12 inch greased baking dish. Cover with the potato flour mixture and flatten out.

4. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for about 10 minutes.

5. Brush with the oil and continue baking for about 35 more minutes or until golden and crisp.

Tip: You can serve this as a snack, a starch with your meal, or even as a crispy hors d’oeuvre with drinks. Like potato pancakes, also yummy with applesauce or sour cream.

The NY Times Bitten Blog suggests that instead of making several small latkes, one can make one large potatonik instead. According to the blog, "the attractions of this method are many: you can cook a huge one — the equivalent of probably 20 latkes — in 40 minutes; it can be made in advance by a half-hour and still be warm when you serve it; and it isn’t bad cooled off, either."

In our opinion, although the potatonik was tasty, the latkes we made were much tastier. But it's true, this potatonik reciepe does help you produce a potato side dish in large qauntities.

-Carter & Sarah

(This recipe was adapted from page 246 of Joan Nathan's book "Jewish Cooking in America")