Latkes Interruptus

   

George Segal, Cinema, 1963

     Life's Tilt-a-Whirl apparatus  tilted unxpectedly yesterday when we arrived home in Orange County to find ourselves with no power, no heat and only the utility company to complain to. "They" say Death Don't Have No Mercy (link), but "they" have probably never encountered the folks at Orange & Rockland Power and Light (and Darkness and Cold).

     We were planning to attend a holiday party today in Stamford, CT given every year by good friends who knock themselves out creating a faith and cuisine-crossing cusp-of-winter extravaganza.  Unfortunately we needed to turn right around and head back to Pennsylvania or risk turning into simulacra of Jack Nicholson's icy rigor mortis effigy at the end of The Shining if we dared to remain overnight.

   The centerpiece(s) of this party are my friend Ken's latkes or potato pancakes, which are always excellent.  I grew up eating these Eastern European beignets, but they were originally a novelty for Jane and Caroline that they've now grown to love.  To salve their disappointment, we're preparing them at home tonight for the first time.

    Sorting through recipes, I found the one which follows below in the 1977 Museum of Modern Art Artist's Cookbook.  It comes from the kitchen of the sculptor George Segal (1924-2000), who was best known for his Edward Hopper-esque "American scene" tableaus featuring white plaster-cast figures.  (Actually, these latkes are Segal's mother's recipe.)   I also decided to include here Martha Stewart's variation in last position, where beer replaces baking powder as the leavening agent and pink applesauce and caviar are suggested as garnish lily-gilt. 

      I hope you enjoy these (and that our own dinner experiment works out).  Please try not to let that Jack Nicholson image linger too long in your brain.

 

George Segal, The Tar Roofer, 1964

Sophie’s Potato Pancakes

Makes about 2 dozen

4 large potatoes, peeled and finely grated

3 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

4-8 ounces of vegetable oil for frying

1/8 teaspoon pepper

In a large bowl, beat eggs lightly.  Add salt, baking powder and pepper.  Add egg mixture to potatoes and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.   Mix in flour.  In a large frying pan heat 3 tablespoons of oil until it smokes.  Spoon potato mixture by the tablespoon into the pan.  Brown 2 minutes and lower heat.  Turn and fry another 3 minutes.  As pancakes absorb oil, add more to the pan so that half the thickness of the pancakes is always covered.  Drain pancakes on paper towels.  Repeat until all batter is used.  Serve hot.

NOTE:  These pancakes are delicious with applesauce.  George’s mother Sophie substitutes matzo meal for flour during Passover.

 

George Segal preparing to plaster cast art historian Barbara Novak, Dublin, 1993

Martha Stewart's Potato Pancakes

Martha shares her favorite recipe for latkes -- potato pancakes that are traditionally prepared for Hanukkah dinners. Serve them warm from the oven with warm applesauce, sour cream, or caviar.

Ingredients

• 4 large russet potatoes, peeled
• 1 small white onion, finely grated
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup beer
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Pink applesauce, for serving (optional)
• Sour cream, for serving (optional)
• Osetra caviar, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Grate potatoes in long strips, using smooth strokes to run the potatoes across the grater into a large bowl of cold water. Drain potatoes well, reserving liquid, and transfer to a second bowl.
2. Set reserved liquid aside for 10 minutes to allow the starch to sink to the bottom of the bowl. Carefully pour the liquid from the bowl, reserving the milky residue (potato starch), and discard. Transfer potatoes back to bowl with potato starch.
3. Add onion to the bowl with potatoes. Stir in eggs, beer, flour, salt, and pepper.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with paper towels; set aside. In a heavy skillet, heat 1/2-inch of oil. Spoon 1/2 cup of potato mixture per pancake into skillet. Make a few at a time, being careful that they don't run into each other.
5. Fry on both sides until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to prepared baking sheet to drain. Keep warm in oven while preparing the others. Serve hot with applesauce, sour cream, and caviar, if desired.

George Segal  Seated Man In Front Of Window sculpture adjacent to Jasper Johns Target painting




12-11 POST-SCRIPT:  Our own dinner, created using Malvina W. Leibman's Elizabeth David-like recipe in her Jewish Cooking From Boston to Baghdad (1975), was really superb and is very similar to Martha Stewart's version.  I think Sophie Segal uses much more flour than is needed, but that the George Segals displayed here are nicely balanced in terms of observation and execution.  Would love to try this with caviar, but to everything there is a season, I guess, and now is not the time, unless you happen to be invited to a soiree at the Russian or Iranian embassies or, perhaps the White House.