Bonus: Latkes, The Director's Cut

Ok, remember last week for the first night of Hanukkah I tweeted that I made some Sweet Potato Latkes.  Well, they didn't really work out.  But figured I'd post the story anyway.  I added in some comments and suggestions, so next time they will come out better!

The art of Bachelor Cheffing emphasizes finding new uses for leftovers.  So originally I had tried to make Sweet Potato Latkes from my Thanksgiving remainders. 

I took a container of mashed and prepared sweet potatoes, and added the same ingredients as the regular latke recipe… onion, egg, and spices.  Scooped them into the oil in the same way.  Prepared sweet potatoes are mushy and soft, so they clump together nice.  I hoped they would fry just as well.

Well, they didn’t  L

Mmm...  Burned Sugar

Holiday sweet potato dishes are already formed into a pasty consistency, and contain a ton of added sugar.  The combination of these two factors led to the demise of the dish.  The sugar quickly caramelizes and burns.  Even turning down the heat, you get a charred patty before the potato ever cooks.  Even trying to salvage the burned latkes, I found they fell apart instantly after taking them out of the oil.

The few bits that weren’t burned did taste good, but I basically had to pick the unburned bits off the full latkes.  And they were still a bit raw in the middle.

These few came out ok...

Not so much these guys...

What I would suggest, if you want to try this, is use fresh sweet potatoes.  Grate them by hand, and follow the recipe for the original latke.  Do this properly and you will have a decadent, crispy pancake!

What can I say, they can’t all be winners.  Half the fun is learning from your mistakes.  Delicious, delicious mistakes…

Well, the pics came out good.  Too bad they didn't survive outside the pan

Happy experimenting, and enjoy!