Chili-Cheese Latkes

As Hanukkah rolls around, we wanted to cook up a traditional treat, but we couldn't just do the traditional way through and through. With a little spice and flare, we came up with Chili-Cheese Latkes. I mean really. We all know chili-cheese fries are amazing, and latkes are just glorified fries, so it's a no brainer. Latkes are simple to prepare and taste great. They're typically, however, just a side dish. But top them with some spicy chili, cheese, and sour cream and you'll have one delicious entree.

Start by peeling 3 russet potatoes, and then grating them. Make sure to place each peeled potato in a large bowl of cold water to keep them from browning while you peel and grate. After all the potatoes are grated, grate half of a peeled white onion.

In a large bowl, beat 3 eggs. Wring grated potatoes and onions to extract as much liquid and then add to the beaten eggs. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 teaspoons of salt.

Shape into thin patties about 1/4 inch tall. In a large frying pan, heat 1/4 inch of oil on medium heat. Once hot, add a few latkes to the pan (we had to do two batches).

Cook for roughly 4 minutes until latkes are starting to get crisp on the edges. Gently lift one of the latkes with a spatula to see if the underside is golden. Once it is, flip them and cook for a few more minutes until both sides are golden brown.

Once all the latkes are cooked, coat generously with chili, a handful of cheddar cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.

This dish worked really well. We were cautious at first, so we only put chili on one latke, but it turned out so good that we ate all of our latkes with chili and cheese.

And then to celebrate the holiday properly, we played dreidel for gelt. Unfortunately, our quality dreidel we purchased at the $1 section at Target was not properly balanced so it needed a lot of blowing to fall over. Either way, we had a great Hanukkah. Happy holidays!