I love Hanukkah, and not just for presents. I love latkes. I do. I adore them. I love them enough to grate my fingers while grating the potatoes, cry over the onions, and duck when the oil pops. I even bought a food processor to protect my fingers and a splatter screen for the pan all for the love of latkes. I didn’t know people ate anything else for Hanukkah until my aunt served brisket. Wonderful brisket, so wonderful it almost overshadowed the latkes and that just won’t do. Simple foods to eat on the side of the latkes make me happy because the latkes is the star. Oh sure, I’ve seen recipes for alternatives to latkes, even a fig cake that used a healthy dose of oil but I thought “Why? Why fix something that isn’t broke? Why reinvent the wheel when the wheel works?"
Well, I never gave latke making another thought until someone on the EtsyChai team asked for suggestions to “jazz latkes up.” Hmmm, maybe it is time for me to take a second look at my beloved latke. A bit of brainstorming ensued and here’s what we’ve come up with.
Add grated daikon radish to the potatoes.
Add a little sour cream or cheese like gorgonzola or feta to the potatoes for a little zing.
Add feta cheese, blue cheese, or gorgonzola to the sour cream, or maybe some garlic, chives, or onion.
How about Greek yogurt instead of sour cream? Maybe add Romano or parmesan
cheese?
Make a balsamic vinegar reduction to serve with the latkes.
Make a mixed fruit sauce or pear butter instead of apple sauce.
By the way, here’s Grandma Freida’s recipe, at least how I remember it.
6 large russet potatoes, peeled 2 large onions
2 eggs 1/2 cup matzo meal
salt and pepper
oil for frying
Grate the potatoes. Place the potatoes in a strainer and let them drain for about 15-30 minutes. Place the potatoes in a bowl. Grate the onions and add to the potatoes. Add the matzo meal, salt, and pepper and mix. Heat the oil in a skillet (approx 350 degrees). Using a large spoon, place the mixture into the oil and flatten each pancake. Fry on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to drain. Serve with apple sauce.
Now that’s Grandma’s recipe but you can use any of our ideas. Let me know how it comes out.
Enjoy, or as Grandma would say, Es gesunta hait!
Post by Eileen Patterson aka Goofing Off.
GoofingOff Sewing Supplies, that is.
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
12.20.2011
3.26.2010
Passover Recipes
4 egg whites
1 12oz. package semisweet chocolate chips
1 14oz package coconut
*Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. In the meantime, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Fold the egg whites and coconut into the melted chocolate. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 mins.
Enjoy!
April, of AgruArts Ceramics Shop, recipe submissions for the holiday sound delicious! Some favorites: “THE BEST PASSOVER SPONGE CAKE IN THE WHOLE WORLD” from The Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Gloria Kaufer Greene, and “PINEAPPLE FARFEL KUGEL” from Beyond Chicken Soup by the Jewish Home Auxiliary, Rochester, NY. Here are some more for you to try….
PASSOVER BROWNIES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, 13x9x2 pan, greased½ cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup matzah cake meal
½ cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup potato starch
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Powdered sugarBeat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition.
Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each one.
Add rest of ingredients and stir well.
Spoon into prepared pan and bake 30-35 minutes.
Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar (tapping the powdered sugar in a strainer works well). Cut into squares.
CINNAMON BALLS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Lightly greased cookie sheet3 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups ground almonds
2 teaspoons shredded coconut, sweetenedBeat egg whites to a stiff froth. Gently blend in rest of ingredients.
Roll heaping teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on cookie sheet. Then bake for 20-25 minutes.
While still warm, shake the cookies together with the powdered sugar in a bag to coat.
Do you have a favorite Passover recipe? Share it in the comments here!
12.13.2009
Latkes Recipe for Hanukkah
Latkes
Let me begin by laughing out loud at the phrase: “gourmet latkes”. HA! Latkes are one of those down-home, remember bubbe/grandma, can’t wait for Chanukah, comfort foods. To try and elevate them to anything above and beyond that does them a great disservice.
So, I’m going to start with a “non-recipe” –- potato latkes as passed down in my family.
Start with potatoes. There’s no specific number, just estimate about one per. Peel them and put the peeled potatoes in water to keep them from getting brown.
Now, I HAVE modernized the next step, but we’ll start with the old tradition. Get a metal grater – the four-sided ones with the knuckle murdering sharp edges. Using the medium sized holes, grate all the potatoes. The joke is always that you need some knuckle to make them kosher. But try and avoid injuring yourself during this step. OR you can switch over to the new, handy dandy food processor and using the blade on pulse to chop the potatoes in small batches. I don’t like them too fine, though my mother-in law made hers with mashed potatoes. So, go figure!
Take some onions and mince them up. Again, use your own judgment. Making potato latkes is not rocket science, so put more in if you like them oniony, and fewer if you want them less so.
When you’re done with the potatoes, take some eggs – about two for every 4 potatoes, and mix them into the grated potato/onion mix.
Now, I know a lot of modern recipes add flour to the latkes. But I prefer matzoh meal. It gives them more body and, I find, helps hold things together a bit better. Besides, this also makes a latke you can use over Passover as well!
The next step depends on whether you want to go with my grandmother’s traditional recipe, or go the healthier, completely vegetarian route. At any rate, you need to add some sort of liquid fat to the latkes. We use melted schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), about 1/3 cup for every four potatoes. If you go this route, it’s traditional to “keep it kosher” and serve this recipe with applesauce, which is pareve (neither meat nor dairy) rather than sour cream, which would be mixing meat and dairy. If the idea of schmaltz isn’t your preference, you can also just add vegetable or canola oil instead.
Let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes and then check its consistency. If it seems too loose, add a bit more matzoh meal. If it’s a bit too thick, add another egg. This is all where the non-recipe part comes in.
Mix it all together and start adding salt and pepper to taste, and my grandmother and mother and I DO taste it as we season it. Amazingly, none of us have ever gotten sick from this either!
The trick now is to put a good amount, about ¼ inch, of oil in your largest frying pan over medium-high heat and be patient. The oil should be good and hot before you begin frying up the latkes, or else you’ll get a soggy mess. Now begin to drop tablespoons of the mix into the oil. Occasionally press the latke into the fat so it will brown evenly. When the underside is brown and crusty, turn it over. When each batch is done, drain them on a paper towel and keep them warm in a 250-degree oven for no more than 20 minutes.
Serve with applesauce or sour cream (only use applesauce if you’ve made them using the schmaltz).
Again, that’s just my family’s recipe. There are as many latke recipes as there are families. And, if your family doesn’t have a recipe of its own, there are hundreds or recipes out there on the Internet. So, enjoy!
Let me begin by laughing out loud at the phrase: “gourmet latkes”. HA! Latkes are one of those down-home, remember bubbe/grandma, can’t wait for Chanukah, comfort foods. To try and elevate them to anything above and beyond that does them a great disservice.
Start with potatoes. There’s no specific number, just estimate about one per. Peel them and put the peeled potatoes in water to keep them from getting brown.
Now, I HAVE modernized the next step, but we’ll start with the old tradition. Get a metal grater – the four-sided ones with the knuckle murdering sharp edges. Using the medium sized holes, grate all the potatoes. The joke is always that you need some knuckle to make them kosher. But try and avoid injuring yourself during this step. OR you can switch over to the new, handy dandy food processor and using the blade on pulse to chop the potatoes in small batches. I don’t like them too fine, though my mother-in law made hers with mashed potatoes. So, go figure!
Take some onions and mince them up. Again, use your own judgment. Making potato latkes is not rocket science, so put more in if you like them oniony, and fewer if you want them less so.
When you’re done with the potatoes, take some eggs – about two for every 4 potatoes, and mix them into the grated potato/onion mix.
Now, I know a lot of modern recipes add flour to the latkes. But I prefer matzoh meal. It gives them more body and, I find, helps hold things together a bit better. Besides, this also makes a latke you can use over Passover as well!
The next step depends on whether you want to go with my grandmother’s traditional recipe, or go the healthier, completely vegetarian route. At any rate, you need to add some sort of liquid fat to the latkes. We use melted schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), about 1/3 cup for every four potatoes. If you go this route, it’s traditional to “keep it kosher” and serve this recipe with applesauce, which is pareve (neither meat nor dairy) rather than sour cream, which would be mixing meat and dairy. If the idea of schmaltz isn’t your preference, you can also just add vegetable or canola oil instead.
Let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes and then check its consistency. If it seems too loose, add a bit more matzoh meal. If it’s a bit too thick, add another egg. This is all where the non-recipe part comes in.
Mix it all together and start adding salt and pepper to taste, and my grandmother and mother and I DO taste it as we season it. Amazingly, none of us have ever gotten sick from this either!
The trick now is to put a good amount, about ¼ inch, of oil in your largest frying pan over medium-high heat and be patient. The oil should be good and hot before you begin frying up the latkes, or else you’ll get a soggy mess. Now begin to drop tablespoons of the mix into the oil. Occasionally press the latke into the fat so it will brown evenly. When the underside is brown and crusty, turn it over. When each batch is done, drain them on a paper towel and keep them warm in a 250-degree oven for no more than 20 minutes.
Serve with applesauce or sour cream (only use applesauce if you’ve made them using the schmaltz).
Again, that’s just my family’s recipe. There are as many latke recipes as there are families. And, if your family doesn’t have a recipe of its own, there are hundreds or recipes out there on the Internet. So, enjoy!
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