Today we have a special musical guest - here's Adam Sandler doing the third version of his Chanukah Song (one of my favorites):
Now on to more important things, Latkes.
Latkes are just potato pancakes, but damn are they good. There are different ways to make them, some use shredded potatoes some use mashed (though I'm not a big fan of the mashed variety). But you've got to love the fact that eating food cooked in oil is part of the Hanukkah tradition. It is meant to represent the small amount of oil the Jews had when defending the Temple - miraculously the oil lasted for eight days. So foods that are commonly served at Hanukkah include doughnuts, fritters of all sorts, and any other fried vegetable (particularly squash) - woo hoo!
So here's my favorite recipe for Latkes, it's from Louise Fiszer, a woman I used to work with years ago. She's a great recipe writer (she use to test her new recipes on us, that was an excellent perk) and has done a number of books.
So here's the recipe, super simple and crazy good!
Potato Latkes (makes about 16)
1 1/2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled
1 medium onion, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 to 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
Grate potatoes and place in strainer or colander. Squeeze out as much moisture from potatoes as you can. In large bowl, combine potatoes with remaining ingredients, except for oil. Heat about 1/4 cup oil in large frying pan until very hot. Drop two to three tablespoons potato mixture into pan for each latke. Use back of spoon to flatten mixture so that each latke is about three-inches in diameter. Fry over medium high heat about four to five minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in oven. Continue, using more oil if necessary for each batch. Serve hot with an apple-pear sauce.
Scott prefers his with sour cream - I like either sour cream or apple sauce. Last year I made a great homemade apple sauce (I know, how perky!) - try it if you have the time.
Current Music: I'm Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica - Tom Lehrer
3 comments:
Thanks for the recipe! I may just whip up a batch. Do they come in batches? ;)
Hey! By the way. I got here via the Holidailies random pick mode... funny!
It's kind of a neat way to browse the participants:
http://holidailies.org/athome-random.php
I, like my sister (above) will just have to make some. I need to prove to Jerry I actually know where the kitchen is. Hee-hee.
Can I make them for Christmas or is this just for Hannukah? Hmmmmm.... I'm sure Ben will like them as well. He's a meat and potatoes kind of little guy - sans meat.
Happy Channukah!
Those sound delicious! Anything with potatoes and oil pretty much as me perked up in attention for! I'll have to give these a try.
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