Happy Hanukkah!! It is amazing because
Hanukkah and Thanksgiving happen at the same time, which is awesome! We have
created for you a spin on a traditional Latke, which actually will go
fantastically with turkey! We have for you a latke made with potato, parsnip,
carrot, and yellow zucchini, not to forget our very own persimmon butter on the
side.
How do you celebrate Hanukkah if
you do? Or better Hanukkah and Thanksgiving together?
*You will need a cheese grater
with large holes.
Ingredients: makes 10
Latke:
1 russet potato
2 large carrots
2 medium sized parsnips
2 small yellow zucchini
1 large egg
3 pinches of salt
¼ cup canola oil
Persimmon Butter:
4 ripe persimmons
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
If you want to make sure they
stay warm then preheat the oven to 200 degrees so you can put the latkes in
when you make them, if you don’t mind them being room temperature, then skip
this.
Start by making the persimmon
butter. Chop up the persimmons and blend in blender until they are pretty
smooth. In a small sauce pan, heat the puree, when it starts to bubble, add the
sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. Stir cooking for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit.
The latke making is so easy it’s
amazing. Peel all your vegetable except the yellow zucchini. Into a large bowl,
using the larger holes on the cheese grater, grate all you vegetables,
including the zucchini with the skin. Fill the bowl with water, the pour the
water out keeping the vegetables, fill it one more time, and let sit for 10
minutes. This gets all the extra starch out.
Strain the vegetables into a colander.
Lay out some paper towels, and lay the vegetables on top. Roll the paper towels
together, removing any excess moisture. Put everything back in bowl.
Crack the egg into the bowl and
start to mix. Put one pinch of salt, mix, next pinch, etc.
In a wide skillet heat your oil
to medium high. When the oil is hot enough, using a spoon, spoon a heaping spoonful
of the vegetables onto the skillet. Do two at a time.
While those are cooking, lay a
tray out with paper towels, so you can place the latke on and let the oil drain
off.
Let one side cook for about 5
minutes until nice and golden brown, the flip and do the same.
If you put in the oven, be sure
to not put it in with paper towel.
Serve with persimmon butter!
Enjoy!
What a glorious time of year this is!
Today is the second day of Hanukkah and Michael and I celebrate both Hanukkah
and Christmas so we get to be super festive the whole month. Every year
Hanukkah falls on a different date, because it follows the Jewish calendar.
Last year Hanukkah and Christmas overlapped, but this year it falls earlier on
in the month.
It is a wonderful thing that Michael can
teach me his family traditions, and I can teach him mine, and now we can share
both together…and twice the amount of awesome food!!
That being said, we are making potato
and leek latkes for the holiday with a sweet apple chutney to accompany it. An
interesting fact about why latkes are a holiday staple and are loved in the
Jewish community (besides being tasty), is that the oil used to fry the latkes
is representative of the oil used to provide light miraculously for eight days!
The glorious thing about this dish,
whether you call them latkes or potato pancakes, is that they are marvelous
year round and are so unbelievably delicious I am hungry just typing this! So
enjoy and happy holidays!
Ingredients:
Latkes: 4 medium sized ones
2 large russet potatoes
1 large leek
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup olive oil
Apple Chutney:
3 granny smith apples
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup apple juice
2 Tablespoons
unsalted butter
We start with making the apple chutney
because it is best served at room temperature, so start by peeling and dicing
the apple into same sized pieces depending on how large or small you would like
your pieces. Melt butter in a sauté pan, and then add apples. Cook until apples
soften, then add apple juice and cinnamon and cook until all the liquid is
absorbed. Remove from pan, and let sit at room temperature.
To make the latkes, peel the potatoes,
and using a cheese grater with the largest size holes grate both of them. Place
the shreds of potato into a bowl of water. Now take your leek, cut the end off
where it forms a bulb, and then cute where the white starts to turn into green.
Next cut in half length wise, take the outer two leaves off, and rinse the
stalk under flowing water. Now laying the cut side down, thinly slice the whole
leek into small strips.
Take the potato, and place in a strainer
and run cold water over until all the foamy starch washes off. Lay a towel out,
and place potato on top and ring out as much of the water as you possibly can.
Place potatoes back in a large mixing bowl, mix in leeks, salt and the egg
(lightly beaten). Be sure to mix thoroughly so all the parts are coated in egg because
this is your binder.
In a large sauté pan heat your olive oil
until it sizzles when you put a drop of water in it. Take about 3-4 Tablespoons
of your latke mix and place in a circle in the pan, using a spatula push down
to spread it out evenly. Put as many as you can in the pan, and flips them when
one side becomes golden brown. When they are done, they should be golden brown
on both sides, take them out and let them sit on a plate with a piece of paper
towel on it to absorb excess oil.
When they cool serve with the apple
chutney and any other toppings you like! Don’t just make these for the
holidays, you can make these year round!
Happy Holidays!
