Wednesday, December 20, 2006

One Potato, Two Potato — oy!

Today I have my first guest blogger: my Jewish friend David, the Married Guy. In honor of Hanukkah, David was nice enough to share with me (and all of you) his grandmother's recipe for latkes, the traditional dish eaten during the week of Hanukkah (which ends this Friday). And now, here's David:

Thanks, Ben, for letting me pinch hit for you. Hanukkah is a great time for cooking, and nothing represents Hanukkah more than latkes or potato pancakes. This is my grandmother’s recipe. The great thing about latkes is that they can be frozen and if stored right are perfect as a light meal with a green salad on a cold night when you don’t feel like cooking.

I usually serve the potato pancakes the traditional way — with a dollop of applesauce and sour cream.

So why latkes? According to Jewish tradition, Hanukkah foods tend to be fried to celebrate a miracle involving oil that lasted eight days. The key to latkes is to keep them crisp but not greasy.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow...these look amazing...Thanks for sharing your family secret!

Anonymous said...

Yum! I should have known that sweet Thelma would have a delicious latke recipe. When are you having us over, David? ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi -- my mother always used corn oil. I'm thinking that olive oil will impart a stronger flavor. Besides the health benefit of using olive oil, is there any other advantage?

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue:
You know, I usually cook with olive oil ... I don't notice the taste in the pancakes (just in my kitchen!). I recently read that using half butter, half oil keeps the pancakes from burning. I haven't tried that but it's worth noting.

David

Anonymous said...

Written with a healthy "dollop" of good cheer. -AK