In our home it isn’t Hanukkah without at least one holiday dinner of brisket, latkes, and homemade applesauce during the eight night “Festival of Lights”.
This year we were thrilled to have good friends with us to share a holiday dinner.
After lighting the menorahs we began with some light appetizers, ensuring room for the heavy meal to come. It is the holidays after all!
I served Ina Garten’s (aka The Barefoot Contessa) Sun-Dried Tomato Dip with some crudités. Check out her easy recipe for this great tasting dip.
A bowl of toasted pumpkin seeds (or pepitas), a bowl of marcona almonds, and some crackers and pita on which to spread Boursin, (garlic and herb spread) completed the nibbles along with a glass of wine.
The brisket I served you can read about here. And it did not disappoint. We all agreed it was tender, juicy and delicious so hats off to Nach Waxman for the great recipe! For some other great tried and true brisket recipes look here.
Now on to the latkes. I made them ahead, too, so I could freeze and reheat them right before serving.
The trick here is placing the frozen latkes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with brown paper (to absorb the grease) and baking them in a hot preheated 450 degree F. oven for about 5 to 6 minutes, watching closely so they don’t burn.
The basic recipe for my latkes this year doesn’t differ that much from other years, but here it is…
Potato Latkes (makes about 40 3-to4-inch latkes)
(adapted from The Jewish -American Kitchen, Raymond Sokolov, recipes by Susan R. Friedland)
6 large russet potatoes, 8 to 9 ounces each, peeled
3 medium onions, peeled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten to combine whites and yolks
¼ to ½ cup all-purpose flour
2 to 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Peanut oil for frying (canola or vegetable oil ok as well)
Grate the potatoes using the largest holes on a 4-sided grater or, if using the food processor, (which I do), shred the potatoes using a medium shredding disc.
Transfer the shredded potatoes to a large mixing bowl.
Replace the shredding disc with the metal blade if using the processor and chop the onions, being careful not to over-process causing them to be too wet.
If using a 4-sided grater, grate the onions on the large holes.
Add the onions to the bowl with the potatoes and blend quickly.
Then transfer the grated potato-onion mixture to a large sieve placed over a large bowl.
Press out the excess moisture with the back of a wooden spoon and transfer the mixture to another bowl.
Beat the eggs into the potato-onion mixture.
Then beat in just enough flour to make a light batter. Add salt and pepper.
Heat ¼ to ½ -inch oil in a large heavy skillet. When a drop of water sizzles the pan is hot enough.
For each pancake, drop about 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter into the oil and flatten with the back of a wooden spoon; the flatter you make the pancakes, the crisper they will be.
Fry for about 2 minutes on one side; then turn and fry for 30 seconds or so on the other side until crisp and golden.
Don’t crowd the pan with too many pancakes which may cause them to become soggy.
Remove the finished pancakes with a slotted spatula; drain them over the skillet, and place on paper towels.
If eating them right away, keep warm in a 200-degree oven while you fry the rest.
If freezing, when room temperature layer them in storage containers with waxed paper in between. Cover and freeze until ready to serve, following reheating directions in the bold text above.
Serve as soon as possible with sour cream or applesauce.
Here is the recipe for my favorite homemade applesauce.
Depending on the type of apples you use it may turn pink from the skins. It’s all good.
This time I used a combination Jazz, MacIntosh, Braeburn, and there might have been a Gala in there too.
Happy Holidays!
