Kimchi Potato Latkes

As you know, I’m always looking for ways to shake up the traditional potato latke. From butternut squash to wild mushroom, I’m always looking for something new. Today, I happened to eye the jar of kimchi sitting in my fridge. I’ve made Korean pancakes in the past, so I had a hunch that a kimchi latke would work well. Kimchi is added to a variety of traditional pancakes, so the addition of shredded potato isn’t far off. A traditional kimchi potato pancake is called Gamjajeon and is really not far off from a latke.

So I shredded up some potatoes, carrot and onion. Then mixed in some kimchi that I had pulsed in the food processor, some scallions, eggs, flour, salt and pepper. I formed them into latkes and fried away.

I’m super happy with the extra cripsy and tasty result. Highly recommend that you try it out!

Kimchi Potato Latkes
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 2 potatoes, peeled
  • 1 small carrot, peeled
  • 1 small onion, peeled
  • 1 cup kimchi
  • 3 scallions, chopped
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅓ cup flour
  • oil for frying
Instructions
  1. Shred the potatoes, carrots and onions in food processor
  2. Separately, chop the kimchi in food processor
  3. Mix the veggies with the kimchi in a mixing bowl
  4. Add in the scallions, salt, pepper, eggs and flour
  5. Heat up the oil in a pan on medium high
  6. Form into latke patties and fry - a few minutes on each side until crisped up
  7. Drain on cooling rack and paper towel lined baking sheet
  8. Enjoy with your favorite latke topping

Spiced Beet Latkes with Za’tar Labneh Dip

I can’t believe I haven’t been back to the blog to post in such a long time. I’ve been so busy with instagram, I’ve sadly neglected my trusty blog. But I’m back. I had to blog for Chanukah. I had to get in on all the latke action!

Chanukah always has me thinking about latkes. Somehow I’m all about the latkes – more so than the sufganiyot. Maybe if I did a savory take on donuts, I’d get into it more. But latkes work for me. All the flavors and that crispy bite. Always gets me.

This latke was inspired by recent trip to Israel. At one place I want, I had an amazing dish that was served with a spiced labneh. Labneh is a Middle Eastern yogurt cheese that is a great stand-in for sour cream. It’s also similar to a Greek yogurt, but a bit more sour. When sprinkled with a bit of olive oil and Za’atar from the shuk, it’s amazing.

In addition to the amazing Za’atar, I had some wonderful red beets from my CSA share that I wanted to use. I typically just roast them and toss them in salads, but I knew that I wanted to feature them in my Chanukah latke fest.

I shredded the beets up with onion, garlic and some potatoes. Then, I mixed in some flour, eggs and spices. I fried them up and drained them. Then served them up with some labneh that I sprinkled with Za’atar and drizzled olive oil.

So good. Make it. Have a Happy Chanukah!


Spiced Beet Latkes with Za'tar Labneh Dip
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • For the Latkes
  • 7 small beets
  • 1 onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 3 tsp. Whole Spice Turkish Spice Mix (Cumin Toasted, Garlic, Coriander Toasted, Onion, Sea Salt, White Pepper, Parsley, Turmeric, Green Cardamom)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 tsp. ground black pepper
  • Oil for frying
  • For the Labneh dip
  • 3 tbsp. Labneh (you can sub Greek Yogurt)
  • 3 tsp, za'tar
  • oil for drizzling - about 2 tsp.
Instructions
  1. Peel all the veggies. It helps to wear gloves
  2. Shred all the veggies in a food processor
  3. Transfer everything to a bowl
  4. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible
  5. Mix in the eggs, flour, salt, pepper and spices
  6. Heat oil in fry fry pan over medium-high heat
  7. Add mixture to pan - a couple tablespoons at a time, forming the latkes
  8. Fry on each side for a couple minutes - until crispy
  9. Drain on a paper towel lined baking sheet with a cooling rack on top
  10. Place labneh in a dish and sprinkle with za'tar. Drizzle with olive oil
  11. Serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

Carrot & Parsnip Latkes

Happy Chanukah! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I know I am!

It’s great to try and slow down a bit and enjoy the holiday week with the family. We try and lighten the mood a bit and focus on family coming together, a bit of together time – with the kids off from school, and a few days off from work. We can all appreciate this holiday time.

With Chanukah, comes latkes. And as you know, each year, I try and shake things up a bit – moving away from the traditional potato latke. I mean, I still love a basic potato latke, but I like to look deeper in to my fridge and see what other flavor combos will work as a fried patty of yummy goodness. I’m still thinking about those rosemary, fig and goat cheese latkes that I made a few years ago. I’m always looking for new latke ideas.

These carrot and parsnip latkes, were originally just going to be plain parsnip. I was thinking a simple parsnip latke with a horseradish cream sauce. Well, the carrots were a last minute addition. I thought that the flavors would work well together, and I’m glad I went in that direction. I shredded up the parsnip and carrot with some onion and garlic – along with one small russet potato. I squeezed any liquid out. There wasn’t much to squeeze out. I placed it all in a mixing bowl and added some egg, flour, salt and pepper. I then got to frying. These came together so quickly and so simple to do. Totally hit the spot.

I do still recommend a horseradish cream sauce to go with, but you can really dip in to whatever preferred latke topping you like. I’m just usually a sour cream girl. Anyhow, enjoy!

 

Carrot & Parsnip Latkes
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 3 large parsnips
  • 2 large carrots
  • 1 small Idaho Russet Potato
  • 1 small onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 tbsp. flour
  • 2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • canola oil for frying
Instructions
  1. Shred all of the veggies in a food processor with a grating disc.
  2. Transfer the shredded mixture to a thin towel and squeeze any liquid out.
  3. Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl.
  4. Mix in eggs, flour, salt and pepper.
  5. Since parsnips and carrots tend to be very dry, if you feel like the mixture isn't wet enough, add one more egg.
  6. Heat oil in a deep fry pan to medium-high heat.
  7. Form in to thin patties and drop in oil, frying a couple minutes each side - until browned and crisp.
  8. Drain latkes on paper towels or on a cooling rack lined baking sheet,
  9. Serve and enjoy!

 

Sweet Potato & Fennel Latkes

I’m back with some latkes for Chanukah! I couldn’t neglect the blog for this holiday – one of my favorite foodie holidays! Each year, I love coming up with fun, new twists on the traditional latke. From carrot ginger to corned beef and cabbage, I always have fun with this holiday treat. And this year, Chanukah coincides with Christmas, giving us Christmukkah. Did I spell it right? Just like Hanukkah, it has a bunch of different spellings. Anyhow, it’s time to have some fun.

This latke recipe that I’m sharing with you came about when I was eyeing the fennel at the local vegetable market. I love fennel, but I was thinking about how I could do something other than my standard of roasting it. And then I thought about Chanukah and latkes. I didn’t think it would stand up on it’s own as a latke, but I figured that if I combined it with a more starchy veggie, it could work. A regular potato is too plain in flavor, so I looked to the sweet potato and thought that the flavor combo could work. The sweet with the anise flavor.

I shredded up a couple of sweet potatoes with two fennel bulbs, along with some onion and garlic. I squeezed out whatever liquid I could get out of it. I mixed everything in a bowl with some egg, flour, salt and pepper. Then I fried the latke patties in some canola oil – draining them when they were crisp on both sides. You do have to be careful when frying, because these latkes go from nicely crisp to very burnt very quickly.

I’m so happy  with the way these latkes turned out though. It’s a nice change from the standard potato pancake. I served these latkes with the traditional sour cream, but these would also be great with creme fraiche or maybe a horseradish sauce. Have fun with it! Enjoy!


Sweet Potato & Fennel Latkes
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 2 fennel bulbs
  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 tbsp. all purpose flour or gluten free flour
  • additional salt and pepper to taste
  • canola oil for frying
Instructions
  1. Shred all of the veggie in your food processor with a grating disc, or shred by hand
  2. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible
  3. Mix everything together in a large bowl with the salt, pepper, eggs and flour
  4. Heat a large fry pan on medium high. Add oil to pan.
  5. Form mixture into small thin patties and fry in oil. About two minutes per side, until evenly brown and crispy.
  6. Drain on a cooling rack or on paper towels.
  7. Serve with sour cream or other topping.
  8. Enjoy!

Corned Beef & Cabbage Latkes

corned beef 'latkes main

 

One minute it’s back-to-school season and the next minute it’s Thanksgiving. And before you know it, Chanukah somehow manages to peek its’ face around the corner. Thankfully, winter hasn’t shown its’ chilly face. I’d like to keep it that way.

As soon as I came to my senses and realized that Chanukah is just a few days away, aside from the quick and dirty job of scouring Amazon for presents, I started my latke brainstorming. My husband suggested I do a basic potato latke. After I gave him the stink eye for that zany suggestion, I got to work. I’ve got a few new latke flavors for you to feast on this season and I hope you enjoy them.

The first latke of this Chanukah season is kind of a marriage of St. Patrick’s Day and Chanukah. I’m bringing you some Cabbage and Corned Beef Latkes. I know that St. Patty’s Day is a few months away and in no way connected with the history of Chanukah, but I had the flavors stuck in my head. It occurred to me that it just might work. And it did!

I quickly ran out to my local kosher deli to pick up the best and fattiest corned beef they had on hand.

I shredded up some onions, cabbage and potato in the  food processor, making sure to squeeze out all of the extra starchy liquid when done.

shredded

 

squeeze

I then shredded up the corned beef with a knife and then mixed it into the cabbage and onion mixture.  I stirred in some eggs and flour.

corned beef

 

mixing
I then formed the mixture into latke patties and fried until crispy and browned all over.

latkes frying

I drained the finished latkes on a cooling rack.

latkes draining

Of course I snuck a latke or two before serving them. I had to!

I recommend serving the latkes with a creamy horseradish sauce – also known as horsey sauce.

You need to make these though. They are amazing. Especially when the corned beef gets a bit charred and crispy. Brings out the flavor. Anyways – just make them!

If corned beef isn’t your thing, maybe you’d enjoy some wild mushroom and roasted garlic latkes or maybe carrot ginger latkes are more your speed. Whatever floats your boat, get into the holiday spirit and enjoy it with latkes!




Cabbage & Corned Beef Latkes
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 large yellow onion, peeled
  • 1 small cabbage, cored
  • 1 large russet potato, peeled
  • ¾ lb sliced corned beef (deli style)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 4 tbsp. flour
  • 3 tsp. salt
  • 3 tsp. fresh grated black pepper
  • Additional salt and pepper to taste
  • oil for frying
Instructions
  1. With the shredding disc of a food processor, shred the onion, cabbage and potato together
  2. Place the shredded mixture in a towel and carefully squeeze out as much of the starchy liquid as possible. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl.
  3. Shred up the corned beef with a knife. Add it to the mixing bowl.
  4. Stir in eggs, flour, salt and pepper.
  5. Heat up a large fry pan on medium-high heat.
  6. Add in the vegetable oil and let the oil heat up.
  7. Form the latke mixture in to patties and fry on medium-high heat until brown around the edges. Flip and continue to fry until browned on both sides.
  8. Drain a paper towel lined cooling rack.
  9. Serve with horseradish sauce.
  10. Enjoy!

Cabbage & Corned Beef Latkes

Rosemary, Fig & Goat Cheese Latkes

latkes-main

Chanukah starts tomorrow night. It only hit me when I glanced at my calendar on Outlook and it told me that I had to light the first candle on Tuesday.  I stifled a gasp. I’m totally not caught up with holiday preparations. I need to buy Chanukah and Christmas presents. Need to buy presents for my kid’s teachers and therapists. I need to sort out a chanukah party menu. The list goes on. I will breathe after December 23. That’s when I start my staycation.

Chanukah is already in the air though. Even if it hasn’t begun. The Chanukah spirit arrived last week when I made those delicious golden beet latkes. Today, I have another fun Chanukah treat and I’m sure I’ll have some more goodies for you through the holiday.

I’m so excited to share these latkes with you. The idea for these latkes came about one evening when I had some people over for a wine and cheese night. I served an appetizer that had some roasted figs with rosemary and goat cheese on them. As I worked through the flavors, and loved them, I knew these flavors had to become a latke! So here we are today!

I soaked some dried figs in some port wine and brought some goat cheese to room temperature. You can let the figs soak for about 20 minutes, or you can get distracted like I did and keep them soaking for an hour. You want them to soften and plump up. I chopped up the figs along with some shallots and mixed them with the goat cheese. I set that bowl aside.

goat-cheese-and-figs

filling

The potato process needs to happen fast as you want them to keep their light color. I washed and peeled the potatoes. I shredded the potatoes, along with some onion, garlic and more shallots in the food processor using the shredding disc. Next, I rinsed the grated potato mixture and squeezed out all of the liquid.

I placed the mixture in to a large mixing bowl and stirred in some eggs, almond flour, salt, pepper and fresh chopped rosemary.

potato-mixture

Next, I heated up some oil in a large fry pan.

I placed a thin layer of potato mixture in my hand and then placed some fig and goat cheese layer on top of it. You want a decent amount of goat cheese, but make sure that there’s an edge of potato around it. I topped the goat cheese with another thin layer of potatoes. You want the latke to be thin so that it gets crispy and cooked through, but you also want the cheese to shine through. The cheese should be completely covered by the potato mixture.

stuffed-latkes

I fried the latkes until crisp on both sides. The trick with latkes is to place them in the pan and leave them alone until you see the shredded potatoes begin to brown at the edges. The browning will poke through. But don’t peek and don’t flip until you can see that it’s very crisp.

frying-latkes

Drain the finished latkes on a cooling rack over a paper towel lined cookie sheet.

drain-latkes

It’s best to serve fresh. But if you have to make these ahead of time, you can keep them warm in a 250-degree oven.

These latkes are out of this world. Because of the creamy goat cheese with figs inside, you don’t need any sauce or sour cream on top. There’s a huge amount of flavor all packed in to the latke! It’s amazing! My first thought as I sunk my teeth in to the latke was that it was “off the hook!” And I never say that! It was that good though. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!




Rosemary, Fig & Goat Cheese Latkes
 
Author:
Ingredients
Fig & Goat Cheese Filling
  • 7 dried figs
  • 1 cup of port wine or other semi dry red wine
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 4 oz. goat cheese (chevre)
Latke Blend
  • 4 large red potatoes, washed and peeled nand quartered
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 shallot
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. salt
  • 4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
  • additional salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 tbsp. almond flour or all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • Oil for frying
Instructions
  1. Soak the figs in the wine for at least 20 minutes.
  2. Drain the figs and chop them finely. In a small bowl, mix the figs with the chopped shallot and goat cheese. Set the bowl aside.
  3. In a food processor fitted with a shredding disc, grate the potatoes, onions, garlic and shallot.
  4. Rinse and drain the grated potato mixture. Squeeze out all of the liquid.
  5. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
  6. Mix the rosemary, salt, pepper, egg and flour into the potato mixture.
  7. Heat about a ½ an inch of oil in a large frying pan.
  8. Form the potato mixture in to a small thin patty in your hand and place a tablespoon or so of goat cheese filling in the middle. Cover it with a small thin layer of potato mixture and seal along the edges.
  9. Fry in the oil until browned and crisp on both sides.
  10. Drain on a cooling rack or paper towels.
  11. Enjoy!

latkes-tower


Golden Beet Latkes + Hamilton Beach Giveaway

latkes main

So I woke up this week and realized that it’s already the middle of December. The snow clued me in a little, but the giant 8 ft. tall santa and reindeer on my neighbor’s lawn is probably what really did me in. Anyways, it’s December and the holidays are almost here and I’m over the moon about it. Can’t you tell?

With Chanukah almost here, I need to continue my tradition of coming up with some new latke recipes. On last year’s menu, there were some carrot ginger latkes and some wild mushroom & roasted garlic latkes. Both were amazing. How could I top that? I really wanted to go for something somewhat simple for my first latke of the season. You really have to ease into it. I decided to turn to one of my favorite root veggies. Golden beets. I definitely don’t show enough love for the humble golden beet often enough. So a latke it must be.

beets

Hamilton Beach recently sent me their Stack and Snap™ 10 Cup Food Processor to check out and use in my holiday cooking. What better way to test out a food processor then to abuse using it during my latke making fest?! It really is the perfect way to check out what it’s made of.

hamilton beach

I loved the simplicity of the set up as I took it out of the box. Everything just stacked together. There was very little question as to what piece goes where. I also loved how the shredding disc is reversible. One side slices and one side shreds. Another thing I noted as I took hold of the new appliance was how light it is. It didn’t feel cumbersome in my arms or on my kitchen counter.

When it got down to making the machine work, I was also pleasantly surprised and impressed. Beets are much firmer than potatoes, so I figured that shredding the beets would be a pretty good test. When I placed the beets in the feeding tube and pushed down, the beets were shredded in seconds! The machine was really strong and worked really well!

shredded beets

Later in the day, I tested the machine with some dried fruit and nuts. I tested with that mixture because I knew it would be difficult to cut through. and it’s what I used for charoset at Pesach. If this machine can handle my Passover Charoset, then it definitely is a winner! And lo and behold, it worked! It attacked the dried apricots and figs with gusto!

I didn’t think that a budget-friendly machine would work for me, but so glad that this Stack and Snap™ 10 Cup Food Processor works well! This food processor would be the perfect addition to my year-round kitchen gear AND for my pesach kitchen gear. I love how this machine processes the food so fast and is so easy to handle. I also love that it comes with the extra shredding and slicing disc.  I would definitely recommend this food processor to anyone! Good news for you, I’ve got one of these Hamilton Beach Stack and Snap™ 10 Cup Food Processor to give away!

Anyways, back to these golden beet latkes.

Here’s what I did.

I washed and peeled the beets and onions and then I quartered them. I processed them in the food processor with the shredding disc.

I transferred the mixture to a bowl and then added the chopped garlic, chopped dill, salt and pepper, egg and the flour. I mixed everything together well.

I then heated up some oil in my fry pan, shaped the mixture in to latke patties and then fried them until browned and crispy on both sides. I drained the latkes on paper towels.

latkes frying

I served the latkes with sour cream, though next time, I think I will serve them with a nice lemon aioli.

These latkes are delicious.

Check out the recipe below and don’t forget to enter to win your own Stack and Snap™ 10 Cup Food Processor!



vertical latkes

Golden Beet Latkes
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 3 golden beets
  • 2 small onions
  • 2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 6 tbsp. almond flour, (you can also use regular all-purpose flour)
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
  • Additional salt and pepper to taste
  • Oil for frying
  • - See more at: https://confident-cook.com/2014/12/golden-beet-latkes.html#sthash.8QM4ZrrJ.dpuf
Instructions
  1. Wash, peel and quarter the beets
  2. peel and quarter the onions
  3. Using the shredding disc on your food processor, shred the beets and onions.
  4. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients
  5. Mix everything together well
  6. Form beet mixture in to thin patties and fry in hot oil until browned on both sides.
  7. Drain on paper towels.
  8. Serve with some sour cream and dill or a lemon aioli.
  9. Enjoy!

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**Hamilton Beach provided me with this food processor to review, but all opinions and the recipe are my own.

Carrot Ginger Latkes

carrot-ginger-latkes

Another night of Chanukah, another latke recipe. Or so it goes.

These latkes were inspired by one of me and my daughter’s favorite soup recipes. We both love carrot ginger soup in the fall.

I made a carrot latke years ago, and I vaguely recall it being tasty, so I thought I would give this a try.

I shredded some carrots,  an onion,  a small potato,  some ginger and some cilantro in the Cuisinart food processor.

I transferred the mixture to a bowl and drained whatever liquid I could out of the veggie mixture.

Next, I added some flour, eggs, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the mix.

I heated up the oil in my fry pan and fried the patties until done. You have to keep your eyes on the latkes because they can go from perfect to burnt very quickly. I drained the latkes on a cooling rack set over paper towels.

I served these latkes with cilantro and an option of sour cream or horseradish sauce.

These latkes will definitely be made again!

Carrot Ginger Latkes
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 6 carrots, peeled
  • 1 small Idaho Russet potato, peeled
  • 1 small onion, peeled
  • 2 tbsp. fresh ginger
  • 2 tbsp. cilantro
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. ground pepper
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 eggs
  • oil for frying
  • additional salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Wash and peel the veggies.
  2. With the shredding blade on a food processor, shred the carrots, potato, onion, ginger and cilantro.
  3. Transfer everything to a large mixing bowl.
  4. Drain as much liquid as possible from the shredded vegetables.
  5. Mix in the salt, pepper, flour, garlic powder, flour and eggs.
  6. Heat up about an inch of oil in a large fry pan.
  7. Fry the latkes, carefully flipping as they began to crisp up.
  8. Drain the cooked latkes on a paper towel lined cooling rack.
  9. Sample the latke and adjust seasoning as needed.
  10. Serve with a latke topping of your choice.
  11. Enjoy!

carrot-ginger-latkestext

 

Wild Mushroom & Roasted Garlic Latkes

mushroom-and-potato-latkes

We light the first candle on our menorah for Chanukah tonight. My kids are so excited. Dreidels and chocolate gelt have already begun to make an appearance in our house. The kids are curious what we have in store for the holiday. Chanukah is always a fun time in our home. As a kid, I patiently waited for Chanukah to start so we could light candles and open some presents. The light of the menorah against the dark night is always beautiful.

Chanukah is also one of my favorite foodie holidays. To commemorate the miracle of the oil in the ancient temple, there’s the tradition to eat fried foods during the holiday. Who doesn’t love fried foods? That Chanukah happens to fall at the same time as Thanksgiving in the US – extra foodie fun!

I try to come up with new latke ideas each year. Some years I’ve focused on a different root veggies, other years I’ve added some herbs. This latke idea came to me just the other day as I was making dinner. Mushrooms are one of my favorite veggies. Why not try and add them to latkes? I had a bag of dried wild mushrooms that I thought would complement the latkes very well. I paired the wild mushrooms with some sage and roasted garlic. Latke perfection! I’m so glad I made these right away!

I roasted a head of garlic and then I soaked the mushrooms in boiling water.

soak-mushrooms

I shredded the potatoes, mushrooms and onions in my Cuisinart food processor. I then mixed everything together and added some eggs, potatoes and sage.

I fried up the latkes and then drained them on a wire rack lined with paper towels.

fry-in-oil

drain-on-towels

These latkes were a huge hit! I highly recommend serving them with sour cream. Enjoy and Have a Happy Chanukah!


Wild Mushroom & Roasted Garlic Latkes
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 head of garlic, roasted
  • 5 Idaho Russet Potatoes
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 2 cups of dried wild mushrooms
  • 5 oz. cremini mushooms
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • ½ cup flour
  • 3 large eggs
  • oil for frying
  • additional salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400. Cut off the top quarter-inch of the head of garlic to expose the cloves. Drizzle some olive oil over the garlic and wrap in foil. Place in oven for 30 minutes and roast. Then allow to cool.
  2. Rinse the dried mushrooms and soak them in boiling water for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  3. Peel and quarter the onions and potatoes.
  4. Rinse and quarter the Cremini mushrooms.
  5. With a shredding disc, process the potatoes, onion and mushrooms in the food processor.
  6. Transfer to a colander and squeeze as much liquid out of the potatoes as possible. I sometimes like to place them in a tea towel and squeeze more water from there like I did with this latke recipe.
  7. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.
  8. Squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves in to the bowl.
  9. Add in the chopped sage leaves.
  10. Stir in the eggs, flour, salt and pepper.
  11. Heat up the oil in a deep fry pan.
  12. From potato mixture in to patties and fry. Flip the latke over when you see the edges begin to brown.
  13. Transfer the finished latke to a rack positioned over paper towels to drain and cool.
  14. These latkes are great with sour cream.
  15. Enjoy!

latkeswithtext

Corn & Cheese Fritters with Pear Salsa

fritters-and-sauce

I love being a part of this fantastic group of food bloggers, the Kosher Connection. Each month, we are challenged to cook up some wonderful and unique foods. Each link-up is fun and new. I love seeing the assortment of goodies that the group comes up with. This month was especially difficult. We were tasked with a Chopped style challenge. Like the popular Food Network show, we were given three ingredients to build our dish around. For the most part, we had free reign, but the dish had to include canned corn, pears and Mike & Ike candies.

I had a very hard time coming up with something for the dish. Creating something that involved all three ingredients was super tough. I had initially planned a tofu dish that included a Korean pear based sauce. My husband nixed the idea in favor of something fried. He urged me to make a fritter. I don’t really like frying things, but with Chanukah coming up next month, I decided that if this worked out, it would be perfect for Chanukah. It’s traditional to have fried foods to recognize the miracle of the oil in the ancient temple.

He suggested some sort of latke, but as I brainstormed a bit, I settled on a fritter. I know, not that far off. But there is a difference. I scribbled a slew of ideas on paper. Once I had the house to myself though, I got to work. I settled on a corn and cheese fritter when I saw a brick of pepper jack cheese sitting in the fridge. I  quickly picked up a carton of buttermilk at Trader Joe’s and worked out a quick fritter recipe.  The fritters did not disappoint!

I mixed up the canned corn with the cheese, some chopped onion, spices, buttermilk, eggs, flour and baking powder.

fritter-batter

I scooped them up and fried them in a couple of inches of hot oil.

fritters-frying

I then drained the fritters on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath.

fritters-draining

Incorporating the Asian pears and the Mike & Ike candies proved more challenging. I wanted a pear chutney to dip the fritters in to. I peeled and chopped up the asian pears and began cooking them down with some ginger and water. I also added the Mike & Ike candies to let them get infused with the candy flavor. When tasting the sauce, it was definitely too sweet. I knew that it needed something savory along with some heat.

asian-pears

I added some chopped jalapeño, onion and vinegar and cooked it a bit more. Once everything was softened, I pureed the mixture with my immersion blender.

While the pear and Mike & Ike salsa isn’t perfect, it’s getting there. I call it a work a progress. To be honest, I will leave the candies out the next time I set out to make this dish. It was definitely fun to try my hand at this though.

The fritters have gone on the short list though and will definitely be made next month for Chanukah. The crunch and light outside and the creamy cheese filling. One word. Amazing! Make them now!

fritters-and-sauce

 

 

Disclaimer: The pear salsa was made as part of the chopped style challenge. I highly recommend you make the fritters. The fritters are amazing.  I’m not quite sold on pear salsa with mike & ike candies. I do recommend a pear salsa without the candy!

 

Corn & Cheese Fritters with Pear Salsa
 
Author:
Recipe type: appetizer, snack, starter
Ingredients
Corn & Cheese Fritters
  • 1 can whole kernel white corn, drained
  • ½ red onion, chopped
  • 1.5 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded
  • 1.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • oil for frying


Mike & Ike infused Pear Salsa
  • 2 asian pears, peeled and cubed
  • ½ red onion, chopped
  • 1 inch ginger, chopped
  • ½ jalapeno, minced
  • 2 tbsp. water
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 3 tsp. red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp. ground pepper
  • ½ cup Mike & Ike candies (I used two of the fun size boxes) - optional
Instructions
Corn and Cheese Fritters
  1. Mix all of the fritter ingredients, except for the vegetable oil, in a mixing bowl.
  2. Heat up about 2 inches of oil to 350 in a heavy bottomed pan or pot.
  3. Scoop a couple of tablespoons of fritter batter. I used an ice cream scoop. Drop in the hot oil and fry about a minute or two per side. Flip the fritter when browned.
  4. Transfer fritter to a cooling rack placed over paper towels to drain and cool
For the pear salsa
  1. Peel and chop up the pears
  2. Place in a saucepan with the water, ginger and the mike and candies.
  3. Add in the onion, jalapeno, vinegar and spices.
  4. Allow mixture to soften.
  5. Once softened, blend with an immersion blender.
  6. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

fritters-and-sauce

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