Kimchi Potato Latkes

December 4, 2018 · by ·

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
 
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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

Filed Under: Appetizers, Chanukah, hanukkah, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Spiced Beet Latkes with Za’tar Labneh Dip

December 1, 2018 · by ·

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
 
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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!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Appetizers, Chanukah, Side Dish, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Carrot & Parsnip Latkes

December 28, 2016 · by ·

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
 
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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!

 

Filed Under: Appetizers, Chanukah, latke, Side Dish, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Sweet Potato & Fennel Latkes

December 20, 2016 · by ·

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
 
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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!

Filed Under: Appetizers, Chanukah, latke, Side Dish, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Rosemary, Fig & Goat Cheese Latkes

December 15, 2014 · by ·

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
 
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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


Filed Under: Appetizers, Chanukah, Gluten Free, hanukkah, Kosher Connection Challenge, latke, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cottage Cheese Latkes

December 28, 2011 · by ·

Chanukah isn’t over yet! There is still time to post some of the Chanukah goodies I made.

It was the first night of Chanukah. I felt obliged to do something in the spirit of the holiday. The big kid isn’t a huge potato fan though. I didn’t want to smell up the house with hot oil and then have to figure out more dinner for the rest of the family. I thought back to the time when the big kid was just a weed toddler and loved the cottage cheese latkes I made. I think I made them just that one time, about 8 years ago. The bonus is that they seem like more of a complete dinner than the regular potato latke.
Lo and behold, both kids loved them! 

Cottage Cheese Latkes
Ingredients
1 lb. small curd cottage cheese (medium container)
2 extra large eggs
1/4 cup flour (gluten free flour works too)
salt and pepper
garlic powder
vegetable oil


Mix everything up in a bowl. Yes, it’s that easy.

Take out a fry pan and heat up some vegetable oil.

Take a big spoon of the batter and drop in to the pan. I like them to be around 2-3 inches wide. Don’t mess with the latke until you are sure it is ready to flip. The cheese latke should be a little brown on the edges before you flip it.  It will also flip easier when it’s done on that side. The melty cheese will stick to the pan before it’s ready.  Cook another 2-3 minutes once flipped. Drain on a plate covered with paper towels.


Enjoy!

Filed Under: Brunch, Chanukah, Side Dish · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Basic Latkes

December 22, 2008 · by ·
Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah! Make it a happy one, whichever way you choose to spell it.

During the holiday, we usually make latkes twice. Each year we do the basic recipe, and then later in the week, we try and come up with a unique “gourmet” version. Stay tuned for the gourmet flavor.

Tonight, we made and enjoyed our basic, easy latke recipe. I will not say it’s a “no-fail” latke, because anyone can mess up, but it’s pretty good. Even my picky 7-year-old partook in the latke joy tonight.

LatkesIngredients:

4 largeish yukon gold potatoes
1 onion
1/4 cup of flour
2-3 eggs
salt and pepper
vegetable oil

Peel and quarter your onion and potatoes.

In a food processor, grate the onions and potatoes together, using the grating blade. If you are deficient in nice kitchen appliances, use a hand grater.

Pour the grated goodness into a tea towel. Squeeze out the starchy water from the mixture into a sink. This keeps the latkes from getting a starchy brown color. This brown is a greyer color than the fried brown color. If your latke mixture is too starchy and moist, it can fall apart and have a pastey consistency.

Dump the squeezed out potatoes and onions into a mixing bowl. Mix in the eggs, flour, salt, and pepper.

Heat up a fry pan with around an inch of vegetable oil.
Plop the potato mixture using a tablespoon in to the fry pan. Flip over when you see the edges begin to brown.

Drain on a cookie sheet covered in paper towels.

Serve the latkes hot with sour cream and/or applesauce. We prefer sour cream in our house. Never use ketchup or mayonaisse on your latkes.

If you plan to serve them at a later time, reheat on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees.
Filed Under: Appetizers, Chanukah, fried, hanukkah, potato · Tagged: , , , , , ,
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