Laura's Latkes

This year marks my fifth Hanukkah celebration with my fiancé’s family. In anticipation, I’m sharing his mother’s latke recipe which is the culinary highlight of the holiday. Latkes are potato pancakes common to the cuisines of Eastern, Central and Northern Europe. Similar creations can be found in Persian, Indian and Korean cuisine. Latkes are traditionally eaten by Ashkenazi Jews during Hanukkah.

Many dishes associated with Hanukkah are fried in oil since the miracle of the holiday involved oil. According to tradition, the Maccabean rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem was celebrated with an eight day ceremony. The observance required that a menorah be continuously lit, but there was only enough oil for one night because the Temple had been desecrated. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days.

Other traditional dishes are doughnuts (especially sufganiyot), fritters, and cheese. For another Hanukkah recipe, check out my shortbread cookies.

Ingredients
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, shredded or grated (not mashed)
3 red potatoes, shredded or grated (not mashed)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon salt
peanut oil, for frying

Directions
1. Take 1 cup of the shredded Yukon potatoes and further shred in a food processor. This will aid in binding the latkes. Add it back to the potato mixture.
2. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients (except oil) with your hands. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
3. Heat a skillet with oil 1/2-inch deep over medium high. The oil should not be smoking. Hot oil sears the latke and prevents it from absorbing too much additional oil.
4. Drop two tablespoons of potato mixture into the hot oil. Release the mixture so that it forms a latke about 3 inches in diameter. Latkes should be fried for 3-5 minutes on each side until dark golden brown. Flip over and fry the other side as well. Fry 3-5 latkes at a time depending on the size of your skillet.
5. Drain on paper towels to remove some of the oil.
6. Repeat with remaining mixture. Replenish oil as needed.
7. Serve warm with apple sauce and sour cream.

Gram Flour Fudge (Monthar)

This is one of my favorite Indian mithais (literally ‘sweets’). It seems to be Gujarati in origin since most of my Indian friends have never heard of it. Like so many mithais, its basic ingredients are a combination of flour, sugar, butter and milk. While often too sweet and rich for the Western palate, mithais are widely enjoyed by South Asians in the homeland and diaspora.

They are traditionally eaten on special occasions, and are not really equivalent to daily desserts which have become a modern custom in North America. Often, families will make platters of various kinds of mithais and send them to neighbors and friends in anticipation of Divali, Eid or other festive occasions.

Growing up in Calgary, we had a family friend who was renowned for her monthar. She would make it in great slabs studded with nuts and saffron threads. While I was away at college and graduate school, this was a favorite treat for me to pick up on my trips home. I’d usually freeze the whole batch, and defrost one square at a time.

Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon orange food color powder
1 lb unsalted butter (4 sticks)
1lb gram flour (also called besan or chickpea flour)
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1/2 cup almonds and pistachios, chopped (optional)

Directions
1. Boil sugar, water and food color until 240F on a candy thermometer. It can also be tested by dropping a small amount on a plate. It will form a soft ball when it is at the right temperature.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the butter and using a spoon carefully skim off as much of the foam as possible. Then decant the butter, discarding the milk solids that have settled on the bottom of the pan. Return butter to pan.
3. On medium heat, add flour and sauté until golden brown. This can take 10-20 minutes so be patient.
4. Increase the heat slightly and slowly add evaporated milk, stirring constantly.
5. Add the syrup mixture and remove from heat. Add nutmeg, cardamom and saffron and stir well.
6. Allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes, and then stir the mixture until it thickens.
7. Spread in a 9 x 9 inch pan and sprinkle with nuts. Using the back of a spoon, pat down gently to ensure the nuts are properly attached.
8. When cool, cut into 1 inch squares.
9. Store in the refrigerator for 3 weeks or the freezer for 3 months.

Peach Cheesecake

Peaches are one of my favorite summer fruits. Although they originated in China, Europeans originally thought the peach tree was from Persia which explains the scientific name Prunus persica which later became ‘peach’. From China the peach was taken to India and Western Asia, then by Alexander the Great to Persia. After that, it travelled to the Americas, Northern Europe and finally to the North American colonies in the 17th century.

Interestingly, peaches and nectarines are different cultivars of the same species. Those with white flesh are sweeter and more prized in East Asia; the more acidic, yellow-flesh cultivars are popular in Europe and North America. Peaches are closely related to plums, cherries, apricots and almonds; and within the larger Rosaceae family to roses, apples, pears, strawberries and raspberries.

Although California produces 65% of the peaches in the United States, in my mind the fruit is most closely associated with Georgia, the ‘Peach State’. Over the summer, when we were invited to dinner at the home of a friend originally from Georgia, I used the opportunity to create this peach dessert.


Serves 6


Ingredients

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup white sugar

Filling
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons peach or apricot jam/preserve
1-2 peaches, thinly sliced

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. To make crust, in a large bowl mix graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar.
3. Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, pack the crumb mixture so that it evenly covers the bottom and sides of a 9-inch metal pie tin.
4. To make filling, in another large bowl beat cream cheese, sugar and eggs until smooth. Pour into the pan and bake for 40 minutes or until the surface is very light brown. Let the cheesecake cool for 30-60 minutes at room temperature.
5. Once cooled, gently spread jam/preserve on top of the cheesecake. Arrange peach slices on top. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Tad's Fire Island Salad Nicoise

Last weekend we visited our friend Tad in Fire Island – a magical, summer resort located two hours from New York City. Fire Island is one of several outer barrier islands located on the south shore of Long Island. This sliver of land is 50 kilometers long and between 160-400 meters wide. There are several communities on the island, and a number of them have no roads or ban vehicular traffic during the summer months. The white, sandy beach is the primary attraction, though there is also an active nightlife. There are few hotels on the island, so the vast majority of people stay in private homes that are commonly rented out for the summer.

On Sunday, Tad made one of his signature dishes for lunch – a summery, fresh, salad nicoise. This is the second recipe on my blog inspired by the French Mediterranean classic. For details on its origins see my earlier post.


Serves 3-6

Ingredients
Salad dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Salad
12-16 ounces tuna steak
10 ounces mixed greens
1-2 large tomatoes, sliced into sixths
1/8-1/4 lb pitted black olives
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced into quarters (optional)
4-8 small potatoes, unpeeled, roasted and cooled, sliced into quarters
8-10 anchovy slices (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Make the salad dressing in a glass jar. Fill with ingredients and shake until well combined. Set aside.
2. Grill the tuna steaks for 2-3 minutes on each side (for rare) and 3-4 minutes on each side (for medium) until the outside is white in color. Remove from heat and cut into 1-inch cubes.
3. On an oblong or rectangular platter, arrange a bed of heaped greens. Spread tomatoes and olives over greens and top with tuna pieces. Arrange eggs, potatoes and anchovies around the perimeter of platter.
4. Dress with salt, pepper and salad dressing.