Happy Hanukkah!

As I have mentioned before, I have a tendency to become obsessed with cooking with one food or one type of food.  So, for Hanukkah this year, my focus has become latkes.  I have plans for different types of latkes every day – potato, sweet potato, spinach & feta, carrot & zucchini and various other vegetable combinations.  Most will be experiments, if they are good, I will either share them at some point or maybe wait til next year to give myself a chance to perfect them.

For the first night, I have decided to take some of what I did with my mashed potato latkes and incorporate it into my grated potato latkes.  The new approach included adding chives and using yukon gold potatoes and shallots instead of russets and onions.  I made them last weekend for our early Hanukkah party and I really, really liked the way they turned out, so here they are…

Potato Latkes

1 1/2 lbs yukon gold potatoes

1/3 cup shallots, minced

1 Tbsp chives, minced

2 eggs, beaten (from Farmer Kim)

2 Tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Safflower oil for frying

Directions

In a food processor, grate the potatoes.

Line a sieve with cheese cloth.  Place the potatoes in the cloth, squeeze out the excess moisture by wrapping the cloth aroun the potatoes and squeezing.  Return the packet to the sieve and let drain for 15 minutes.

In a bowl, mix together the shallots, chives, eggs, flour, salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes and mix well to combine.

Heat the 1/4″ of oil in a cast iron skillet (or large non-stick skillet).  Drop the batter by tablespoonful into the oil.

Cook until golden on each side – about  3 to 4 minutes per side.

Drain on paper towels.

Serve with applesauce or sour cream. Or, serve it as dinner with some fried eggs…yum! Enjoy, L’Chaim!

Makes about 16 latkes

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• Easy, impressive potato latkes, for Hanukkah and beyond (seattletimes.com)
• Celebrate a Vegan Hanukkah (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
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