Sweet Potato Cumin Latkes

Okay, I'm on a latke kick. I feel almost like once Chanukah is over, I can't make latkes until next year. I love sweet potatoes so I wanted to show this lovely root vegetable a little bit of love on a holiday other than Thanksgiving. Cumin is fragrant and strong so it added a lovely, almost Indian taste to the latkes. Sweet potato fries different and much more quickly that regular potato so make sure you are paying close attention when the sweet potato latkes are on the skillet. Also, because sweet potato is a little dryer than regular potato when raw, it doesn't stick together as easily so you need to use both hands to keep it all together on the skillet. The sweet potato has a nice sweetness that really comes out. These latkes taste great with a bit of sour cream, gorgonzola cheese or apple sauce. I had Andy and the Taste Tester try these latkes and these were both their favorites!

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato

1/4 white onion

1/3 cup flour

2 eggs, fake eggs work perfectly

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

Pepper

Directions:

1. Peel the sweet potato and grate it in the food processor. Finely dice the onion.

2. Mix the grated potato, onion, flour, eggs and cumin in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Heat canola oil in skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, place small mounds, about 1/8 cup, of the batter onto the skillet and carefully working with your spatula, keep all the potato together. Fry on each side until starting to crisp on the edges.

4. Place latkes on a cooling rack lined with paper towels and blot to dry. Serve warm and enjoy!

Potato Squash Latkes

Happy Chanukah! In order, my favorite Jewish holiday foods are 1. latkes, 2. hamentashen, 3. haroset and 4. chocolate covered matzoh (I'm not sure how traditional 4 is). As a kid, one of my happiest memories is helping my Dad make latkes every Chanukah. It was his responsibility to feed the bottomless pits of our family with his delicious crispy latkes. I remember sitting on stools in our garage and helping him peel the potatoes. I remember him wearing goggles when he cut the onions and sweating like a marathon runner over the hot oil filled skillets that were on all four oven burners. As his apprentice, I usually got first dibs on the first couple of latkes. Then our family would show up and it was every person for him or herself! We always ate ours with sour cream and applesauce only but this year I saw images of latkes with lox and the contrast of textures and flavors seemed, and was, delicious! My friend Andy and I had a little impromptu Chanukah dinner and I made the latkes to match his delicious chicken matzoh ball soup (recipe to come). Because I can probably never make straight up potato latkes taste as good as my Dad's, I have to create new variations. This one was flavorful, crispy and fantastic with all the fixings.

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes
2 large yellow squash
1/2 white onion
1 cup flour
3 eggs, I use fake eggs
Canola oil
Garlic powder
Pepper

Toppings:
Sour cream
Applesauce
Lox

Directions:
1. Peel the potatoes and grate them in a food processor using the grating blade to get tiny thin strips. Grate the squash to get the same size pieces as the potato. Finely chop the onion.
2. In a bowl, mix together the grated potatoes, squash, onions, flour, eggs, garlic powder and pepper.
3. Heat enough canola oil to cover the bottom of a skillet over medium high heat. When oil is hot, add small mounds, about 1/8 cup, of the potato batter to the skillet, flatten with a spatula. Flip when the sides are turning brown and beginning to crisp. A few minutes per side.

4. Line a cooling rack with paper towels and have spare ones to press down on the latkes to remove excess oil. Place fried latkes on the paper towels for a few minutes then place on a plate in the oven to keep warm. Serve warm with sour cream, apple sauce and lox.

Katie's Knishes in Blintz-Style Blankets

I was unfamiliar with traditional Jewish food until I moved to New York City. Back home in California our holiday meals were rather Californian with salads and fish. I had never tried knishes, kugel, gefilte fish until the fall of 2005. I remember thinking that I wouldn't like the taste of all these foods because they might be too heavy or salty, but to my delight, I am a fan of it all! I have thoroughly enjoyed my east coast friends' creations or leftovers from their own Jewish holiday meals. My good friend Katie Plat (aka Platso) is also a native Californian and an absolutely wonderful cook! She put on a lovely break fast meal for Yom Kippur. In good tradition, she had an ample supply of bagles, lox and cream cheese. Others provided challah and wine and one friend, Becca, made an unbelievable kugel. The hit of the night was Katie's very creative rendition of knishes that tasted wonderful! While I didn't get around to fasting for the holiday, I certainly enjoyed a break fast and thanks to Katie's knishes, everyone left full and happy.

Katie's Knishes in Blintz-Style Blankets

Ingredients:
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Lots and lots of onions
A little butter
A little 2% milk
Grated Monterey Jack cheese
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Egg whites for glazing
Egg roll wrappers

Directions:
1. Boil and mash together the potatoes, onions, butter, milk, cheese and salt and pepper until smooth and consistent, about 30 minutes. Consider this your cardio exercise for the day.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush the inside of the egg roll wrappers with a little bit of egg whites. Put some of the potato mixture in the center of the wrapper and fold the corners in so it looks like this:

3. Put a little of the egg white mixture on top of the egg wrappers and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until the corners crisp and they get a little brown like this:

Katie's Knishes came out perfectly golden and slightly chewy on top and delicious flavorful filling! Here is a picture of the chef herself in her kitchen!