Friday, December 19, 2014

Friday Fluff: Lazy Latkes

A latke cooking. You know you want it. Image from Wikimedia

Over the week of Thanksgiving I doubled down on my blogging and brought you a new turkey day tip, trick, or recipe each day. For Christmas next week I am going to do the opposite. I'll be taking the week off. Or maybe I won't. I'll be spending most of the week with my in-laws, so I make no promises regarding new blog posts or a lack thereof.

As for today, did you know that this week is Hanukkah? It started on sundown on the 16th this year, so right now (Friday afternoon) it's day 3 of 8. A version of today's latke recipe is part of every Jewish families' recipe box; it is as much a part of Hanukkah as pumpkin pie is a part of Thanksgiving. But really, latkes should be a part of every families' recipe box. They are delicious! Maybe a little fussy, but no worse than french toast or pancakes. A lazy weekend morning kind of breakfast, especially now that it's cold out.

So, since we are nabbing this recipe from the Jewish tradition, let's talk a little bit about Hanukkah. Much like Christmas, it is a winter holiday, usually kinda close to the solstice (last year it was really early at the end of November), that celebrates light in the darkness. As most of us all know, for Christmas, that light was the birth of Jesus Christ. For Jews it's something totally different (and a bit more literal).

From Wikipedia
"Judea was part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt until 200 BCE when King Antiochus III the Great of Syria defeated King Ptolemy V Epiphanes of Egypt at the Battle of Panium. Judea then became part of the Seleucid Empire of Syria. King Antiochus III the Great wanting to conciliate his new Jewish subjects guaranteed their right to "live according to their ancestral customs" and to continue to practice their religion in the Temple of Jerusalem. However in 175 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus III invaded Judea, ostensibly at the request of the sons of Tobias. The Tobiads, who led the Hellenizing Jewish faction in Jerusalem, were expelled to Syria around 170 BC when the high priest Onias and his pro-Egyptian faction wrested control from them. The exiled Tobiads lobbied Antiochus IV Epiphanes to recapture Jerusalem. As the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells us: "The king being thereto disposed beforehand, complied with them, and came upon the Jews with a great army, and took their city by force, and slew a great multitude of those that favored Ptolemy, and sent out his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and six months."

When the Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and services stopped, Judaism was outlawed. In 167 BC Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He banned brit milah (circumcision) and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the temple (the sacrifice of pigs to the Greek gods was standard ritual practice in the Ancient Greek religion). Antiochus's actions provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattathias (Mattityahu), a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. Judah became known as Yehuda HaMakabi ("Judah the Hammer"). By 166 BC Mattathias had died, and Judah took his place as leader. By 165 BC the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted to celebrate this event. Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, unadulterated and undefiled pure olive oil with the seal of the kohen gadol (high priest) was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that one flask was found with only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of kosher oil for the menorah. An eight-day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle."

Ok, so they are celebrating reclaiming their temple in Jedea and the miracle of the one day's worth of oil they found in their looted and damaged temple burning for eight whole days. Hence the eight days of Hanukkah. Jon Stewart cheekily describes the holiday as a celebration of "oil that burned quite slowly" to Steven Colbert.



Courtesy of Aish.com

So how did the latkes get involved? Basically, since this is a celebration of oil, the festive food of Hanukkah is mostly fried. And what is delicious fried? Potatoes. If there's more to it then that, I've not heard it.

Now how did I get involved with latkes? As a kid I knew about Hanukkah (shout out to my private school's 8th grade world religions social studies unit), but I didn't know anyone who celebrated. Then I went to college in Boston. Boston has a fairly significant Jewish population, and BU (my alma mater...NOT BC, that's different!) was actually originally a Jewish college. So, every year when Hanukkah rolled around--which was usually around exam week--the school would serve latkes in the dining hall at dinner time. I loved them! Really, there's nothing not to love about them; they are basically giant tater tots. So after I graduated I set out to figure out how to make these wonderful unhealthy things for myself.


Lazy Latkes

Serves 3-4

1lb of frozen hash-browns (shredded potatoes), thawed. You can also use refrigerated hash-browns, but they are more expensive.

3 eggs, beaten

3-4 T bisquick or flour (AP or self rising, whatever is fine)

1 T minced garlic. I use the stuff in a jar. You can substitute garlic powder.

1 t each salt and pepper.

Once your potatoes are fully thawed (leave them in the fridge for 24 hours or defrost in the microwave), put them in a large bowl with plenty of room for mixing. Beat the eggs and add the salt, pepper, and garlic. Add the seasoned eggs to the potatoes and mix to coat the potatoes in egg. The potatoes should now be glossy with egg. Sprinkles the bisquick over the egg-y potatoes a tablespoon at a time and mix in. Keep adding until the potatoes are not glossy anymore. They should now be coated in pancake batter-like starchy egg slime. If you can't figure out what on earth I'm talking about, just mix in the 4T and move on. Everything will be just fine; these are lazy latkes after all.

Heat up a pan filled with a 1/4" layer of vegetable oil over medium high heat. You can use a single potato shred to test the oil temp, the shred should bubble and sizzle vigorously. Now add the potatoes to the pan in individual heaping tablespoons (start with a scoop about golf ball sized), once the potatoes are in the pan, gently press to form a pancake about 1/2" thick. A 10" frying pan will hold 3 latkes at a time. Fry the latkes on the first side until the edges of the pancakes (which will be fully under the oil) have turned golden brown. Then flip the latkes and fry on the second side. This time you'll have to lift them and peek to see if they are done. Expect about 2min per side, but this really really depends on your stove. If, especially on the second side, the parts of the latke that touch the pan are turning dark brown or black while the nooks and crannies are still white, your pan is too hot.

Once each latke is cooked, move it to a paper towel to cool and immediately sprinkle with salt. After cooling a few minutes they are ready to eat. No one in my house is willing to wait until they are all fried to eat, we eat them as they cook. I imagine if you want to wait, a cooling rack over a cookie sheet in a 200 degree oven would be the best place to hide them from salivating relatives.

Serve latkes with sour cream. Apple sauce is also traditional. But, apple sauce is also evil.

No comments:

Post a Comment