Friday, December 15, 2006

Happy Hanukkah To All Who Celebrate on Saturday

**** Someone has brought to my attention that the history here isn`t correct...sorry. Blame it on Farmer`s Almanac! I have added the correction :)
Note: Beta Blogger lost some of my blog links but luckily I`d saved my template and am recovering them :)


This is from the Farmers Almanac and they look good! Seem to be much like a potatoe pancake.
http://www.farmersalmanactv.com/cooking/257.html

Latkes, or potato pancakes, are a traditional Jewish dish that hailed from Eastern Europe. They have become associated with Hanukkah because they are fried in oil, and oil is symbolic of Hanukkah.

As the story goes, the Israelites were ruled by the (correction) Greek-Syrians. They revolted and reclaimed the temple. When they reopened the temple, there was only enough oil to light one day’s worth of candles. Miraculously, the oil lasted eight days. Thus, candles and oils have become Hanukkah traditions.

Although latke isn’t the only Jewish dish that uses oil, potato latke became associated with Hanukkah over the years, although it’s not clear when.

Here are a few tips for making potato latke.

* There are many ways to make potato latke, including curried, sweet potato, apple-cinnamon and sesame-potato latke.
* To prevent the latke from sticking to the pan, make sure the oil is very hot. Turn the mixture when the edges start to brown. Don’t crowd the pan.
* Some cooks would never consider using a food processor, although it’s far easier to grate the potatoes.
* While you can freeze and re-heat the latke, straight from the frying pan is best.
* Potato latke is served best with sour cream or apple sauce. You can use fat free or light sour cream, if you wish.
* Potato latke makes a wonderful side dish or entrée.

Faith Dessauer contributed to this report.

Here`s a recipe....

Potato Latkes
Yields: 6 servings
Shredded potatoes and grated onions are bound with flour, salt and eggs, then fried in oil to make delicious potato pancakes that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups peeled and shredded
potatoes
1 tablespoon grated onion
3 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup peanut oil
DIRECTIONS:
1.Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible.
2.In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together.
3.In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels.
Serve hot.

14 comments:

Icarus said...

Todah Rabah, TEA!!! I've already had to decline Jenny's invitation to her latka party tonight, on account of it being 3,000 miles away from here. But do I want those home-made Ls & brisket, which in England is called salt beef! Bet they don't go down to well with tea or margaritas, LOL!
And the same good wishes to you. That's really nice!

Icarus said...

PS, Tea, I'm know I can speak for Jenny on this; we both are behind your campaign to get Spring 2007 moving in our direction quicker! Which is why we need the festival of lights so much...:-)

Sheila said...

Latkes....mmmm..luv 'em. Lots of sour cream and apple sauce.
I think I'm going to have to make some now...

Gary said...

I LOVE latkes. I prefer them with sour cream AND apple sauce. Yum.

Anonymous said...

It looks delicious although I havent ever heard of these.

rel said...

Tea,
I love the way you've organized your blog, with the pics down the side. Congrats on your kitchen redo...nice job!

never had latkes, but they look good and would probably fit right in to my "see food diet" ;-)
rel

Anonymous said...

The historical fact is that it wasn't the ancient Assyrians who were ruling in Israel when the Hannukah story took place it was the Greek-Syrians and there's a huge difference between the Greek-Syrians and the ancient Assyrians.
The Greeks are a different race with a different language,culture and history.

The Assyrians have their own language,culture,history,traditions and are of the semitic race.

The other historical fact is that the time when the temple was destroyed the ancient Assyrians were not ruling but rather the Greeks were ruling and those who descended upon Israel where the Greeks of Syria hence the name Greek-Syrians but they were NOT Assyrians.

Please correct your information and the info. of any one who is telling the story erroneously and in a misleading way.

Tea said...

Anonymous.......... I only took this from Farmers Almanac. It`s not my personal info.

tea
xo

Sheila said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
butterflies said...

Yummy..I love potato cakes..with sour cream,apple sauce,tomato relish,anything actually:)

Rosa said...

I love all the old traditions! And latkes, potato pancakes, who cares! They're all good!! Yum!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot, Tea...
Now I'm hungry...

;-)

burekaboy — said...

hey tea. thanks for the post. happy holidays to u and yours :P my house smells like an oil refinery but its worth the end result.

JacquiG said...

I'll be making lots of latkas tomorrow for my Hannukah dinner party that we have each year on the 8th night.

Wishing you a very happy holiday season!

Jackie in ON