A Latke Primer

I don't really know anything when it comes to most "Jewish" food. I don't do gefilte, I dislike both pickled herring and lox, and I've never made most of your Bubbie's famous dishes. But give me a frying pan and some potatoes and I'll make you a latke to write home about. 

We got a piano for Hanukah!

Two nights down...

Since there are still a few days left of Hanukah, and I've heard from a couple of people that they can't ever get their latkes quite right, I decided to pass on my humble knowledge of this famous fried food. I've also had Joe tell me he thinks I was born with a Jewish soul simply based on how well I cook traditionally cultural Jewish food even when I've never made it before, but I guess that's just his opinion.


There's really nothing worse than a mushy, soggy latke. Or one that falls apart in the pan and then just ends up in a million burnt shreds. Or one that's too dry because the potatoes were grated too fine.


In other words, there's a lot of ways to get them wrong. But I'm going to help you get them right, at least the way I do it. Your Bubbie may or may not approve.

Breaking my own rules: not enough onion :(

There are a couple of key steps:


Grate the onion first. The juices from the onion will help keep the potato from browning as you grate it. I usually grate about 1/4 of a medium largish onion per 3 potatoes or so. And every 2-3 potatoes I mix the onion and potato shreds together to coat them all with that onion juice. Don't grate everything too fine or too big either, or your'll end up either with mush or with latkes that don't hold together at all. 

Don't do your nails fancy before this: the fancy won't survive.

Add the salt before draining. This helps release any excess juices from the potatoes, allowing you to really drain them well. This leads to the next step which is:

Drain the mix for longer than you think is really necessary, over a bowl. Start early, and let your shredded onions and potatoes drain over the bowl you will mix everything in for at least an hour. Every 20 minutes or so, go over there and really press the mix down into your colander to squeeze out that juice. Do it again right before you mix up the batter.

Dump off all the juice but leave the starch! At the bottom of the bowl that you have been letting your potatoes drain into, there will be a slime of potato starch. Leave it there and mix everything else into it. This extra starch really helps to bind together the rest of the ingredients. And speaking of starch:

It doesn't look pretty right now, but whatev.

I use flour instead of matzoh, but either one is fine. Finer starch will absorb the excess liquid more quickly.  A couple of Tbsp for every couple of potatoes is a good rule of thumb.


Ditch the egg whites. They don't help bind all that much, and they have a lot of extra water content, which you just spent an hour getting rid of. Keep your whites though, to make meringues or for egg white omelets if that's your thing. Use two egg yolks when your recipe calls for one whole egg, or for every 3-4 potatoes. 

Add extra stuff if you want, just keep the ratio of potato:onion:starch:eggs in mind. I like to add green onions, a little cheese, sometimes celeriac or apples, carrots or sweet potatoes. Mix it up and add different spices too. I've seen good recipes for samosa style latkes and dessert latkes, and even greek inspired ones served with tzatziki. 


Get the oil good and hot before you start cooking, and don't be afraid to use quite a bit. If your pan starts to look dry between batches, add a bit more and reheat before adding more latkes.

Get messy. It's better if you can hand form your latkes: they'll be thinner and crispier than if you just drop a big glob in the pan. I take about a palmful of batter and form it into a disk, then drop it into the oil. After I've filled the pan (but not too many! You don't want them to be crowded or they'll just steam.) I go back and lightly press them down with my spatula.


Cook until golden brown and then flip, just once. If they start to burn before you think they're getting done inside turn the heat down a touch. But don't worry too much about raw insides because you can always finish them in the oven. If you flip them too many times they'll start to fall apart no matter how good your batter is.


Drain as you go, onto a paper towel lined sheet pan in a warm oven. They'll stay nice and crispy for long enough to fry up all the batter so everyone can sit down together.

Sweet Potato Latkes with Cardamom Applesauce and Mascarpone

One for every year

Our family wrote lists of the things we are grateful for, one for every year you have been on the planet. Here's my list. It's not complete, but at the same time it's really hard to write a list like this without adding a whole bunch of little silly things.

I hope you all have lots of things to be grateful for, because the world sure is full of beauty.

1. Joe, who’s my best friend and whom I love more than I ever thought was possible.

2. Lilli, who has inspired me to be the best I can be, for her.
3. The rest of my family, for being quirky and keeping me on my toes.
4. My and my family’s continued health. 

5. The full use of my body, especially my hands and eyes.

6. My sense of taste, so I can make others happy.
7. Our home.
8. Having enough and then some.
9. My chosen family--they are some of the best friends around.
10. Scourge, who loves me unconditionally and brings us presents.

11. The chickens. Especially Effie, who was such a hero even though we didn’t know it.

12. To live in Seattle, where we have access to fresh and clean anything we need.
13. The ability to travel freely.

14. People who are willing to enact change.
15. To be left unpersecuted for choosing Judaism.
16. Small farms, food artisans, and food advocates.

17. Neighbors who mind their own business.
18. Hummingbird visitors.
19. Accurate histories of important world events.
20. The internet.
21. My sense of humour.
22. Other people’s recipes.
23. Art and music to make our lives more brilliant, and to help us think outside the box.
24. Free speech.
25. The ability to learn from my mistakes.

26. The natural world.
27. Science.
28. Changing seasons.
29. People who are more patient than I am.

The Easiest Challenge of the Season

I am going to come right out and say it. I really really love fall. I love all the spices, I love drinking hot things, I love soup. I love the leaves changing, I love the pumpkin patch, I love windy rainy days. And I love pumpkin. 

A week or so ago I challenged myself to something that I knew wouldn't be very challenging at all. I went with it anyway, because sometimes you have to let yourself cheat. I ate something pumpkin flavored everyday. Sometimes more than once a day, because I'm an overachiever like that. (Bonus points for being an overachiever and a slacker at the same time.) I also cheated by letting myself use canned pumpkin. Mostly because it has better flavor than freshly made pumpkin puree. I don't know how they do that, but there it is.


Anyhow, every recipe was a success, except for one. Turns out, it's hard to make a pumpkin coffee at home with only a french press. 

Here are all the things I made, in no particular order:

• Cottage pie with Pumpkin gravy
• Pumpkin spice challah french toast (made with a thick pumpkin custard and of course, cream)
• Pumpkin molasses waffles (just add pumpkin and spices to the batter, and sub sugar for molasses)
• Pumpkin curry soup
• Pumpkin mac'n'cheese (I left out the maple syrup and topped it with panko before baking)

I just discovered another way I cheated. I didn't make a new thing every day. Somedays, we ate leftovers. No big deal. I think tomorrow I will make pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast to make up for it.


Anyhow, you should try an easy challenge like this. It's guaranteed to be more fun than my current challenge at which I am so far failing miserably (because I haven't even started), the 200 sit-up challenge. 

Cottage Pie with Pumpkin Gravy
Serves 4-6


1 lb lean ground beef or other ground meat
1 cup frozen peas
2 or 3 carrots, cut in 1/4" coins
fresh ground nutmeg, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch sweet paprika (optional)
vegetable or chicken stock, about 2 cups
1 cup pumpkin puree


About 3 or so cups of your favorite mashed potatoes for the topping. Depending on your casserole dish you might need more or less. You want it to be about an inch thick. I think I used 3 russet potatoes for my 9" casserole dish.


Preheat oven to 350ºF. Brown meat thoroughly in a shallow saucepan and set aside. Drain on paper towels if it's greasy at all. In the same pan, add carrots and a pinch of salt, and enough stock to loosen the browned bits from the meat. Add peas. Stir it around for a minute, then add the pumpkin and the rest of the stock. You want it to be about the consistency of a thick soup, because I didn't add any thickener. It will cook down a bit in the oven. At this point taste for salt and pepper, add paprika if you're using it, and add nutmeg to taste. I might have added some onion powder or allspice too, I can't remember :(


Once the mixture comes to a boil and the carrots have softened a bit, about 5-7 minutes, add the meat back in and let heat again for a minute or so. Pour the whole mixture into your casserole dish and top with the mashed potatoes. Grate a little bit more nutmeg over the top. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until the mashed potatoes are browning around the edges and the gravy is bubbling out a bit. 


This casserole is something I made in the morning and then had my husband pop in the oven in the afternoon while I was out, so I know that will work too if you need it to. I would say you could make it a day ahead if you wanted.