I decided to host a Hanukkah party this year. (So I'm not Jewish, minor
detail.) We invited the neighbors and our friends from across town. I
made the sauerbraten out of the Jewish Holiday Kitchen and the latkes
from the NY Cookbook. The crosstown folks brought salad and dressing.
SO made the traditional South Florida Hanukkah dessert, key lime pie.
The sauerbraten was mighty tasty. The latkes were fine, but I needed to
cook the whole batch right away. The second round came out more like
hash browns--they were less cohesive than the first round. A good time
was had by all. The guests were sent home with loaves of the infamous
eggnog bread.

Tomorrow we go next door for dinner and the Christmas light tour of
"Candy Cane Lane" a nearby neighborhood. It's good to be us.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

in article
, Cindy
Fuller at wrote on 12/20/03 2:04 AM:

> I decided to host a Hanukkah party this year. (So I'm not Jewish, minor
> detail.) We invited the neighbors and our friends from across town. I
> made the sauerbraten out of the Jewish Holiday Kitchen and the latkes
> from the NY Cookbook. The crosstown folks brought salad and dressing.
> SO made the traditional South Florida Hanukkah dessert, key lime pie.
> The sauerbraten was mighty tasty. The latkes were fine, but I needed to
> cook the whole batch right away. The second round came out more like
> hash browns--they were less cohesive than the first round. A good time
> was had by all. The guests were sent home with loaves of the infamous
> eggnog bread.
>
> Tomorrow we go next door for dinner and the Christmas light tour of
> "Candy Cane Lane" a nearby neighborhood. It's good to be us.
>
> Cindy

Hmm....perhaps they needed more egg or matzo meal?
Am not familiar with the NY Cookbook recipe for latkes, so I don't know how
much it calls for.

My mom taught me the "Look and Feel" method of latke making. Basically, it's
2-3 potatoes and one small onion, plus one large or jumbo egg, and enough
matzo meal to hold it all together in a mound when it hits the oil. Salt and
pepper to taste, but don't skimp on either. Chives if you want to be fancy.
She didn't, I do, sometimes. Multiply as needed, depending on how hungry you
are or how many people are coming for dinner! That's the "recipe". As I
said to Margaret Suran 4 years ago "What recipe? Just grate some potatoes
and onions, add eggs and matzo meal and fry them up!"

Mom didn't squeeze the life outta the potatoes either....she left them
somewhat moist, so the egg and the matzo meal formed a sort of "batter" with
the potato water, and the potato shreds were sort of encapsulated in this
potatoey batter. This resulted in latkes that were more solid than lacy.
That's how we like them in my family.

Am making them tonight with sour cream and applesauce and some meatballs.
Tomorrow, for company, with pot roasted swiss steak and green bean
casserole. MMMMMM had the lacy variety at someone's house last night. They
were DELICIOUS. Different than mine, equally good. They had chives. Needed
sour cream, though.

In article >, Sheryl Rosen
> writes:

> Cindy
>Fuller at wrote on 12/20/03 2:04 AM:
>
>> I decided to host a Hanukkah party this year. (So I'm not Jewish, minor
>> detail.) We invited the neighbors and our friends from across town. I
>> made the sauerbraten out of the Jewish Holiday Kitchen and the latkes
>> from the NY Cookbook. The crosstown folks brought salad and dressing.
>> SO made the traditional South Florida Hanukkah dessert, key lime pie.
>> The sauerbraten was mighty tasty. The latkes were fine, but I needed to
>> cook the whole batch right away. The second round came out more like
>> hash browns--they were less cohesive than the first round. A good time
>> was had by all. The guests were sent home with loaves of the infamous
>> eggnog bread.
>>
>> Tomorrow we go next door for dinner and the Christmas light tour of
>> "Candy Cane Lane" a nearby neighborhood. It's good to be us.
>>
>> Cindy
>
>Hmm....perhaps they needed more egg or matzo meal?
>Am not familiar with the NY Cookbook recipe for latkes, so I don't know how
>much it calls for.

NYCookbook:
2 1/2lbs Idaho baking potatoes, unpeeled
1 lg yellow onion
2 eggs
1/4 cup matzoh meal
1 tsp salt

Then goes on with fercocktah crapola about shredding and food processors...

I peel and eye my spuds. Best tool for properly dispatching spuds for latkes
is one of those old fashioned "Safety Graters", looks like a rectangular tennis
raquette... or if in a hurry or need to make tons, then put spuds through a
meat grinder... let drain in a strainer (do not press out liquid) then
grate/grind in onion (I don't like too much onion, don't want onion latkes - 1
med. onion per 4lbs spuds is plenty). I also grind in a couple sheets of
matzoh (why bother buying matzoh meal when you have a grinder (2 sheets is
enough for 4lbs spuds). I don't like eggy tasting latkes, I use 1 egg per 4lbs
spuds. I use 1 Tbls kosher salt and 2-3 grinds pepper (white) per 4lbs spuds.
I don't like latkes with applesauce... I'm a sour cream guy, but mostly I like
latkes plain.

Essentially latkes is a personal experience, fix em how YOU like em... all said
the most important ingredient is the choice of frying oil, and the pan. And
don't drain latkes on paper towels (they impart a taste as well as sucking out
moisture), didja know paper towels are not food grade... I use butcher paper
for draining fried foods.

>My mom taught me the "Look and Feel" method of latke making. Basically, it's
>2-3 potatoes and one small onion, plus one large or jumbo egg, and enough
>matzo meal to hold it all together in a mound when it hits the oil. Salt and
>pepper to taste, but don't skimp on either. Chives if you want to be fancy.
>She didn't, I do, sometimes. Multiply as needed, depending on how hungry you
>are or how many people are coming for dinner! That's the "recipe". As I
>said to Margaret Suran 4 years ago "What recipe? Just grate some potatoes
>and onions, add eggs and matzo meal and fry them up!"
>
>Mom didn't squeeze the life outta the potatoes either....she left them
>somewhat moist, so the egg and the matzo meal formed a sort of "batter" with
>the potato water, and the potato shreds were sort of encapsulated in this
>potatoey batter. This resulted in latkes that were more solid than lacy.
>That's how we like them in my family.
>
>Am making them tonight with sour cream and applesauce and some meatballs.
>Tomorrow, for company, with pot roasted swiss steak and green bean
>casserole. MMMMMM had the lacy variety at someone's house last night. They
>were DELICIOUS. Different than mine, equally good. They had chives. Needed
>sour cream, though.



---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

in article , PENMART01 at
wrote on 12/20/03 3:22 PM:

> Best tool for properly dispatching spuds for latkes
> is one of those old fashioned "Safety Graters", looks like a rectangular
> tennis
> raquette... or if in a hurry or need to make tons, then put spuds through a
> meat grinder...

I found one of these at a second hand shop and tried to make latkes with it
last year, down in Florida where I spent Thanksgiving and Chanukah. Tedium
city!!!

I did ONE potato, we were making enough for 10 adults and 2
kids.....couldn't deal. Too slow too tedious. Friend didn't have a grinder
or a food processor, but she did have a "mouli", a sort of hand powered
rotary shredder type of thing. It wasn't as easy as my fine-shredding disk
for my Cuisinart, but it was a LOT easier than that tennis racket thing!

I mixed up enough for half a dozen latkes tonight in about 3 minutes.
(Including washing and peeling the 3 small potatoes.) And the fine shred
disk makes them exactly the texture I like.