tackling latkes: sweet potato-scallion & potato, onion and apple

i've never made latkes before,

for the purpose of chanukah.

for my culinary school graduation,

i decided that one of my dishes for the

grand buffet, was going to be beet latkes.

when i was done shredding them,

the table,

my apron,

my hands,

the floor and the counters,

were stained red and i was already

over the project. by then, my chef

had convinced me that they could

be served at room temperature, so

that i did not have to struggle with

a la minute preparations - in retrospect,

that part was probably for the best - and

he had an idea that they should be served

over a bed of sliced, raw golden beets.

my memory of that day is this:

while others had the idea to create appetizers,

like, little savory cheesecake bites, cut into

precious squares, i just had to create not only

one, but three dishes, that involved persnickety,

time consuming steps. after making

teeny tiny chocolate tarts and lobster, corn

and chive shot glasses, i spent all afternoon

frying 150 beet pancakes, only to have the

people who ate them, complain that:

1) their fingers were stained

2) they were kind of cold and

3) they didn't realize the raw beets were for

pretty, not for eating.

i was over latkes.

but, then, this year, for chanukah,

i wanted back in.

i want to start making dishes that have

tradition to them and holiday memories

attached. i want to own a portion of the

jewish meals that my family will serve

year after year. i want to, one day, not

be shocked when i'm responsible for

producing an entire holiday meal

on my own.

my mom was thrilled.

my sisters were happy to still

have latkes.

i was kind of scared.

i was worried that i wouldn't

work quickly enough and that the

potatoes would brown. i was worried

that i wouldn't be a good enough

squeezer and that the latkes wouldn't

turn golden, because they'd be too

waterlogged. i was worried my family,

upon eating their first latke,

would turn to my mother, with pleading

in their eyes, and silently beg her to take

back latke making duties next year.

all of these fears - and the fact that i had to

work the day of our chanukah dinner (held

this past weekend, thanks my work schedule

this week) - convinced me to make the latkes a week

early, and pop them in the freezer, to give me

time to fix any mistakes.

i decided to make two latkes:

sweet potato latkes

from gourmet, that i've

been looking at for years

and

melissa clark's apple potato latkes,

featured one week earlier in

the new york times.

and then,

this happened:

(except for the facts that

-i confirmed that i have

a hot [and cold spot] on my burner

-i made myself cook in a freezing cold kitchen

with the windows open to eliminate the frying

smell from the start [didn't work]

-i should have followed my instinct and squeezed

the sweet potatoes before frying, even though the

recipe didn't instruct for that to happen

-it took me all afternoon to make the latkes

-i may have [literally] frozen my husband out of the kitchen,

and then demanded that he come back to help me

squeeze the potatoes, apples and onions quickly,

before making him help me find room in our jam-packed

freezer for 60 latkes)

the whole thing actually went ok.

sure, i've learned you can always squeeze a little bit

more, to really make sure all the liquid is out.

and yes, i'm now more willing to accept that

the first batch of latkes are kind of like the first pancake,

and will never go that well.

but, the latkes tasted like latkes.

in spite of my best efforts, the house smelled

like chanukah.

and this past saturday,

we reheated the latkes

at my mom's, until they were

crisp-on-the-outside,

creamy-on-the-inside.

i watched my family carefully -

no one seemed to be sending

out smoke signals for help.

they ate every single one,

erasing my

beet latke nightmare memories,

in the process.

sweet potato-scallion latkes

adapted from gourmet magazine

this recipe was very basic, and a couple reviewers had complained that they were bland. so, after grating the sweet potatoes, i stirred in a few healthy dashes of cayenne, cumin and coriander, which i think i actually was able to taste, subtly, in the finished product. i did not measure - i just shook in spices, until it felt right. as i said above, the recipe did not call for squeezing liquid out of the potatoes, but i think that was a mistake. i spent the whole time i was making these, trying not to notice the liquid pooling at the bottom. and, i doubled the scallions, but i think i could have tripled them (below, i've written as i made them - doubled).

i also made the decision to double this recipe, which was the right decision. the original recipe was supposed to make 28, but doubling it, i got 30. sure, maybe some of mine were big, but i don't think they were that big. below, is the doubled recipe.

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 bunch scallions, trimmed, cleaned and finely chopped

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

ground cayenne

ground cumin

ground coriander

3/4-1 cup vegetable oil

in large bowl, stir together eggs, scallions, salt and pepper; set aside.

using box grater or grating attachment on the food processor, grate sweet potatoes; transfer to a dish towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. add grated sweet potatoes; sprinkle with flour and a couple healthy shakes each cayenne, cumin and coriander. stir to combine.

in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, heat 3/4 cup oil until hot, but not smoking. Working in batches of 4, spoon 2-3 tablespoons sweet potato mixture into skillet. flatten using back of a slotted spoon (i actually used the 1/4 cup metal measuring cup i was using). reduce heat to medium and cook 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown on each side, turning once. transfer to paper towel-lined plate or sheet pan. add remaining oil to skillet, if necessary.

to freeze: let cool completely. freeze in single layer 2-4 hours. transfer frozen latkes to a freezer safe resealable bag or container. to reheat: heat oven to 400˚f. heat latkes 10-15 minutes, or until hot and sizzling, turning once.

potato, onion and apple latkes

adapted from the new york times

for this recipe, i did something that i never do: i just trusted the recipe. i decided to make it the second i saw melissa clark tweet about it, i didn't bother to research if anyone else made it and i just went for it. it was kind of refreshing. i also doubled this recipe and made the latkes, larger than instructed, but somehow, got exactly the right number (36).

i think that my apples were small, and as i result, i didn't really taste that much apple, but i don't mind, and i would still try them again the same way. i used 4 onions, because they were tiny. also: because i was so nervous about making sure that the apples and potatoes, didn't brown, i asked larry to help me and we turned it into a very fast multi-step process. instead of shredding the onions, potatoes and apples at the same time, i shredded the onions first, squeezed them and then added them to the bowl with the eggs. then, i asked larry to shred and squeeze the apples while i peeled, shredded and squeezed the potatoes. we did not have anything brown, and i recommend it, but if you're cooking alone, there's probably no reason for my crazy version of operation shred and squeeze. (i also realize that my method added work, but it relieved stress, so i consider it a wash.)

here's what i didn't do: i didn't make the cinnamon sour cream that went with it (i'm not really sure why), and since i was making this recipe second, i opted to just keep using vegetable oil, instead of the olive oil.

6 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoons black pepper

2 medium yellow onions, peeled

4 golden delicious apples

2 large russet potatoes

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

vegetable or olive oil for frying

in large bowl, stir together eggs, salt and pepper; set aside.

using box grater or grater attachment on the food processor, grate onion. place onion in strainer; press on onion to release liquid. transfer onion to dish towel; squeeze out remaining liquid. transfer to bowl with egg mixture.

peel and core apples; grate apples. repeat straining and squeezing. transfer to bowl with onions; stir to combine. peel potatoes; repeat shredding and squeezing. sprinkle with flour and baking powder; stir to combine.

in large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1/4-inch oil, until hot, but not smoking. in batches of four or five, drop 3 tablespoons of latke mixture into skillet; press to flatten. cook 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown, turning once. transfer to paper towel-lined sheet pan.

to freeze: let cool completely. freeze in single layer 2-4 hours. transfer frozen latkes to a freezer safe resealable bag or container. to reheat: heat oven to 400˚f. heat latkes 10-15 minutes, or until hot and sizzling, turning once.

green smoothie

while we all hold on

(for dear life, sometimes)

to who we are,

i think it's fair to say we become products

of our environment. for me, that means a lot

of things - like lately, my (slight)

obsession with green smoothies.

i had never heard of green smoothies -

much less imagined myself drinking, craving

and researching twists on them - before about

a year and a half ago. one of my coworkers brought

in a smoothie everyday, filled with lots of visible

kale. other people started drinking them. a lot

of people started talking about them. and i kept

thinking, one day, i'll get up the nerve to make one.

i kept it in my head for over a year.

people still drank them, but they didn't talk about

them quite as much. then, in april, i switched jobs

and boom: green smoothies. in my face. all the time.

again. ok, i will make them.

but, i didn't.

until one day, in the middle of may,

i realized that i had almost all of the ingredients

in the house for this one, the smoothie i'm

most commonly faced with. i prepped everything

the night before - i chopped kale, measured spinach,

diced strawberries and sliced dates, even sprinkling

some flax seed in for good measure. the next morning,

i blended the whole thing with a ripe banana and

coconut water, the only acceptable beverage in the house,

and blended. the results were faintly flecked, but overall,

smooth. the mixture, like everyone said,

tasted like bananas. it was pretty good.

for the next few weeks, we set up shop every night.

after dinner, larry would try to clean the kitchen,

and i, as i am apt to do -

stemming kale, hulling strawberries - would

recreate a mess next to him.

the next morning, when larry got up for work,

he would pour a couple cups of coconut milk

(which we found we liked better than the coconut

water when not using a crazy ripe banana) into

the container, add a banana and blend for 2 minutes

before dividing amongst our shiny new smoothie cups.

(mine's the orange!)

his would leave with him. mine would go in the fridge,

ready and waiting for me to fly downstairs, always one

minute later than my 7:20 deadline, and grab it out

of the fridge. it was great - i loved my breakfast,

i felt good about my breakfast and larry was into it, too.

but, then, as i am also apt to do, i got bored.

i wanted to try new things.

so i played around - trying almond milk,

blueberries, mixed berries, no kale, no spinach,

adding ice cubes and more.

i learned this: mixed berries have never been my thing.

but, also, this: i love green smoothies. love 'em.

there aren't many i haven't liked.

but, there's one that has stood out as my favorite.

the one that i wish i could drink every day.

but, i don't because, for many reasons,

it's more of a special

occasion green smoothie.

i can't believe i just wrote that.

this one

doesn't have kale or bananas.

it sometimes uses dates, sometimes agave.

when they're in the house, i add blueberries.

lately, i've been tossing in cubes of melon.

here's what it always features:

baby spinach

an apple or a pear

a couple splashes of almond milk

ice cubes

and a generous half of an avocado.

i haven't been able to decide if i like

apples better than pears. i'm sad that i

discovered the delicious addition of melon

so close to the end of melon season. i'm

very happy that i realized i only need a small

amount of almond milk - just enough to blend

the mess into a cohesive frosty drink - to make

me happy. but, i've made one decision, that i haven't

wavered from since beginning.

i don't measure.

i can't.

early in the morning,

when i need to leave for work and i've

sacrificed my hair time for smoothie time,

the last thing i want to deal with

are measuring cups. honestly,

it annoys me that i have to deal with

a knife and a cutting board. and, by now, i've

gotten pretty good at making a smoothie

that tastes pretty much the same every day.

so, here's what i do. approximately.

i start by placing a huge handful of

baby spinach in the container.

this fills up about half the blender.

then, i large chop an unpeeled apple* or pear,

using all of a small piece of fruit,

or three-quarters of a large piece.

that goes into the blender, too,

pressing down on the spinach.

then, i add about ten cubes of melon,

or a small handful of blueberries.

i spoon in a generous half of ripe avocado**

(and, by this i mean, that when i "halve" the fruit,

i make sure to cut a bigger section for the smoothie)

then, i drizzle in a squeeze or two of agave

(or three chopped pitted dates).

i add two or three splashes of almond milk,

just enough so that i can see about 1/3-inch

of milk on the bottom of the blender.

and, then, before setting the blender to puree,

i top everything with two small

handfuls of large ice cubes.

usually it takes a good 20-30 seconds for

the mixture to start blending. if things don't start

to take shape at that point, i turn the blender off and shake

the container a couple times. if that still doesn't

help everything mix together, i add a little bit

more almond milk. and once everything is combining,

i let the blender run for at least a minute or two, or until

everything is cohesive and smooth.

on the rare days that i've gotten it together

to make my smoothie before i start getting ready,

i've learned that, surprisingly, this mixture

keeps - covered and in the fridge - for at least

a couple hours.

and that's it.

it's green.

it's satisfying.

it makes people ask questions.

(what are you drinking? why are you drinking that?

spinach? avocado? did you lose a bet?)

but, mostly. it makes me immensely happy.***

*you may notice that the apple i used on the day i took pictures was a granny smith. they looked really shiny and beautiful in the store, but i don't recommend using them. they make the smoothies more tart that i like and it would take quite a bit of sweetener to balance it all out.

**don't get me wrong. a fair half of an avocado makes a really good smoothie. but, using a little more than half ensures that the entire thing tastes faintly of avocado. and in my opinion, what's the point of using a good, but expensive and fatty fruit if you're not going to be able to taste it?

***on friday, i made three smoothies - one for me and one for each of my sisters - as a road trip "treat" to drink on the way to our grandmother's house. they drank theirs, but i'm not sure they'd be able to say that these smoothies made them immensely happy. one of my sisters said it took her three sips to realize she liked it, but she came around. i do think they'd say they like them just fine.

spiced apple cake with brown sugar meringue

somehow in the midst of

catching up on recipes, i jumped

right past our chanukah dinner

and into new year's eve.

but, our dinner that evening -

a couple weeks ago at this point -

was really fun and everything

a holiday with

your family should be.

we brought back chanukah harry,

a play on secret santa, in its second

incarnation. we ate latkes and yummy challah,

before pulling gold wrappers

off our gelt. and later, we played catch phrase,

which you should know can get pretty

dangerous in our house.

(we're just a little intense about our games -

there's clue screaming and

chair bouncing, but i think it's only

natural when faced with true

challenges: how would you get

your team to guess the word

shazam without a lot of

hand gestures and

widening of the eyes?

i didn't know either.)

if i skipped chanukah,

i wouldn't be able

to tell you our night - or about my

new friend, the apple cake.

i first saw this recipe in early october,

during one of the first contests i really took

serious interest in on food52.

and by took seriously, i mean from afar -

i was still a voyeur, not yet even voting.

but i was immediately smitten by one

of the finalists for that week:

an old-fashioned apple spice cake

by betteirine, that i'm sorry to say i

probably never would have looked

at once, if not for the gorgeous picture.

but i would have missed out.

because once i spotted

the shattered top, i was in.

i loved that amanda and merrill

called it a "cake with a snow cap,"

a phrase that popped into my head,

every time i thought of the dessert.

and i loved that they said something

to the effect, that this cake should never

actually work, but it does.

and, is it just me, or does anything with

brown sugar sound instantly worth it?

so, i filed it away until i had a need.

and then, i'm so glad, in december,

i had a need. even though we're slightly

past apple season, there's no denying

that apple shortages are never really

something we deal with.

and the brown sugar

(did i mention the brown sugar?),

absolutely made me feel ok about

baking this fall cake in the winter.

usually most of the ingredients

are in the house, but it wasn't until

i was packing up the bag to go to my

mom's, that i realized that um,

somehow i ran out of golden raisins

and eggs. and butter.

thank goodness, i have a mom,

who has a house stocked with

such necessities. and a sister,

who is willing to pick things

up from the grocery store,

on a rainy miserable day,

when i, for some odd reason,

assume that my mother

does not actually

have butter in her house.

and, usually, i would

think that this recipe would

not take very long to prepare

at all. but probably, that's the

case if you are not talking to your

family and telling stories and stopping

every five seconds to interject into

their conversation because who

wants to be forgotten about in

the kitchen?

but still, it's an easy enough cake,

and just the kind i love:

a spiced thick batter,

studded heavily with

golden raisins and toasted walnuts,

then strands of grated apple.

the glossy meringue is thickly spread

over the batter and baked

until the top is crisp

and the whole house smells of

sugar and cinnamon.

oh, and another thing:

i was really concerned about the

top cracking. you see, i wanted

it to crack. for me, that was the

charm behind the cake, the

reason for wanting to make it

in the first place. so how nice

for once, after years of fretting over

cheesecakes garnished with

deep top pockets, to pull the pan

out of the oven, watch the top

crack down the center and just

not care? well, i'll tell you:

it was nice.

but i shouldn't have been so

worried about the top - or

about baking it at my mom's,

hours before serving,

just to be sure it would crack.

because it did. the moment

the knife hit the surface that

evening, the cake set out to

prove that it would not conform

to perfect just-so squares. no,

this cake was going to form

its own lines, fracturing here

and fissuring there and looking

like it was cut by a small child

with a plastic knife. and i loved it.

but the thing about this cake -

which by the way was so good:

moist, sweetly spiced, textured,

and, in fact, topped with a snow cap -

is that i shouldn't

have worried so much

about the cracking.

in spite of

what the instructions said,

the next day, the top still

splintered on its own

when we cut off

an experimental sliver.

in fact, it took a few days for

a knife to

cut smoothly through.

but now,

crack or no crack,

i would make this cake again -

not for the novelty,

or the double use of brown sugar -

but because, frankly,

it would be a shame not to.

this cake is delicious.

spiced apple cake with brown sugar meringue

adapted from betteirene via food52

well, i'm sad to say that i know one reason why this cake was so good - i realized way too late (like looking at the recipe again after the cake was already served late), that i doubled the butter. yes, doubled. i cannot believe it either. for some reason that day, with the rain and the wind and the people (my family) talking and me worried about my chanukah harry gift and trying to make a meringue with crazy weather, i had what i'll just call, a moment, and read 1/2 cup to mean 2 sticks. i know. but, below, i've written the recipe with the true 1/2 cup.

also - and maybe i'll just say right now that this was not the day to prove i'm a good reader - i somehow missed the part that said to add all dry ingredients and then the flour. i had already packed a resealable plastic bag with all dry ingredients combined - so i crossed my breath and stirred only a couple times with great intent. nothing suffered. maybe it was all that butter.

oh, and i'm sorry, but i have one more thing to tell you. when the recipe was made on food52, they baked the cake in a round cake pan (if you haven't looked yet, the picture is here again, for good measure). i loved that idea - especially because this is obviously not a fancy cake plate-cake, but a serve out of the pan confection that maybe only works for after-lunch slices, teas or family dinners. i, however, stuck with the square pan - only because all my round pans are not so easy to get to. ok, now i'm done.

brown sugar meringue

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar (i had dark - it worked well)

2 tablespoons water

position rack in center of oven. heat oven to 350˚f.

prepare a double boiler or small saucepot by filling it with 1 to 2-inches of water. over high heat, bring to a boil. in top of double boiler or a small heatproof mixing bowl that can sit on saucepot without touching water, combine egg whites, brown sugar and water. using electric mixer, beat egg white mixture 3-5 minutes, or until peaks form. set aside. (just a note - if you're using the bowl/saucepot setup, have an oven mitt nearby in case the now-hot bowl begins to tip - you might need to hold it.)

apple spice cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional - i did not have)

2 large meaty apples (i used huge fuji apples)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup golden raisins

2 large meaty apples (i used huge fuji apples)

2 cups all-purpose flour

grease 9 x 9 baking pan.

in mixing bowl using electric mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar 2 minutes, or until fluffy. add egg yolks and beat 30 seconds, or until completely blended. using a wooden spoon, stir in baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, walnuts and raisins.

peel apples. grate apples on the large holes of a box grater; add to batter. fold in flour, just until combined, taking care not to over mix.

transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth the top. spread brown sugar meringue evenly over batter, smoothing. bake 45 minutes, or until top is crisp.

(as i said, at this point, the recipe instructs to serve it the first day for a meringue that cracks; the next day for neat slices. i say, just enjoy it whenever you're ready.)