"latke" news and stories

As much as we've enjoyed the extravagant holiday feasting, simplicity is also deliciously alluring, particularly in this "two eggs, two latkes" dish by Flickr user Mr Atrocity.

In a heartier take on eggs on toast, swap bread for heftier taters for a more substantial breakfast -- with the crunch and creamy interior of fresh potato pancakes topped with the protein-packed runny egg yolk, you may never want to return to a bread-and-butter base. Perfect your classic latkes with Michael Symon's tips -- or if you're feeling fancy, Giada De Laurentiis' Parmesan Potato Pancakes with basil should provide your tastebuds with a fresh start for the day.

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• Radio personality, cookbook author and self-proclaimed "culinary multitasker" Evan Kleinman carries serious clout in the LA food scene -- she recommended Loteria restaurant, it got packed; she initiated a "Pie a Day" project, Los Angelenos got cooking; she opened the LA chapter of Slow Food and they joined.
• Due to the Festival of Lights' origins, during which one day's worth of oil miraculously lasted eight, fried foods are a perennial staple during Hanukkah. To celebrate, the Times offers a collection of their seven best latke recipes.
• Used in a traditional fruit punch during the holiday season, tejocote was for years the most smuggled fruit into the U.S. border from Mexico. Farmer Jaime Serrato specializes in produce used in Latino cooking but illegal to import, so started growing the "crab-apple-like" fruit stateside five years ago and now has some 35 acres of it.
• In "35 Holiday Gifts to Buy, Give, Inspire, Make -- and Receive," the Times suggests everything from edible delicacies to kitchen gifts for cooks and more.
• Comically monikered eatery 9021Pho offers a "simple yet excellent" pho menu, which one diner calls "Vietnamese penicillin" -- and the writer praises for its "pristine freshness."
• Recipes: Peruvian Ceviche at Ciudad, Persimmon Pudding and Wild Rice Stuffing

Hanukkah is known as the "festival of lights" and is a holiday in which oil has a special meaning. To put it very, very briefly, Hanukkah celebrates a miraculous occurrence where one night's worth of oil burned for eight. There is a lot of oil used in foods that are served for this holiday and much of it is used for frying. The two most well-know Hanukkah staples are sufganiyah (jelly-filled donuts) and latkes, or potato pancakes. As good as these two foods are, health-conscious holiday revelers don't always want to completely blow their diet with a meal of entirely fried foods, nor do they want to restrict themselves to only a few bites of this holiday favorite.

Words to eat by's writer, Debbie, is often a diet-minded food blogger, which makes her site a great reference for a delicious but not-as-bad-for-you cake or cookies. She knows, however, that certain things only happen once a year and they should not be skimped on. Her latke recipe is one of her once-a-year recipes and though its simplicity may belie the delicious taste of the results, Debbie's photo certainly does not. One look at it and I can taste the hot, oil crisped potato pancakes yielding to a moist, tender center in latke perfection.
Happy Hannukah, everyone!

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