Tonight marks the beginning of the Jewish new year -- Rosh Hashana -- and with that, a whole new cycle of holidays and special meals to go with it (in case you need another reason to justify that trip to Whole Foods).
This celebration involves quite a few riffs on the ever-popular salty-sweet flavor pairing. The sweetness in honey, apples, pomegranates and dates are added to many Rosh Hashana dishes and is often offset by the rich, savory taste of brisket or chicken.
It's tradition to begin ringing in Rosh Hashana with sliced apples and honey -- like a toast to a sweet new year. No recipe needed here, just hit up your farmer's market for some tart, crisp apples (try Macoun) and local honey.
Zucchini, Potato and Scallion Pancakes. Photo: Rec(ession)ipes.
As we transition from summer to fall, it's the perfect time to pair prime vegetables from each season.
And these zucchini, potato and scallion pancakes from Rec(ession)ipes beautifully capture the colors of autumn, while sneaking in the last tastes of summer. Pan-fried and topped with a dollop of chive sour cream, a glimpse at these almost makes up for the fact that we'll be seeing a lot less of the sun for a while. Almost.
For the last few years I've been sort of smug about my latke ability. For some reason, I've always been able to turn out perfect, round, golden, crispy latkes on the first try. But after yesterday's debacle, I realize that it wasn't me, it was my recipe. You see, I decided to change my perfect recipe to include half sweet potatoes, thinking they'd incorporate just like the normal, starchy potatoes. Only they didn't. They were too hard and didn't have nearly enough starch, so my pancakes never stayed together. I instead ended up with a pan full of sweet potato/regular potato hash browns, which were delicious, but were not what I was going for.
So, if you were thinking about incorporating sweet potatoes into your latkes this weekend, make sure to follow a recipe (like this one from Epicurious, which uses are more egg and flour than I did). And, if you want the recipe that made me feel all smug about my latke abilities, that one is after the jump.
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. Recognizing the health conscious, many people who host Hanukkah parties plan to serve baked latkes, as well as fried.
Baked latkes are often undercooked and not nearly as crispy as fried ones, but this recipe makes an excellent stand-in that is better than most. A minimal amount of oil is still used to grease the baking sheets, and the latkes turn out to be very crispy and very satisfying - with far less fat than ordinary latkes. They have a good potato flavor and, because they are thin, are not undercooked in the center.
Another super-tasty Irish dish to enjoy on St
Patrick's Day and according to the magazine in which I found it (March issue of Fresh magazine) it is rich in
nutrients, folic acid, vitamin c and fibre.
For the Pancakes
450g peeled
potatoes diced
60g plain flour
200ml milk
For the Filling
225g diced back bacon
85g unsalted butter
450g Kale or other greens finely
shredded
Put the potatoes and flour in a food processor or blender with enough milk to make a batter.
Let it rest while preparing the filling.
Dry-fry the bacon, add a third of the butter. Add the kale or veg
and a few tablespoons of water. Boil vigorously for five minutes and then drain. Heat the rest of the butter in a
frying pan and use about a quarter of the batter mixture to make a slim pancake. Cook until golden brown on the bottom.
Top with a quarter of the filling fold over and serve. Should make 4 pancakes.
My only question is - should
the potatoes be boiled first?
It's summer, and that means it's time for a good old-fashioned 
Another super-tasty Irish dish to enjoy on St
Patrick's Day and according to the magazine in which I found it (March issue of Fresh magazine) it is rich in
nutrients, folic acid, vitamin c and fibre.
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