HAPPY HANUKKAH

The part I love about food is how different religions and countries use food to celebrate special times, Christmas, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Easter etc. Each festivity is marked by their food and what they serve at each holiday. For Hanukkah it is the traditional latkes, applesauce, rugelach and chocolate coins!

I thought I would just share a great latke recipe, wonderful during the year not only at Hanukkah! Latkes are a traditional food eaten during the Hanukkah festival as the oil for cooking the latkes is reminiscent of the oil from the Hanukkah storey that kept the long-lasting flame alive – the celebrated miracle. Try them out, they are just delicious with traditional applesauce but for a twist or to use them for entertaining use them as the base for smoked salmon and chive cream cheese!
Potato Latkes by Daphna Rabinovich of the Food Network

Ingredients

- 6 baking potatoes

- 3 small onions, quartered

- 4 eggs, beaten

- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- Vegetable oil, for cooking

Directions
- Peel baking potatoes and cut lengthwise into quarters.
- By hand or in a food processor using shredder blade, alternately shred onions and potatoes
- Transfer to colander, squeeze out as much moisture as possible discarding excess liquid
- Transfer to a large bowl, mix in eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper
- In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat
- Add ¼ cup of mixture per latke, leaving space between each, flatten slightly.
- Cook for 3 minutes until browned and crisp around edges, turn and cook for 3-5 minuets longer.
- Transfer to paper towel to drain well

Yields: 8 latkes

photo credit: food network & google images