Hanukkah really caught me by surprise this year. Never in my lifetime has the holiday come so
early. In fact, the last time Hanukkah came this early in the year was during
the late 1800’s.
I certainly don’t want to make potato latkes (potato pancake) for
Thanksgiving dinner. We always make the same potato dishes every year, at that
time, and they have become a tradition.
So I’ve decided since Hanukkah comes at sundown this
evening, this will be our latke day—tradition demands it. We will light the 1st
Menorah candle, say our blessing, and have our latkes with applesauce, or sour
cream. Perhaps some barbecue chicken, steamed broccoli, and a salad would work
well. It won’t interfere with the
preparation of cranberry relish or Waldorf salad which need to be chilled for
Thanksgiving dinner.
Tomorrow’s dinner should be finished when it’s time to light
the second Hanukkah candle. We will celebrate with a dessert—Pumpkin-Pie Cake (posted on this blog
last year).
Then time to spin the dreidel!
Potato Latkes
Ingredients:
5 medium
potatoes
1 medium onion
2 medium eggs
3 tablespoons
flour or matzo meal
Salt and pepper
to taste
Vegetable oil
for frying
Directions:
- Peel potatoes and place in bowl of cold water until ready to prepare latkes.
- Grate onion and potatoes alternately using large holes in grater. Press out as much liquid as possible.
- Blend potato mixture with eggs, flour, salt, and pepper.
- Heat skillet with 1 inch of oil to medium high. Drop mixture one tablespoon at a time into skillet. Brown on both sides and drain on paper towel. Serve with applesauce or sour cream.
- If there are leftovers place on a cookie sheet and freeze. Store in zip lock bag and keep frozen until ready to use.
- To prepare later, heat oven to 450 degrees, place latkes on cookie sheet and heat until crisp. Do not store in frig or they will become soggy.
HAPPY HANUKKAH!
