Latkes

Happy Hanukkah! My dad makes the BEST latkes. I ate four tonight. I wanted to eat a dozen. Those are chives sprinkled on the sour cream there; the contrasting color helped the photo. (But also they were tasty.)

5 medium russet potatoes (about 2.5–3 lbs total)
1/2 medium onion
1 Tbsp table salt (technically 1/2 tsp salt per potato, but we rounded up)
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp flour or matzoh meal
1 tsp baking soda
Lots of vegetable oil for frying
1/4 cup olive oil for frying
kosher salt
sour cream or applesauce to serve

Important tools are an electric fryer (my dad uses an electric wok) and a food processor with coarse shredding disc.

Wash and dry potatoes; leave skin on. Shred potatoes in food processor. Shred onion in food processor.

Mix potato, onion, salt, pepper, garlic, 2 Tbsp olive oil and flour (or matzoh meal) in large bowl. Add baking soda and stir to combine.

Pour the 1/4 cup olive oil and however much vegetable oil you need in your frying vessel. Heat oil mixture to 375 degrees F. While the oil is heating, occasionally press down on the potato mixture and drain the resulting liquid into another bowl (to discard later).

Take a blob of potato mixture and press out liquid to make a 3-inch disk. Slide carefully into hot oil. Make a batch of 6. Fry until golden brown and delicious (this is an eyeball estimation), turning them occasionally in the oil to cook both sides. Remove to a rack on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt, then move the sheet to a 275 degree oven while you fry the rest of them.

Let oil temperature recover between batches.

This should make 3 batches of 6 latkes each. Serve with sour cream or applesauce.

Potato and Gorgonzola Pie

HOLY COW THIS IS SO GOOD. Stopping myself after two pieces was a struggle. I wasn’t sure whether to call it a quiche, since there’s just the one egg in it. The original recipe I read called for a tart pan, but since I didn’t have one, it’s now a pie.

I guess I could have done a better job arranging the potatoes, since that slice up there just looks like I stacked everything up vertically. I don’t even care though, it’s just too delicious.

1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 1-4″ thick
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme and rosemary
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pie crust, homemade or purchased (I bought one from Trader Joe’s because I’m lazy, but since it cracked while unrolling, I still had to take to it with a rolling pin to get it back together, thereby sort of undoing the convenience)

Heat oven to 350.

Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Add a dash of salt. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain.

Line a pie plate with the crust, trimming excess. Arrange potato slices in circles, overlapping each other. Sprinkle gorgonzola on top evenly.

Whisk the cream and egg together, then pour on top. Sprinkle herbs on top, as well as 1/2 tsp kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.

Place pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet and put in the oven. Bake at 350 for 45–60 minutes or until browned and bubbling (the original recipe called for 45, but I ended up going for an hour). Cool for a bit on a rack before slicing.

blathering

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday. I was really tired.

Unfortunately, I haven’t made anything of real interest this week. Today I had highly-caffinated tea and a slice of banana cake for breakfast, pasta with sauce I made over the weekend for lunch, and a twice-baked potato for dinner. It’s an exciting life. The potatoes have been brilliant, though. I made them both last night and tonight. It’s basically the same thing as the minis, but using russets. It’s less annoying to scoop out only two potato halves rather than twenty. But now I’m out of potatoes, so I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow. Probably something involving the leftover chicken from Sunday. Perhaps I’ll make a salad again- no, I won’t, I’m out of lettuce. Hm.

Here endeth the stream-of-consciousness.

Potatoes!

Okay, so I made those potatoes again. And they were WONDERFUL. Time-consuming, but so good. An excellent appetizer.

One tip- when cutting the potatoes in half, cut them so they will stand up and be stable on the baking sheet. This will probably mean you’ll have a lot of long, shallow halves, which is in no way a bad thing. More surface area to brown.

the hussy’s mini twice-baked potatoes

1.5 pounds small red potatoes (9-12)
3 slices bacon, diced
3/4 cup shallots, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp buttermilk
3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook potatoes in boiling water 15-20 minutes or until tender; drain.

Brown bacon in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and bacon; turn heat down to medium and saute for five minutes or until softened.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut potatoes in half; carefully scoop out pulp, leaving a quarter-inch shell. Add the butter, sour cream, and buttermilk to the potato pulp and mash with a fork; stir in cheese. Add to onion mixture, stirring well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put about one tablespoon potato mixture into each shell. Arrange stuffed potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes. At the end of baking, turn on the broiler and let the tops brown and puff up a bit, 3 to 4 minutes.

Parmesan Potato Bites

12 small round red potatoes (about 1 pound)
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
3/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup or 2-3 slices uncooked, diced turkey bacon (I used real bacon)
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated fresh parmesan cheese
1 tsp rubbed sage (I didn’t have this)

Cook potatoes in boiling water 15 minutes or until tender; drain.

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bacon, pepper, and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender.Preheat broiler.

Cut potatoes in half; carefully scoop out pulp, leaving a quarter-inch shell (this was hard). Mash potato pulp with a fork; stir in cheese and sage. Add to onion mixture, stirring well. Spoon about one tablespoon potato mixture into each shell. Arrange stuffed potatoes on a baking sheet and broil 3 to 4 inches from heat 3 minutes or until lightly browned.