Lavish Latkes

Why settle for anything less than a high class latke? We've all struggled with the boring and the simple, the grating and the applesauce. It's almost like we make them just to please our mother-in-laws. One year, I almost bought a dozen hash browns from a popular fast food establishment and called it a day. I've decided that the latkes we know need a makeover, and here it is. Four glorious recipes, and oh how divine they are. To top it all off, these kids need a chutney, not a sauce. And we're also serving them with creme fraiche, nix the sour cream.

Remember the two rules for perfect latkes:

Make sure the oil is heated up to 350F

Grated potatoes should be very very dry, and NOT moist (ring them out in a kitchen towel before using)

Gwyneth Paltrow's Latkes
Made with shallots and rosemary; classy & elegant with a big attitute.
(I think if she were going to make them, this would be her recipe.)

1 pound of yukon gold's, peeled and grated

1 large shallot, grated

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary

1 egg

1 teaspoon of white whole wheat flour

kosher salt and pepper to taste

peanut oil to fry (canola oil can be substituted)

Pour about one cup of peanut oil into a medium pan. Heat the oil to 350 degrees and use a thermometer to check the temperature.

Work with the potatoes last. Grate the shallot, and put into a medium bowl. Add the egg, flour and salt and pepper. Now, peel and grate the potatoes. If possible use them right away, and add them to the bowl. (If you need to peel and grate the potatoes ahead of time, place them in a bowl of cold water to keep them fresh - and roll them in a towel after grating to remove the moisture. Now, mix it all up.
Drop a teaspoon at a time into the hot oil and flatten slightly with a spatula. Flip over when they start to brown, after about 3-4 minutes.

Apple Cider Chutney

adapted from Bon Apetit, November 1996

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup apple cider

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 pounds granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

8 large garlic cloves

2 ounces fresh ginger root, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cups golden raisins

2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds

Boil up the vinegar and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce temperature and simmer for 10 more minutes, then remove from heat.

Combine apples and lemon juice in small bowl and set aside. Combine garlic, ginger, salt and red pepper in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the apples, the garlic mixture, raisins and mustard seeds to the vinegar. Simmer until apples are tender and chutney thickens, stirring occasionally, approx. 45 minutes. Cool, cover and chill. This recipes can be made up to one week ahead of time, and stored in the refrigerator.

Modern Latkes, AKA Chremslech
These babies are light and fluffy, a nice alternative from the classic latke.

2 cups idaho potatos, peeled and cubed
2 yukon golds, peeled and grated
1 large shallot, grated
2 eggs
2 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
peanut oil for frying (canola oil can be substituted)

Boil up the idaho potatoes in a pot with some salt. Cook for about 15 minutes. Drain them and mash, set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the shredded yukons and mashed idaho's with the onions, eggs, flour and salt. Mix well. You should have a nice dough, not too sticky, add a bit more flour to remedy if needed. Heat up the oil in a large skillet, and test to make sure it's 350F. When ready, drop by heaping tablespoon into oil, and flatten with a spatula. Cook for a few minutes on both sides. Serve with creme fraiche and smoked salmon, and garnish with fresh dill.



These next two recipes are compliments of Nicky Zion, a very talented chef and food conversationalist.


Apple Latkes

2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk or orange juice
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
dash of salt
1/2 cup of sugar if using milk, 1/4 cup if using juice
3 medium sized apples, peeled and grated
canola oil for frying
confectioners sugar for dusting, optional

Mix eggs with juice or milk in bowl. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add dry ingredients to eggmixture along with the apples. Heat thin layer of oil in saute pan. Drop batter by tablespoon and cook about 2 minutes per side or until lightly golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Dust with confectioners sugar.





Curried Sweet Potato Latkes

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
canola oil for frying

Grate sweet potatoes coarsely. In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and all spices. Add the eggs and the milk to the dry ingredients to make a batter. Add sweet potatoes and mix well. Heat oil in saute pan. Drop batter by tablespoon and flatten. Cook several minutes on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve.

Wine, Women, and a Sugarpaste Shoe

How hard can it be to make a shoe? If Jimmy Choo can do it, so can I. So I thought. Now sugarpaste takes a week to dry, I think they really mean a month. No one factors in rain, shower steam, or the occasional chocolate milkshake from McDonald's that your three year old brings home and accidentally spills all over the fruits of your labor. So when I was asked if I would make a cake with a shoe theme for The Near and Far Aide's 'Wine, Women and Shoes' event held at Mitchell's, of course I said yes. It was one day of mixing, stirring, rolling, coloring, cutting and shaping followed by a week of waiting for it to dry (not to mention the three hours it took to carve a stiletto arch out of styrofoam.) The paint made it beautiful, it all seemed to come together. Until it broke in half and my one shoe became two. What was I to do? Take a look at the picture, no one ever knew, until now. P.S. This entire double shoe-box cake was eaten by beautiful women who came out to support a great cause. I guess they figured their figure would understand.

Red Velvet Mudslide

No, that's not the name of a fancy dessert. It's what happened today when I was delivering 54 Red Velvet cupcakes. Rather than squishing these ganache topped babies in a standard box, I decided to keep things simple and lay them out on a full sheet pan. They fit perfectly, all 54, touching each other to prevent any movement. It was hot, and we all know that gooey chocolate ganache doesn't have a good relationship with the heat, so once again rather than placing the tray in the flat rear of my truck, I had my [former] son hold the tray. BIG mistake. He was even in the back seat, away from Mr. Sun and had the cool air blowing on him and all of his 54 friends. Honestly, so glad we weren't driving around San Francisco, or the catastrophe would have happened much sooner. Instead, it wasn't until we were 5 minutes away from delivering the cupcakes that the mysterious "bump" occurred and caused the sheet pan to levitate up and out of my son's arms. Funny how there wasn't even a Ouija Board in the car. Since what goes up must come down, praise those cupcakes for landing head first on the floor of my suburban. Good thing I had just gotten my car detailed 'else the cupcakes would have been covered with dirt in addition to being smooshed. Good thing.