Sharing Chanukah

A friend of mine sometimes gently complains that American society makes too big of a deal about Chanukah since it’s supposed to be a minor holiday that is celebrated in the home. That’s true, but since we all know about the holiday we may as well share the celebration. The essential feature of food for Chanukah is frying in oil to commemorate the miracle of the tiny bit of Temple oil that lasted eight days. Well, what could possibly be more American than that? Especially Southern American! Somehow our family always manages to squeeze in a Chanukah dish or two among the Christmas cookies. Here are some goodies:

Potato Latkes This is the basic potato pancake. Plain, but wonderful.

2 large potatoes, I usually use Idaho potatoes, but some people like the waxier kind like Yukon Gold.
1 small onion
1 egg (beaten)
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour or matzo meal
vegetable oil

Peel and coarsely grate the potatoes and onion. Squeeze out excess moisture. Mix with the beaten egg, salt and flour or matzo meal. Drop small pancakes into hot vegetable oil. Brown on both sides. Serve with applesauce and sour cream.Makes about 10 latkes. Some people like to deep fry latkes, and some people bake them on a griddle like regular pancakes. I’m a centrist on this. I like about one inch of canola oil in the skillet.

This recipe has a lot of color in it. And it’s another excuse to eat sweet potatoes, which you should eat often.
Sweet Potato Latkes

1/2 medium yellow onion
1/2 pound Yukon gold potato, (about 1 large)
1/2 pound sweet potato, (about 1 medium)
4 tablespoons matzo meal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch cayenne
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Vegetable oil
4 teaspoons light sour cream
4 teaspoons beet or regular horseradish
2 to 3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Put a wire rack on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Grate the onion into a large bowl. Grate both potatoes into the same bowl, grating down the length of the potato to get long strands. Toss the potatoes with the onions as you work to keep them from discoloring. Put potato mixture in a clean dish towel and wring out excess liquid. Toss the latke mixture with the matzo meal, salt, and cayenne. Stir in the egg.

Heat a 1/4-inch oil in a large cast iron or other heavy skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, spoon about 1/4 cup of the latke mixture into the skillet, pressing lightly to form 3-inch pancakes. Take care not to overcrowd the pan. Cook, turning once, until just golden, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to the rack in the oven while you cook the remaining batter.

Serve the latkes hot with sour cream and horseradish.

We love corn fritters, and this next recipe combines corn and pumpkin. If you have any winter squash puree left in the freezer (I don’t. We’ve used it up.) Use that instead of canned.

Pumpkin and Corn Fritters Recipe

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup fresh corn kernels cut from the cob if you have them or use frozen ones
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
6 cups vegetable oil, for frying
maple syrup, for drizzling
Powdered sugar, for garnish

Sauté the corn in the oil and butter for about 5 minutes if fresh, about 3 minutes if frozen. Season the corn with 1/4 teaspoon salt and the white pepper. Continue to cook the corn, stirring often, for an additional 3 minutes. Remove corn from pan and set aside on a plate to cool. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and whisk to combine. When the corn is cooled, fold it into the pumpkin base. Gently stir the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and baking soda into the pumpkin base. Stir just until the ingredients are combined, so as not to over-mix. Wrap bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. In a large 6-quart pot, heat the vegetable oil to 325 degrees F. Remove the fritter batter from the refrigerator and carefully spoon heaping tablespoonfuls of the fritter batter into the hot oil to fry. Cook no more than 6 at a time, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning when necessary, until the fritters are a golden brown. Remove the fritters from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Keep warm in the oven until all of the fritters have been made. To serve, pile the fritters onto a serving plate and drizzle with maple syrup. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve while hot.

Jelly doughnuts are also popular at Chanukah. We don’t ever bother making doughnuts. We have a Krispy Kreme now. Chanukah begins the evening of December 25 this year. What a great excuse to make a trip to Krispy Kreme!