Friday, March 29, 2024 -
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Oy Chanukah, oy Chanukah

With Chanukah just around the corner, it’s to stock up on oil, potatoes, flour, yeast, raspberry preserves, apples — all the ingredients you need for latkes and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts). In the Rocky Mountain Jew test kitchen, we’re experimenting with recipes found on allrecipes and epicurious. We’re even making homemade applesauce. Make sure to check out allrecipes’ fantastic, step-by-step guide to making perfectly crisp, golden latkes.

Potato Latkes with Applesauce

Readers, what are the best potatoes for making latkes? Allrecipes suggest russet. Do you agree?

Ingredients

Latkes

  • 2 C peeled & shredded potatoes
  • 1 T grated onion
  • 3 eggs beaten
  • 2 TB all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C peanut or sunflower oil

Applesauce

  • 4 apples, peeled & chopped
  • 1 C water
  • 1/3 C sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • squeeze lemon juice

Instructions

Latkes

  1. Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible.
  2. In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together.
  3. In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels.

Applesauce

  1. Cooking apples, water, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool then mash with a wooden spoon or potato masher.

  2. Serve latkes warm with applesauce on the side.

Baked Sufganiyot

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients

  • 1 scant tablespoon (1 package) dry yeast
  • 4 TB sugar
  • 3/4 C lukewarm milk (or warm water for parve)
  • 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 t ground cinnamon
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 2 TB 1/4 stick butter softened (or margarine for parve)
  • Raspberry or any seasonal preserves
  • Sugar or cinnamon-sugar mix
  • 2 TB of melted butter

Instructions

  1. Mix together the yeast, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the milk. Let sit to make sure it bubbles.
  2. Sift the flour and mix it with the remaining sugar, salt, cinnamon, egg yolks and the yeast mixture.
  3. Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Add the butter or margarine. Knead some more, until the butter is well absorbed. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours. (See Notes)
  4. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch.
  5. Cut out the dough into 24 rounds with a juice glass, or any object about 2 inches in diameter. Take 1/2 teaspoon of preserves and place in center of 12 rounds. Top with the other 12. Press down at edges, sealing with egg whites. Crimping with the thumb and second finger is best. Let rise for about 30-45 minutes.
  6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the bottoms are just golden. Brush with melted butter and dip into sugar.

Recipe Notes

This recipe originally calls for refrigerating the dough overnight. It also calls for frying and not baking the doughnuts. After comparing with other recipes, we've come up with this version, which we're testing this weekend. Check back on Monday for the results!

For more fried Chanukah delights, including parmesan sweet potato fries and garlic onion rings, order a copy of this week’s special IJN Chanukah edition, by calling (303) 861-2234 or emailing [email protected].




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