taste2taste

December 7, 2015

Latkes With A Slight Twist

Tonight is the first night of the Jewish Festival of Light, Chanukah and the tradition, based on the story of the holiday, is to consume lots of things connected to oil. So, I decided I would share my own recipe for the ever popular Latke, a potato dish cooked in….you guessed, oil!

The Ingredients needed

This is a great way to cook one’s spud, tatty or even potato. delicious, irresistibly crispy on the outside and moist potato within and is popular in mainstream US cuisine too

The way I make Latkes is with a nod to the tradition but adding a little bit of something else. Being a veritable kleptomaniac, when it comes to the use of a dash of color, I thought it might be fun to help this classic dish along the culinary trail by bringing some colorful vegetable interlopers to the party

Ingredients (serves 6+)

Plain, Carrot & Kale Latke mix

6 x large potatoes (peeled and grated)
2 x large onions grated
1 x cup of Matzo Meal (available in many supermarkets but you could use flour as an alternative binding agent)
3 x large eggs
Oil to fry (I used sunflower oil)
Salt and Pepper to season
Optional: 2 x purple carrots (peeled and grated) and 1 x large handful of kale (diced)

Method

Into the frying pan

For the basic Potato Latke mix, add the eggs, onions and matzo meal to the grated potatoes and season well mixing the ingredients until they are all combined
Alternatively, divide the potato mix into two halves, subdividing one half equally between 2 bowls and mixing the carrots and kale separately into each bowl
Form patties of the potato mix from each bowl in the palm of your hand
Heat around 1/4″ of oil in a large frying pan / skillet carefully place in the uncooked patties and fry until golden brown on each side
Dry on paper towel to absorb excess oil

Beer & Latkes

Absolutely fabulous served with apple sauce and washed down with a large glass of dark strong seasonal beer. I had mine with the aptly named ‘Chanukah Beer’ from Shmaltz Brewing of NY

December 6, 2015

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Fruity Festive Biscuits

As we enter the festive season, I love baking something great to share with friends and family. This recipe brings back memories of aromas wafting from the kitchen as Mum baked these biscuits. I’ve tweaked the recipe slightly to make even more festive.

Set oven to 200 degrees C (390 F) fan

Ingredients

Ingredients – Biscuit

114g (4oz) plain flour
114g (4 oz) self raising flour

(for USA use 8 oz all purpose flour + 2 teaspoons of baking powder)

pinch of sea salt
114g (4 oz) butter, at room temperature
114g (4oz) caster sugar
1 egg, beaten

Ingredients – Fruity Filling

4 dessertpoons of raspberry jam
125g (4.5 oz)mixed dried fruit – I use raisins, cranberries, cherries & blueberries
2 tablespoons of roasted chopped hazelnuts
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

For serving – 2 teaspoons sieved icing sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoons of cinnamon

Method

Sieve flour and salt into a large bowl
Butter & flour rubbed in to form crumbs
Rub in the butter until it forms fine crumbs
Add sugar and 3/4 of the beaten egg, mix until well combined and forms a smooth dough
Add a bit more egg if dough too stiff
Divide into 4 balls, wrap each in cling film and chill for 15 minutes
Dough ball rolled into a rectangle
Roll each dough ball into a long rectangle (see picture left)
Spread jam leaving a small gap round the edge
Jam, fruit, nuts, zest & cinnamon added

Sprinkle on 1/4 of fruit, nuts, lemon zest and cinnamon (see picture right)

Roll up, roll up

Wet the edges with water and roll up (see picture left)
Repeat for other 3 dough balls

Bake on a greased baking sheet for 15 minutes, turn oven down to 140 C (280 F) and bake for a further 3-5 minutes

Rolls ready to bake

Baked biscuit rolls just out the oven
Cool on baking sheet and when cool sprinkle with cinnamon icing sugar
Cut with a sharp knife into slices

Fruity festive biscuits – the perfect partner for tea.

December 2, 2015

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Simply Big Apple Cake

A week or so ago was the last time I was able to go to the open air Farmers Market in the village of Irvington, just before they closed for the winter. I’ve been visiting them on and off since Summer graced us with its blazing heat and, as we shiver here in the damp chilly early days of winter, that seems a lifetime away

Beautiful selection of apples from Wrights’ Farm

I thought I might look for something really basic but synonymous with my home state, with which to prepare one of my favorite but simple, deliciously moist and crumbly cakes to warm everyone at home up. Namely, the humble Apple!

We are now at the tail end of NY’s apple season, with masses of varieties not so common to our friends in London with funky names like, Macoun, McIntosh, Empire and Cortland all available and much to my delight, I found a great selection on a stall from Wrights’ Farm of Gardiner NY. I selected some of their scarlet skinned Cortland Apples, whose slightly less sweet, snow white crisp flesh is perfect for baking

Back home, ingredients assembled within just an hour and a half, the cake was done. My kids came inside and started “ooh’ing’ and “ah’ing” at the scrumptious aroma of baked apples and citrus, which form the backbone of this moreish cake. Minutes later, a couple of hefty slices were gobbled down!

Ingredients assembled

Ingredients

12 oz self raising flour (or plain flour plus 3 x tbsp baking powder and 1 tsp of salt)
8 oz butter
6 oz sugar (granulated, or caster )
3 large eggs
Grated rind of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange
4 oz golden raisins / sultanas
1lb cooking apples (I used Cortland variety), peeled, cored, then cut into 3/4 inch cubes

Ready to mix?

Method (15-20 mins prep)

Place the flour, butter,sugar, eggs and grated citrus rind in a large bowl, beating into a thick and smooth mixture
Add the golden raisins and chopped apples, stirring until evenly distributed
Then, pour into a greased 8 or 9 inch deep cake tin and smooth level
Bake in a moderate oven 350 f / 185 c for 1 and 1/4 hours until the cake is golden brown and firm, remove from the the oven and sprinkle immediately with sugar