A few days ago, after making Samosa Latkes (yum, yum!), I promised I would post the recipe for the sweet potato latkes my family made the same evening.
We call them Yam-e-kes.
Yes, I know sweet potatoes aren’t really yams, but the name was too cute to resist!
Like most of my latkes (including my standard version, posted last year), these are a little messy. They’re also more than a little tasty.
They have a gorgeous rich color. (Unfortunately, my photograph doesn’t quite do them justice. We ate them so quickly I didn't have time to snap another picture!)
I like adding rosemary to some of them, particularly when serving them with poultry. My nephew Michael, who calls rosemary leaves “those twigs,” prefers them plain.
So I’m making the rosemary optional.
Enjoy the last couple of days of Hanukkah (or Chanukah or however you want to spell it!)……..
We call them Yam-e-kes.
Yes, I know sweet potatoes aren’t really yams, but the name was too cute to resist!
Like most of my latkes (including my standard version, posted last year), these are a little messy. They’re also more than a little tasty.
They have a gorgeous rich color. (Unfortunately, my photograph doesn’t quite do them justice. We ate them so quickly I didn't have time to snap another picture!)
I like adding rosemary to some of them, particularly when serving them with poultry. My nephew Michael, who calls rosemary leaves “those twigs,” prefers them plain.
So I’m making the rosemary optional.
Enjoy the last couple of days of Hanukkah (or Chanukah or however you want to spell it!)……..
Yam-e-kes
Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 large onion, more or less finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons flour or matzo meal (plus a little more if you need it)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
several of grinds of your pepper mill
1 teaspoon dried (or 2 teaspoons fresh) rosemary (optional)
extra-virgin olive oil as needed for frying
Instructions:
Wash the sweet potatoes well and peel them if you want to (the skins are nutritious so you don’t have to). Grate them using the grater attachment of a food processor.
In a medium bowl, combine the sweet-potato pieces, onion, eggs, flour, salt, pepper, and rosemary (if you’re using it). In a large frying pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil until the oil begins to shimmer.
Scoop some of the sweet-potato mixture out of the bowl with a soup spoon, and flatten it with your hand. Pop the flattened potato into the hot oil. It should hiss and bubble a bit; if not, wait before you put more pancakes into the oil.
It’s just fine if your yam-e-kes are a little ragged around the edges. If they don’t hold together and are hard to turn, however, you may want to add a little more flour to your batter.
Fry the pancakes a few at a time, turning each when the first side turns a golden brown. Drain the cooked latkes on paper towels; then pop them into a 250-degree oven to stay warm until you have finished cooking all the batter.
Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish.
Happy Hanukkah from my family to yours!
Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 large onion, more or less finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons flour or matzo meal (plus a little more if you need it)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
several of grinds of your pepper mill
1 teaspoon dried (or 2 teaspoons fresh) rosemary (optional)
extra-virgin olive oil as needed for frying
Instructions:
Wash the sweet potatoes well and peel them if you want to (the skins are nutritious so you don’t have to). Grate them using the grater attachment of a food processor.
In a medium bowl, combine the sweet-potato pieces, onion, eggs, flour, salt, pepper, and rosemary (if you’re using it). In a large frying pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil until the oil begins to shimmer.
Scoop some of the sweet-potato mixture out of the bowl with a soup spoon, and flatten it with your hand. Pop the flattened potato into the hot oil. It should hiss and bubble a bit; if not, wait before you put more pancakes into the oil.
It’s just fine if your yam-e-kes are a little ragged around the edges. If they don’t hold together and are hard to turn, however, you may want to add a little more flour to your batter.
Fry the pancakes a few at a time, turning each when the first side turns a golden brown. Drain the cooked latkes on paper towels; then pop them into a 250-degree oven to stay warm until you have finished cooking all the batter.
Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish.
Happy Hanukkah from my family to yours! 
don’t know how the rest of my family would feel about these, but I grew up on sweet potatos. They look yummy.
ReplyDeleteHmm... untraditional though it is... it sounds good.
ReplyDeleteI really liked them, although they aren't precisely a substitute for a classic potato pancake (as my nephew Michael reminded me!)........
ReplyDeleteLove the recipe and the glasses. You must have a wardrobe/prop consultant. I love latkes. I also love potato pancakes. In my Swedish family potato pancakes were always served with salt pork and milk 'gravy'. Salt pork is harder and harder to find, and it wouldn't do for Hanukkah anyway, but I do like 'latkes' with various bits of shredded vegetable. The whole idea is very versatile.
ReplyDeleteNext year I'd love to do a Swedish potato pancake post with you (please, please)! I'll take full responsibility for the salt pork faux pas.........
ReplyDeleteAs for the wardrobe and props, I have several consultants--and can always fall back on my own love of silly, gaudy stuff.
Tinky, I made your Harvest Salad for the Hanukkah meal I made on Saturday - it was delicious! Also, I made a brisket from Joan Nathan's cookbook The Jewish Holiday Kitchen - not the recipe but the method. I put it in a 200 oven for 9 hours - WOW! I also made latkes which turned out crunchy and wonderful. I'd never eaten one before. I was going to make Rugelach (Holoferenes wasn't the first man to lose his head over a beautiful woman!), but ran out of sugar. Not sure what someone who was Jewish and used to Hanukkah would have thought of the meal - but I was happy.
ReplyDeleteOh, forgot. I'm bringing your friend's dish (which you posted a while back) named Bean There Done That, to our Christmas party at work next Tuesday. I'll tell you how it goes.
ReplyDeleteGrad, I think your Hanukkah meal sounds wonderful, rugelach or not! And feel free to experiment with the bean dish. Have fun......
ReplyDelete