Latkes and Beyond (Samosa Latkes)!

A Samosa Latke

Once a year or so (usually at Hanukkah, of course!) my family loves latkes. We don’t fry a lot of food, but when a holiday is all about oil one has to indulge in a little frying.

We usually make the traditional latkes I chronicled in a post last year at this time. This year I thought we’d try something a little different. We actually made TWO new kinds of latkes.

One version, which I’ll detail in a future post (making and eating latkes can really wear a girl out), was made with sweet potatoes. We called these Yam-e-kes.

I got the idea for the second version from Chef Jamie Geller of Kosher.com. I had been toying with the idea of making samosas, my favorite potato-based Indian turnovers, for some time. Jamie came up with the idea of putting samosa spices into a latke.

Since “Sam-e-kes” sounds a little awkward I’m just using Jamie’s terminology and calling these Samosa Latkes. They represent a wonderful pairing of two cuisines I adore.

If you’d like to see Jamie’s version of these latkes, please visit Kosher.com’s recipes for Hanukkah (she offers other great ideas as well!). You’ll note that she has produced a relatively low-fat latke. Since we only make them once a year we kept the fat.

I should warn you that my nephew Michael doesn’t believe that EITHER of our experiments actually qualifies as a latke. Whatever they are, they’re pretty tasty.

One note: these are not particularly spicy Sam-e-kes, only flavorful ones. If you’d like more spice, feel free to add more to taste.

Happy Hanukkah!

Samosa Latkes

Ingredients:

2 large baking 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)
2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger root
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon hot curry powder
2 cups peas, barely cooked
extra-virgin olive oil as needed for frying
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

Instructions:

Wash the potatoes well and peel them if you want to (the skins are nutritious so you don’t have to). Grate them. This takes a really long time with a box grater so I prefer to use the grater attachment of a food processor.

(Do not use the main blade of a food processor as it will make the potato pieces small and wet.)

Wrap the potato shreds in a clean dishtowel. Carry it to the sink, and wring out as much liquid as you can. Leave the wrapped shreds in the sink to drain while you prepare the rest of the ingredients (and maybe have a cocktail or two).

In a medium bowl, combine the potato pieces, onion, eggs, flour, ginger, salt, and spices. Stir in the peas. In a large frying pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil until the oil begins to shimmer.

Scoop some of the 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 latkes 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 potato cakes a few at a time, turning each when the first side becomes golden. Drain the cooked latkes on paper towels; then pop them into a 250-degree oven to stay warm until their cousins are finished cooking.

When you run out of batter (or feel you have enough for your family!), sprinkle the chopped cilantro over your latkes, light the menorah, and eat. Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish.

Michael loves to light the Hanukkah candles.

Fudge and Friendship

I love to cook, but I don’t love cooking that involves a lot of work. I seldom make a recipe that takes more than an hour or so to prepare. I figure I have better things to do with my time than linger in the kitchen–like watching reruns of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” on TV.

One exception to this “no fuss, no lingering” rule is a culinary form perfectly suited to the winter months–candy making. In this mode of food preparation, taking your time is the whole point.

When I think of making candy I picture cool, crisp nights and soft, powdery snow. I also think of friendship. Candy is best made with others.

I grew up in a candy-making household. When I was little my mother frequently organized taffy pulls for my birthday, which fell (and still falls) at this time of year. Carefully supervised taffy tugging kept small hands busy and provided treats for party guests to take home.

During my teenage years I spent what now seems like hundreds of happy hours with friends gathered around the stove waiting for fudge to reach the soft-ball stage. As we watched the confection form, our friendships took on more lasting form as well.

Candy making has always seemed to me an ideal social tool. With its long waits and pauses, it is structured to foster conversation.

You don’t dare to leave the kitchen while you’re waiting for your sweets to reach just the right temperature. Instead you chat with those around you.

Candy making also encourages teamwork in those frenetic moments when you’re beating or pulling your treats.

The creation of confections is a delightful ritual with its own pace. Somehow even in its busiest moments it seems to epitomize leisure.

Today as an adult I still relish making candy with my family members and friends–and with my friends’ spouses and children.

The ritual fills winter evenings with warmth and conversation.

It even takes advantage of the cold weather: one of the quickest ways to cool candy to the right temperature is to stick your pan outside (well covered to discourage animals from sampling) in the December air.

This week I made fudge to send to friends in far-away places. One recipe I used, for a basic chocolate fudge, appears below.

Before we get to it, however, here are a few candy-making hints:

1. Testing candy by hand (to see whether it makes the appropriate type of ball in cold water) is great, but I like to use a candy thermometer as well just to be certain. If your candy comes out a congealed mess, chances are you need a new thermometer; they don’t last forever.

2. Always use a wooden spoon to beat fudge. And really beat your fudge hard. My grandfather, whose only culinary accomplishment was fudge-making (unless you count mixing Old Fashioneds, Martinis, and Manhattans as cooking!), always said that the secret of good fudge was in the beating.

3. Aim for relatively dry weather; candy forms best when the air isn’t too humid.

4. Be sure to invite a sizeable crowd to share in your candy creation. Not only will you have livelier conversation and easier labor; you’ll also end up with fewer calories ingested by any one candy maker. Just make sure that someone is delegated to keep an eye on the candy thermometer while everyone else talks.

5. Never try to rush your candy. It will be done when it is good and ready! Relax, and concentrate on the friendships simmering around your stove.

Your Basic Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:

3/4 cup rich milk (milk with cream added or half & half)
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons sweet butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions:

Line a 9-by-9-inch pan with aluminum foil, and butter the foil.

Place the milk in a medium saucepan, and heat it until it is warm. Stir in the sugar, salt, chocolate, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, stirring.

Cover the fudge and cook it for at least 1 minute over medium heat (watch to keep the pot from boiling over) to absorb any sugar crystals that are on the sides of the pan.

Uncover, and cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (234 degrees). This could happen fairly quickly (it did the last time I made this fudge) so watch the pot!


Remove the fudge from the heat, place the butter and vanilla on top, and cool without stirring until the candy is lukewarm (about 110 degrees).

At this point, beat the fudge until JUST starts to thicken, and pour it into the pan. (Be careful, or it will get too thick!) Sprinkle with festive sprinkles if desired. Cool and cut into squares.

Makes about 16 pieces.

This week my companion in fudge making was my mother--always good company in the kitchen!

The Postman Always Rings Twice … IF YOU GIVE HIM BROWNIES!

I LOVE having an excuse to bake. This time of year I have many reasons to turn on the oven. Yesterday’s was creating a holiday gift for my mother’s New Jersey mail carrier, Colin.

My mother and I are nomadic. We travel from our house in Massachusetts to her house in New Jersey to my brother’s house in Virginia and then back again to New Jersey and so forth.

Fortunately for us, the Post Office almost always finds us. Our carrier in Massachusetts, Lisa, and our carrier in New Jersey, Colin, put up with our comings and goings and keep track of our mail for us. So do the clerks and postmasters in their offices.

We always like to give them a special thank you in December—not just money, but something that represents OUR time the way the help they give us represents THEIR time.

We all like Colin, but our dog Truffle carries her affection for him to extremes. If left to her own devices, Truffle would hop into Colin’s truck and never look back at us. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she felt he deserved something extra special this year.

So I tried baking a treat that had intrigued me in a variety of books and blogs—brownies with mint candy inside.

Basically, this involves making brownie batter and dividing it in half. The first half goes into the pan and is covered with a thin layer of mints. The second half of the batter goes on top.

I decided to use Andes mints, which are very thin. I didn’t want my mint layer to overwhelm the brownies!

I was torn between two different flavors—the traditional chocolate-surrounded “crème de menthe” variety and the seasonal non-chocolate “peppermint crunch.” I settled for using some of each; I put crème de menthe on one half of the brownies and peppermint crunch on the other half.

Naturally, I had to try both kinds before passing the brownies on to Colin!

I might SLIGHTLY prefer the peppermint crunch—after all, brownies already have chocolate in them—but if you are a chocolate lover you may disagree. In any case, both flavors were delicious.

I also threw a little icing on the top of the brownies (with a few sprinkles) to make them extra festive for Christmas. This layer is optional but fun.

Colin looked happy to see them.

Colin takes our comings and goings--and our occasional strange headgear--in stride.

Peppermint Surprise Brownies

Ingredients:

for the brownies:

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter
3 ounces (3 squares) semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla

for the filling:

2 packages (4.67 ounces each) Andes mints (you won’t need quite all of them, but you will need most of them)

for the icing:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) sweet butter at room temperature
confectioner’s sugar as needed (about 3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla
holiday sprinkles (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, and butter the foil.

Prepare the brownie batter: In a medium pan heat the butter and chocolate squares, stirring frequently, until the chocolate melts. Remove it from the heat.

When the chocolate/butter mixture is cool enough to stick your finger into it (this won’t take long) stir in the eggs, followed by the flour and then the vanilla.

Pour half of this batter into the prepared pan. Lay the mints (unwrapped, obviously) on top of the batter as lightly as you can, covering as much of the batter as you can.

Pour the remaining batter on top (use a spatula to smooth it over the mints as needed) and bake the brownies for 25 minutes.

Allow the brownies to cool completely in their pan. Remove the foil from the pan, and gently peel the foil off of the brownies.

Next, make the frosting. Cream the butter, and add enough confectioner’s sugar to make a spreadable icing, adding the vanilla toward the end of this process.

Gently spread the icing in a thin layer over the brownies. Decorate with seasonal sprinkles if you like.

Allow the icing to harden a bit before you slice the brownies.

Makes 16 to 36 brownies, depending on how big you want to make them. (We like them little so I hope Colin does.)

Harvest Spinach Salad with Honey-Mustard Dressing

I originally planned to post this salad for Sukkot, the week-long Jewish harvest festival. Somehow, the calendar got away from me!

When I decided to make salad my theme for this week, however, I remembered how much I liked the slightly sweet/slightly tangy honey-mustard dressing and resurrected the recipe for my table and my blog.

The bacon wouldn’t be very appropriate for Sukkot, of course, but it does help transform the salad into a whole meal. The final product has fruit, protein, calcium, vegetables, and nuts. And it tastes terrific, too.

The dressing recipe makes enough for another day. Just be sure to refrigerate the leftover dressing–and to bring it to room temperature and shake it well before you use it again.

Ingredients:

for the dressing:

3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon orange juice
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground pepper to taste (I like to grind the pepper mill about 6 times)
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

for the salad:

1/2 pound uncooked spinach leaves
1/2 cup walnut or pecan halves (or more if you like)
1 apple (your choice, cored but not peeled)
1/2 small red onion, chopped into rings or pieces
1/2 cup crumbled feta or blue cheese (or more if you like)
3 strips cooked bacon, crumbled (optional)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or more if you like)

Directions:

First, make the dressing. In a small saucepan over low heat, stir together the vinegar, the juice, and the honey until the honey dissolves. Remove the pan from the heat, and let the mixture cool for a few minutes; then use a whisk to stir in the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper. It will take a while for the ingredients to smooth themselves out.

Finally, slowly whisk in the oil. Careful pour the dressing into a jar with a tight-fitting lid that will hold at least 1-1/2 cups of liquid.

Wash the spinach thoroughly.

Place the nuts in a small frying pan, and fry them over low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly, to release their oils. Take the pan off the heat.

Just before you are ready to eat, slice the apple. In a salad bowl, combine the spinach, onion slices, toasted nuts, apple slices, cheese, bacon (if using), and cranberries.

Shake the dressing, and pour a third to a half of it onto the salad. Toss the salad well but carefully.

Serves 8.

By the way, since I know many of you are probably in the midst of holiday shopping right now (I’m starting soon, I promise!), I thought I’d remind you that copies of my Pudding Hollow Cookbook are available.

Of course, I’m sure most of my faithful readers’ friends and relatives already have copies of this lovely book (my text, Judith Russell’s illustrations), but if someone on your list doesn’t own a copy please consider buying it.

Domestic postage and gift wrap are free (although I have to confess that my gift-wrapping skills aren’t as good as my cooking). And I love to sign copies of the book.

Here's the link....

Oscar of the Waldorf (and Waldorf of the Tinky)

It has taken me several days to recover from the digestive excesses of Thanksgiving. I went to the store yesterday to buy milk and turned a little green when I saw the cream lurking on the shelf nearby.

So I have vowed to work on simple foods–salads in particular–to get my palate and waist back into line before the latkes and Christmas cookies start flying around.

The trouble with this strategy is that there are still plenty of leftovers from Thanksgiving in the house. I don’t have any trouble avoiding the desserts (most of them are in the freezer at this point anyway), but I can’t really ignore the turkey.

A few days ago I decided to throw some turkey and cranberry sauce into a Waldorf Salad.

I love Waldorf Salads. Actually, I love the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, period--the chic art-deco trim, the Bauman rare-book display in the lobby, Cole Porter's piano (surely the classiest musical instrument in the world!), the charming waiters and receptionists.

My friend Chikako was married there many years ago. When she explained that according to Japanese custom school friends of the bride always sing at weddings I crooned “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” with the band. (It was the only song they and I knew in common.)

Ever since then I have dreamed of calling my autobiography I Sang at the Waldorf.

I also like the Waldorf’s long culinary history, particularly the legend of maître d’hôtel Oscar Tschirky, who worked at the hotel from its opening in 1893 until 1943.

Oscar of the Waldorf, as he was called (perhaps I should rename my book Tinky of the Waldorf?) created the Waldorf Salad, Veal Oscar, and (according to some sources) Eggs Benedict. He also introduced Thousand-Island Dressing to a wider eatership.

He was known for his flair with food and with people. When asked for a testimonial to accompany his application at the Waldorf, he allegedly walked around Delmonico’s Restaurant (his previous workplace) asking his favorite customers to sign the glowing letter of recommendation he himself had written.

The signatures–supposedly from such luminaries as entertainer Lillian Russell, businessman/gourmand Diamond Jim Brady, and railroad executive George Jay Gould–did the trick, and Oscar Tschirky became Oscar of the Waldorf.

A delightful 1931 profile called "Oscar the Epicure" enthused, "Whenever people, in America at least, speak of the art of eating, they invariably mention Oscar."

The profile appeared in a book by Edward Hungerford (published by G.P. Putnam's Sons) titled The Story of the Waldorf-Astoria. (The first edition was published in 1925; I don't know whether the 1931 edition was identical or not.) You may read more of the profile and the book on either of these wonderful web sites: Old and Sold and Boldt Castle.

Oscar believed in the craft of menu construction and amassed an extensive menu collection, which he left to Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration along with his personal papers.

I feel that I have a tenuous connection to Oscar Tschirky through my brother David, who frequently sojourns at the Waldorf on business. We actually often refer to David in the family as “Mr. Waldorf-Astoria.”

The nickname is a tribute not to his connection to the hotel but to his extravagant tastes. My Great-Aunt Charlotte used to call my grandfather the same thing because she thought he had rather “la dee da” ways. (He did, but we loved him anyway–and we love my brother.)

I could write a lot more about Oscar and David and the Waldorf, but this essay has already meandered on longer than a blog post is supposed to. So let me return to the topic of my turkey–or rather Tschirky–salad.

A Waldorf Salad has many virtues. It’s a cinch to throw together. It uses fresh ingredients one has on hand for much of the year. And it illustrates some of the properties that make those ingredients so wonderful.

Apples, celery, and walnuts are crunchy foods. It’s only when eating them together in a salad, however, that one realizes that they’re crunchy in different but complementary ways.

My Thanksgiving salad (also a great idea for Christmas) adds the softness of turkey and the rich red hue of cranberry sauce to this classic dish. I have to admit that the color of the mixture startled me a bit. It’s a very mid-20th century shade of pink.

I’ve always been one to embrace garishness, however. Oscar of the Waldorf had a flamboyant side. Why shouldn't I?

You're the top. You're a Waldorf salad.
You're the top. You're a Berlin ballad........

Garish Thanksgiving Salad from Tinky of the Waldorf

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise (low-fat is fine)
2 tablespoons whole-berry cranberry sauce plus a bit more later
the juice of 1/2 small lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 firm apple (I used a gala), cored but not peeled, cut into bite-size chunks
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted for a few minutes in a small cast-iron pan (toss while doing this!) to release the oils
2 stalks celery, cut up
1/4 cup dried cranberries (you may use raisins, but these extend the holiday theme)
3/4 cup pieces of leftover turkey meat
lettuce as needed

Instructions:

In a bowl combine the mayonnaise, the 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce, the salt, and half of the lemon juice.

Sprinkle the rest of the lemon juice on the apple pieces and toss gently.

In a larger bowl combine the apple pieces, most of the nuts (save out just a tablespoon or so), the celery, the cranberries, and the turkey. Add the mayonnaise mixture and stir until everything is a bit pink.

Line a serving plate or bowl with a bed of lettuce, and place the salad on top.

Sprinkle the remaining nuts on the top, and put just a dab of additional cranberry sauce smack in the middle (because you need EVEN MORE COLOR!).

Serves 2 generously.