Wednesday, August 30, 2006

one potato, two potato

I wish there was some explanation for why I have been such a grease monkey this week! First falafel, and now latkes! It's probably because one of my neighbors has been frying potatoes several times this week, and the grease just smells GOOD. Tonight's dinner:
example
Emergency BBQ Tofu, Two-Potato Latkes with soy sour cream, and a big green salad.

What's my recipe for latkes? No recipe, really. Chuck in a bowl:

a small sweet potato/yam, peeled and shredded (this is added to improve the nutritional content somewhat)
two small white potatoes, scrubbed and shredded
about half a small yellow onion, peeled and shredded
salt and pepper
a spoonful or a little more of flour
a splash of water if the mixture looks too dry

Plop 1/4 cupfulls into a cast-iron skillet with a decent layer of hot oil in the bottom. Squish the latkes reasonably flat with your flipper. Cook, flip, cook, drain on paper towels.

Now, I'm not Jewish, so I cannot attest to the authenticity of my recipe, but I think they taste pretty darn good, so that's how I make them. :)

13 comments:

Dori said...

What makes the BBQ tofu an emergency?
My thoughts:
Spices, call 911, I'm on fire.
Must have flavor, hand over the tofu and no one gets hurt.
PMS, need the soy isflavones for a hormonal taming or you won't like me.
I continue to speculate...

:)

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

hi catherine! i'd love to share that salad with you, it looks soo perfect -- and preferrably with mt. falafel -- and a muffin on the side. *note to self, eat before blogging!* pretty butterfly too.

gotta add a shout out to Dori -- you are so funny! :o)

Anonymous said...

Great idea to add the sweet potato. I bet it really adds a nice and unexpected flavor.

I'm a little curious about the emergency BBQ Tofu also...

Eat Peace Please said...

These look great Catherine. Much like my meals lately, make something quick (or semi-quick), have something emergency on hand, and a big salad. This looks great and I like your "recipe" for the latkes (aka potato pancakes).

Jody from VegChic said...

Fafafel, lakes, tofu...yum, yum, yum.

There is no such thing as a making non-authentic latkes. All you need is potatoes!

I just got a neat cookbook a few weeks ago called, "Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World." Perhaps I'll check for a "authentic recipe" and email you.

My mom always just grated potatoes, mixed with egg (which I wouldn't do) and then fried them up. She always let them cool on paper bags from the supermarket, so the some of the grease would get absorbed.

KleoPatra said...

BBQ tofu! YES! What's the emergency? I laughed at Dori's comment here!

Still haven't had latkes in my life... i think i must be the only Jewish person on Urth who hasn't had 'em! These look pretty darn good though, i have to tell ya, Catherine. Nice salad... balances out the oil!?

"GREASE IS THE WORD..."

Nikk said...

Hah! I love Dori's comment too! Though I'm more of a "Hand over the latkes and no one gets hurt" kind of girl.

Now here's a question for you...what do you use to shred them taters? I have a hard time grating (it's difficult to make 'vegan' recipes when you're bleeding into them) and haven't quite mastered the art of using my processor to grate...

funwithyourfood said...

do you like them with apple sauce on top? that's the way i like my latkes

Amy O'Neill Houck said...

At least you have that great looking salad with all the yummy fried stuff!

Jennifer C. said...

Yes, please share the Emergency BBQ Tofu recipe. I love those quick & easy dinners!

Latkes are sooooooo good. I haven't had them forever. Never thought of making them myself...LOL!

Hey, I tagged you over at my blog!

urban vegan said...

These remind me of my Babci (grandma).

Looks like you did a great job. These look just like hers.

Catherine Weber said...

Ha, ha, ha!

Okay, so, I love BBQ Tofu, and I make it pretty often, and I make it two different ways. For both recipes, the ingredients are 1/4 package firm water-packed tofu, 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce, and a dribble of oil for pan-frying. Methods:

Regular BBQ Tofu:
Press tofu for at least 10 minutes and up to half an hour. Stick the tofu "steak" in a ziploc and add the barbecue sauce. Suck all of the air out of the bag and seal. Let the tofu marinade for 8 to 24 hours. Remove the tofu from the bag, use your fingers to wipe off the excess BBQ sauce (because it has sugar in it and tends to burn,) and pan fry, broil, or grill until GBD. Eat. Yum.

Emergency BBQ Tofu:
Take the serving of tofu (no need to press) and slice it into 6 or 7 thin slices. Pan fry in oil until GBD on both sides. Warm the BBQ sauce and toss the crispy tofu strips in the BBQ sauce. Eat. Yum.

Emergency = no forethought went into it, and I usually make it in a dinner "emergency." :)

I guess this "recipe" is funny enough, it should go in the cookbook, eh?

Anonymous said...

LoL Dory is so funny!