Latkes for the Win!

We usually do a small dinner party once a month with a couple of friends of mine.  We all provide different components and it's so nice to entertain in an intimate setting.  I love entertaining and I enjoy showing my love and admiration for people through food. 

We aren't Jewish, but we've always wanted to introduce the customs and rituals of other cultures into our home so that we could inspire openmindedness and awareness in our children.  Now that Billa is older and aware of holidays, we thought this would be a good year to start.  Michael got a menorah and candles and we looked up the traditional prayers that are said as part of the lighting of the candles.  My newest issue of Cooking Light had recipes for potato latkes and so we decided to give them a try and share the last night of Hanukkah with our friends.

We tried traditional latkes and latkes with serrano peppers and cilantro that were absolutely fabulous.  The only downfall of these recipes was that it takes a while to fry everything up.  Part of the tradition surrounding Hanukkah is eating foods fried in oil, as the oil is representative of the sacred temple oil lasting for eight days.  I think it would have been faster had I not grated my hand.  Yeah, you read that right.  I was grating the onion and I totally shredded my hand too.  Ouch!  Trying to cook with one bandaged and aching hand slowed me down a bit.  But beyond that, the latkes were amazing! 

The recipe called for jalapenos, but I still had serranos to use from the garden, so we subbed those in.  Michael did a really great job with the chipotle sour cream and the combination of the two was super delicious.  This recipe will be added to our repertoire and cooked more often than just at Hanukkah!

Serrano & Cilantro Latkes with Chipotle Sour Cream
Recipe and picture from Cooking Light magazine
6  tablespoons  light sour cream
1  tablespoon  chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
3/4  teaspoon  grated lime rind
1  teaspoon  fresh lime juice
6  cups  shredded peeled baking potato (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1  cup  grated fresh onion
6  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
1/2  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
2  tablespoons  finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
1  large egg
1  teaspoon  ground cumin
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  cup  olive oil, divided

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

2. Combine potato and onion in a colander. Drain 30 minutes, pressing occasionally with the back of a spoon until barely moist. Combine potato mixture, flour, and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; toss well.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Spoon 1/4 cup potato mixture loosely into a dry measuring cup. Pour mixture into pan; flatten slightly. Repeat the procedure 5 times to form 6 latkes. Sauté 3 1/2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and thoroughly cooked. Remove latkes from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and potato mixture to yield 12 latkes total. Serve with sour cream mixture.

Some food for thought...

• Cooking Light emphasized the importance of letting the shredded potatoes drain for 30 minutes or so.  This is very important as the shredded potato gives off a lot of liquid and that liquid will affect the quality and texture of your latkes.  I didn't let mine drain long enough and I could tell.  In the future, I will probably place the potatoes in cheesecloth and hang it over the sink to ensure that they have plenty of drainage!
• Serranos and jalapenos can be used interchangeably.  Just remember that the heat of the pepper is mostly contained in the veins and seeds!  You can scoop those out using a spoon once they've been split down the center lengthwise.
• if you're making a huge batch of these things, place the cooked ones on a foil lined cookie sheet and keep them in a warm oven until it's time to eat.
• On frying: you need to make sure that you're oil is good and hot to ensure that the latkes don't get too soggy with oil.  Give the oil a minute or two to come back to temperature in between batches.  You can also use paper towels and brown lunch bags to help sop up any excess oil.

Happy Hanukkah to all of our Jewish friends...we hope your Festival of Lights was a wonderful one!

Cheers,
Kelly

The best choice I ever made...

Today is our third wedding anniversary! Hooray for us! Michael's step mom and I have an inside joke about being "here by choice", which we usually incite whenever Michael or his dad crack a really lame joke or particularly bad pun. Well, I am here to tell you that it was the BEST choice I ever made! Here's to three years, love...and many more!

From our rehearsal...so young and in love :o)

To celebrate, we splurged and bought a pork tenderloin to roast. I know, I know, I am not normally a pork eater, but I have slowly been won over to the other white meat team now. I still hate ham, however. I just can't fathom why people like it. I googled how to cook pork tenderloin and lemme tell you, I stumbled upon the best recipe and method ever. And because I've had two glasses of wine and am feeling quite benevolent, I shall share it with you.

First of all, purchase pork tenderloin! TENDERLOIN, people, not loin. It looks like a baguette of meat. About a pound or so will feed two people quite handsomely with leftovers. A couple of hours prior to cooking, prepare a brine. This brine will consist of 1 quart of COLD water, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1/4 cup of salt (I prefer kosher). You can do three cups of water and then add in ice until it hits the 4 cup line to get your H2O cold. Place aforementioned tenderloin in a dish deep enough to hold it and the brine. Pour in brine, then place in fridge for about 30 minutes. Pull out and turn pork over if needed. I left it on the counter for 45 minutes after the initial 30.

Preheat your oven to 425F. In an overnsafe skillet (yes I said "overnsafe"...I think it's a hilarious typo and I refuse to fx it), heat up some olive oil and then sear the tenderloin over medium high heat on all sides (will take 4 to 5 minutes). Turn off the heat and pour off the excess oil if you have any. Glaze the tenderloin with a sweet fruit sauce. I used Fredricksburg Farms Pomegranate and Mango Chipotle Grilling Sauce and brushed it on all over the meat with a pastry brush. Now place the entire skillet in your preheated oven for 15 minutes. When 15 minutes is up, insert your meat thermometer (yes, you really should have one of these) and check to see that it is a minimum of 145F. You want the internal temp to be between 145 and 160, which is hot enough to kill off the bad bacteria. Once it's there, you're done cooking, but you're not out of the woods yet! Now comes the important part. YOU MUST LET THE MEAT REST. This means removing the meat from the skillet, placing on a plate and then "tenting" foil over it. You simply place a large piece of foil over the plate making sure that it doesn't touch the meat. Let rest for 5 minutes minimum. Once your 5 minutes is up, slice and serve kiddies!

You can use the same grilling sauce as a dipping sauce. The pork will be a little pink in the center, but so long as your temp reading came out to 145F minimum, you're A-OK. So there you have it, the perfect pork tenderloin. It melts in your mouth and is almost better than just about anything you can think of. We had ours with a veggie mix from the freezer and some garlicky bread and a Norton Reserva Malbec. DEE-vine!

And now that we're fat and sassy, I'm going to make some homemade brownies (no mixes here!) to eat with the rest of the wine. [sigh] It's been a good year...

Sealed with a kiss...

Adios amigos,
The Guerra's