Latke’s The Festival of Frying

Ann Arbor Food Latkes

I know Hanukkah is over for the year, but the holiday kind of blends all together with Christmas and vacations, so i made my Latke celebration dinner tonight.

Latkes and other jewish holiday fare hold power over the non-jewish folk who are lucky of enough to have someone make the real thing for them.

The mere statement, “I am a little tire, I’ll make Latkes tomorrow,” can be met with epic pouts too down right addiction withdrawal.

And by all means, make enough of them.

Here is how I make them.

Latke’s Recipe: Makes 15 Large Latke (serves 4)

1 Five pound bag of russet potatoes, peeled and grated
1 large onion minced
7 large eggs
salt and pepper
Oil for frying, I use a combination of Safflower with some Olive OiL

Procedure

After peeling and grating the potatoes, place them in a colander and salt them.

NOTE: Do not run your potato peels down your sink food disposal. The starch will gum up the works and you will need drain-o to fix it. Believe me I have done it before making Latke’s. Also run the sink with cold water when rinsing the potato starch of the colander and plate.

Place a plate under near and let the liquid and starch from the drain off.

Shake the colander to remove the liquid, then finally in small batches squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. One of these days I will get a press to speed up this process, but it is not a huge deal with a five pound batch.

Place the potato in a large bowl and add the minced onion. Mix and add the eggs and salt and pepper.

Ann Arbor Food Hanukkah Latkes

Portion into balls and place on a plate to stage for frying.

Heat a pan with the oil until it is hot. Use a few strands of potato to test the oil. If the potato instantly floats to the top and dances around, it is ready.

Place the balls in the fry oil. Be careful to not get burned.

Then flatten them down with a spoon to 3/4 of an inch thick. Place as many was will fit in your pan. I make my Latkes large about the size of a large hamburger patty.

Ann Arbor Food Hanukkah Latkes

Ann Arbor Food Hanukkah Latkes

Cook them until they the are golden brown and flip them. (about 3-4 minutes per side, but it varies. Like pancakes, it seems the second side does not need as much time as the first side)

Drain on paper towels.

Add more oil between batches, wait a minute or two for the oil to warm up before adding a new batch.

NOTE: If you are making these more then one night of Hanukkah, filter the oil from the previous night and use it again. Fry cook experts will tell you that using some older oil helps with crisping. (not sure why)

Also the flavor from the odder oil is infused with onion. and potato. The fam swore that tonight’s batch was better then two nights ago probably because of the oil.

I cannot say, but Hanukkah is the holiday of the miracle of the oil.

After frying 12,  place them in a 350 degree oven to warm up while the last three are frying.

Serve immediately with apple sauce, sour cream, smoked salmon and sliced oranges.

 

 

 

 

Ann Arbor Paczki 2012

It is Paczki Time again and this year I am on Weight Watcher, but I am still going to have one. Weight impact of the Mega-Doughnut, Fat Tuesday mid-west tradition is 13 points (or more).

To put that into a weight loss perspective, the low end of the daily point range for weight watcher is 26. My daily points is 45 because of height/weight.

Last year I got aced out of Zingerman’s first annual Paczki offering. I think they massively under produced making 50-100 dozen.

But this year I got my order in early. To be honest I am usually go to:

Copernicus European Delicatessen

617 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 222-9633

This year I am given Zingerman’s a try.

They are not as big as the standard Paczki, Cher, the baker at Zingerman’s told me.

If you want Zingerman’s Paczki here is the deal: (Call early)

Call Zingerman’s: 761-7255 (ask for the bakeshop)

Price: $30 per dozen

Flavors:
Chocolate pudding
Ricotta (sweet…like cream cheese)
Raspberry
Plum
Rose Hip

Pick up: at 8:00 am or later on Feb 21 at the bake house

Check out a more complete list on where to get Paczki

Happy Valentines Day: Weight Watchers Deserve Chocolate Too

Happy Valentines Day.

Most of you know  that I am doing Weight Watchers. So what to do about Valentines Day?

Simple, get some high quality chocolate of course.

I figured that each piece of a chocolate truffle is about Two Points and considering that WW allows seven points extra a day (and 49 a week) that gives plenty of room too have your chocolate and eat it too.

Forget the cheap mystery boxes of chocolate. I say get yourself and your sweetie a hand picked assortment. Three to five pieces each will not destroy your healthy eating program and to be honest, I don’t think a weight loss program that does not include holiday chocolate is sustainable. (Not for me at least)

My favorite place in town (Ann Arbor Michigan) is Sweet Gem Confection

Main Location
1928 Packard Road (inside Morgan & York)
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 929-6513

Sweet Gem is open today 9 – 6
And from 9:30 – 6:30 on Valentines Day

If you go, tell Nancy Hi from me.

Christmas Pizza

Some will recall my rebellious nature this year when it came to Thanksgiving dinner with my Alternative Thanksgiving idea post.

I guess I was still feeling that way when Christmas rolled around. Emily bought me a new pizza stone for Christmas and I have been looking to test ride it.

So I pitched the idea of doing pizza for Christmas. I figure it would be vetoed in the name of traditional or whatever, but to my surprise, it passed the vote in the house.

I think the offer to cook might have won everyone over. (smiles)

The beautiful dough ball above will be a personal pizza with special toppings.

Check out my Pizza at home Post for recipes/instruction

Happy Holidays

Hanukkah Doughnut Recipe

Jelly Doughnuts

Why was it that we never had doughnuts for Hanukkah growing up was a mystery. It was only when I started being a blogger that I did research into a traditional Hanukkah meal.

I basically make a batch of Latke for Hanukkah and have a little smoked salmon and call it good.

But little did I know that Jelly doughnuts were also apart of the tradition.

My family was in the Latke Camp. Apparently, when it comes to Hanukkah and fried delights there are the Jelly Doughnut (Sufganiot) and Latke (potato pancake) people.

The reason for the divide is that Sephardi Jews had more wheat (warmer climate) and the Eastern European Jews that I come from where potato (root crop) people.

The Israeli Jews (according to wikipedia) seemed to also be in the Doughnut camp. (warmer climate again maybe?)

So to honor my sunny climate brothers and sister and the greatness which is the Jelly doughnut, I have put them on the menu.

The doughnut recipe that I made were actually a Paczki Recipe, which Michigan folk knew is the large jelly-filled doughnut eaten on Fat Tuesday.

 Recipe Note:  (Follow the link to the recipe)

I used 6 eggs and not the egg york and I refrigerated the dough overnight.

Also make sure your doughnuts dough is thin. I tried to make them about an inch thick, but when I fried then they were raw in the center.

So I pressed them flat and fried them and they worked fine.

The recipes calls for the dough to rise for twenty minutes. This is a really sticky dough, so flour the surface well.

The recipe also calls to add the jelly BeFore frying, which I did not do.

I fried them.

And the make sure you use jelly, not preserve if piping.

I used preserves and it clogged up my piping bag, so I had to split the doughnuts and add jam, which actually worked out fine.

I figure that you can get a bunch of jams, preserves and curds and people can jam their own.

Enjoy

Strawberry and Lemon Curd

Alternative Thanksgiving Dinner

It is Thanksgiving and I know I should be really excited about the Traditional meal of turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and green bean casserole and pumpkin pie.

But for some reason, I am not feeling it. My lack of excitement towards the big day/big meal I think comes from interested in more ethnic food lately.

I have nothing against the main ingredients mind you, but I was thinking about the meal and I just wanted something a little different this year.

Am I the only one?

Of course, I will be out voted, but….I thought I would throw out a few ideas.

-Thai coconut soup with mushrooms and turkey breast and snow peas
-Mexican Turkey Mole with corn sides and cabbage slaw side
-Turkey mushroom pumpkin risotto
-Turkey mushroom cranberry pierogi w/gravy sauce
-Japanese Tempura Turkey with sweet potato udon noodle w/miso broth
-Indian Turkey Curry with saag paneer sides w/cranberry/mango chutney and naan bread
-Turkey Matzoh ball soup
-Turkey Sausage pizza
-Turkey burger sliders with sweet potato salad w/dried cranberries
-Grilled Turkey, cheese and bacon sandwiches with pumpkin soup.
-Turkey Pot Pie or Turkey samosa with mango chutney
-Batter fried Turkey breast with biscuits (or waffles) and gravy and cranberry sauce with roasted sweet potato fries.
-Lemon and herb spiced turkey meatballs with pita and a mint yogurt sauce
-Posale with Turkey sausage and toasted pumpkin seed cilantro verde
-Turkey Parm.
-Turkey Sausage Spinach (or Kale) Quiche

For dessert how about a pumpkin cheese cake instead of pie?
Or even pumpkin chocolate chip  ice cream cookie sandwiches.

Easter Chocolates Ann Arbor

  

Easter is just around the corner and that means chocolate bunnies and easter eggs. Here is a shout out from my favorite chocolate shop in Ann Arbor, Sweet Gem Confections.

From Nancy Biehn of Sweet Gem Confections
Spring/Easter collection will be up on our website by April 1st. Right now we’re busy making all kinds of spring things. We have small and large chocolate laughing bunnies in white, milk and dark, hand-painted milk chocolate eggs filled with delicious pectin jelly beans wrapped in brightly colored foil, organic peanut butter honey bunnies, and crunchy chocolate caramel-icious hand-painted easter eggs.

You can always call in your orders and we can talk to you over the phone, email us, or order from our website. Our Spring Products are available by phone now, and will be available on the website by April 1st.

Our bunnies are semi-solid and hand-poured with our special blend of single origin chocolate in milk, dark or white.  We have small bunnies for $9. and large for $18.

We also have milk chocolate bunnies filled with peanut butter honey filling for $6.00
We have two kinds of eggs this year.
The first is a whimsical milk chocolate egg hand-painted on the outside, and filled
with real fruit pectin jelly beans on the inside.  They rattle when you shake them, and are only $4.00 each.

The other egg is a bit more hoity-toity because of the fancy filling we are making for this one.  It is also hand-painted, but filled with two delicious layers of confection.  The first is a honeycomb crunch and the second is milk and dark chocolate burnt sugar caramel ganache.  Can you imagine the crunchy yumminess you will experience when you bite into one of these?  They come in a pretty little spring package and cost $10.00 each.

Related Posts.

Sweet Gem Convection Valentines Day

Paczki Day Ann Arbor 2011

Ann Arbor Paczki Day Guide:

Amadeus Restaurant

Voted #1 in Ann Arbor for his famous paczki, Polish Chefs Paul, Bartek and Marylka are at it again!
Celebrate Paczki Day & International Womans Day on march 8th in AMADEUS.
Complimentary paczki with lunch or dinner entree.
Call for reservations.
734.665.8767

Copernicus European Delicatessen

617 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 222-9633

Dom Bakeries

1305 Washtenaw Rd,
Ypsilanti, MI
(734) 485-3175 ‎

Plum Market

375 North Maple Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
map
Store Hours 8am – 10pm Everyday
Main Tel 734.827.5000

Articles on Paczkis

Paczki Day is just a few days away. Get ready for a lot of fun
By Charles Sercombe, The Hamtramck Review

Have we forgotten anything? Oh yeah, where can you purchase paczki? Here’s where you can get the real deal:

New Deluxe Bakery, 11920 Conant, (313) 892-8165
New Palace Bakery, 9833 Jos. Campau, (313) 875-1334
New Martha Washington Bakery, 10335 Jos. Campau, (313) 872-1988
Detroit Donut, 9101 Jos. Campau, (313) 873-9000
Family Donut, 11300 Conant, (313) 368-9214
Stan’s Market, 11325 Jos. Campau, (313) 365-1165
Bozek’s, 3317 Caniff, (313) 369-0600
Srodek’s on Conant, 11936 Conant, (313) 893-1085
Srodek’s Sausage, 9601 Jos. Campau, (313) 871-8080
Polish Market, 10200 Jos. Campau, (313) 873-6110

Food Detective: Perfecting paczki:
By David Hammond, Chicago Sun Times

If you eat jelly doughnuts, you’ve eaten something like paczki (pronounced pohnch-key).

The Polish pastry is traditionally enjoyed on Fat Thursday (tomorrow!), a few days before Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras – an indulgent snack before a period of abstinence.

Dobra Bielinski owns and operates Delightful Pastries, a Polish-influenced bakery with three locations – 5927 W. Lawrence, 1710 N. Wells and at the Chicago French Market in the Loop.

Signs of Spring: Paczki and kale:
by Kim Bayer, Ann Arbor.com

Over at Zingerman’s, it’s time to make the donuts as Fat Tuesday leisurely approaches. I heard from Amy Emberling, managing partner at the Bakehouse, that this year for the first time, they’re taking orders for paczki — those delicious Polish deep fried dough balls. They’ll be filled with flavors including traditional plum and rose hip (mmm!), and also raspberry, vanilla pastry cream and cream cheese.

Of course Copernicus Deli in South Main Market will have paczki too — they bring in thousands, usually from a bakery in Hamtramck. But since it is a religious holiday being observed, I say, we should consider the path of virtue and the many reasons to eat our crucifers.

Where Can I Find Paczki in Chicago?
By Center Stage Chicago staff

So if you want to add these pastries to your Mardi Gras celebrations, here’s a list of bakeries in the Chicago area serving these Polish treats.

Related Posts:

https://lastoneeating.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/punczski-day-2010/

Valentine’s Aztec Spice Chocolate Hearts at Sweet Gem Confections

Box of Chocolate Truffles made by Nancy’s students

Tucked away past shelves of wine and premium beers is a large picture window into the world of Nancy Biehn, chocolatier and owner of Sweet Gem Confections.

A food artisan at work, she tempers chocolate and infuses flavors into ganache. She then rolls the ganache into shapes to be dipped into melted chocolate. The finished product will be one of the more than 30 varieties of Sweet Gem Confections, signature chocolate truffles.Today, Biehn, 46, from Ann Arbor, was busy making heart-shaped truffles for Valentine’s Day,

“The chocolate holiday,” saidBiehn. It’s her second-busiest time of the year. Christmas is the first.

These hearts are special. She called them “Aztec Hearts” and added cayenne pepper into the ganache that provided a spicy kick and a complex flavor. It had just the perfect amount of heat.

Cacao Beans

The hearts are seasonal. She only makes them around Valentine’s Day. Biehn figured that she will create a few thousand for the holiday.

When asked if she has had any unique chocolate Valentine’s requests, she laughs and says that she has never made chocolate body paint.

As for chocolate being an aphrodisiac, Biehn sees some truth to the claims.

“It’s the feel-good chemicals (phenethylamines) that are in the obroma cacao that people refer to as an aphrodisiac,” said Biehn. “They’re good for your heart. There are 600 flavor compounds in chocolate. Red wine has about 200. Along with the flavor compounds, chocolate is the most diverse food.”

Working in her kitchen located inside Morgan and York on Packard in Ann Arbor, Biehn creates chocolate treats that thrill the taste buds and enliven the senses. She specializes in chocolate truffles using local, seasonal ingredients.

Ask her how many flavors of truffles she makes and she will say 25-30, but she is not sure. Biehn is like an artist who works with a large pallet of colors only to combine them to make more, but instead of paint, she works in chocolates.

“I keep changing flavors depending on the season,” said Biehn. “In spring, I make a rhubarb and a peach truffle. In summer, I use tropical flavors. Around Thanksgiving, I do pumpkin. And for winter, I do darker things like using red wine and port.”

Biehn even has an eggnog flavor for Christmas.

One of her popular flavors is blueberry. She picks them herself on an organic farm in Grass Lake.

“I picked around 35 pounds last year,” said Biehn. “I freeze them and make a puree and I use Sandhill Crane blueberry wine, which I reduce to intensify the flavor.”

Biehn not only has a picture window into her kitchen, she leaves the door open so customers can visit and talk with her while she does her craft. It is like an artist opening up her studio, or watching a cooking show live.

The open door at Sweet Gem Confections reflects Biehn’s philosophy about food.

“People appreciate knowing where their food is coming from and how it is made,” said Biehn. “I have nothing to hide.”

She explained that when she first started making chocolates, she went around to other shops and asked if she could see their kitchens.

“They all said, ‘no way,’” said Biehn. “Competition like that is so silly. To be so afraid to share what you know…”

Not only can customers see Biehn make chocolates, she teaches them how to do it. She teaches classes in truffle-making about 12 times a year to small groups of four to six.

“I want to share what I know,” said Biehn. “That is why I teach classes.”

Instead of being afraid of the competition like the others who refused to show her their kitchens, Biehn encourages it.

“Make chocolates,” she said. “Please, I would love for you to make chocolates. Start a business if you want. Enjoy it. Enjoy life.”

Biehn views educating people about chocolate and her truffles as part of what she offers.

“It is nice if you are going to spend a good amount of money on really fine chocolate to know what goes into those chocolates and how they are made,” she said.

Sweet Gems Confections even attracts chocolate tourists.

“The Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce brought in 16 food writers to visit last fall,” said Biehn. “And classes come in for field trips, including the Girl Scouts.”

Along with truffles, Biehn also produces chocolate-covered caramel, toffee and turtles, which are a combination of nuts, caramel and chocolate.

So what new truffle does Biehn have in the works? She offers a sneak peak into her latest creation to be out soon.

“It will be a frangelico- (hazelnut liquor) flavored truffle with hazelnuts, which will be formed into a new, wave-shaped mold,” she said.

If that has your mouth watering, too, Sweet Gem Confections are available at Morgan and York, Zingerman’s Next Door, Arbor Farms Market, Sandhill Vineyards and online at sweetgemconfections.com.

Valentine’s Day Week Hours
Monday thru Friday: 9:30 – 2:30
Saturday February 5: 10 – 4
Saturday February 12: 10 – 4
Sunday February 13: OPEN HOUSE from 1 – 4

Aphrodisiac Foods: Food that get you in the mood

Pine nuts Courtsey: Ben Fink

Chocolate, along with being one of the world’s most-loved foods, is a natural blood thinner, which helps increase blood flow to engorge certain body parts to aid in lovemaking. Oysters are high in zinc, which is a key ingredient in testosterone, which is important for sexual performance for both sexes. And honey has long been consumed by newlyweds on their “honeymoon” for fertility and sexual stamina.

Figs Courtsey: Ben Fink

Aphrodisiac foods are foods that are thought to provide unique qualities that help with fertility, sexual attraction and performance. Some of these foods have earned their reputation by looking like the body parts they are supposed to help – like asparagus.

Martha Hopkins, who co-authored “InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook,” has been studying aphrodisiac foods for years. Her book mentions many aphrodisiac foods, including figs, basil, grapes, pine nuts, ginger, salmon, avocado, chilies, artichokes, black beans, rosemary and vanilla.

“Aphrodisiacs are really about exploring the sensuality of food,” said Hopkins, 39, from Austin, Texas.
It is not just about certain

Ginger Courtsey: Ben Fink

foods, explained Hopkins, noting it is also about the importance of cooking for someone else.

“When you cook a special meal for a loved one, it says, ‘I care about you. I am taking my time,’” said Hopkins.

And it’s not just about what to eat, but how much to eat, at special meals like on Valentine’s Day. Hopkins suggests eating light. The Valentine’s meal is not like Thanksgiving, when people eat so much they fall asleep.

Oysters Courtsey: Ben Fink

Hopkins recounts the meal she and her boyfriend had a few nights ago. They went to an Italian restaurant for a large meal of liver pâté, pasta, bread, bread and more bread. By the time they got home they were full and tired.

By contrast, she mentions a meal of mussels cooked in a wine broth her boyfriend prepared for her.

“It was sensual,” Hopkins said. “He made it for me. We ate with our fingers and dipped our bread in the sauce.

“After dinner, we were ready.”

For the Valentine’s meal, Hopkins suggests making things ahead, so one does not get exhausted making diner.

Avocado Courtsey: Ben Fink

“Think finger foods and consider buying dessert,” said Hopkins.

The idea is to make things easy. Items like fresh sliced fruit eaten with fingers can be simple and sensual.

“How about making s’mores by candle light?” suggested Hopkins. Or, get some fresh bread and Nutella.

So how do you know that you have made the right food to set the mood?

Salmon Courtsey: Ben Fink

“If you are making the same pleasure sounds while eating…,” said Hopkins. “You know you are on the right track.”

For more information about aphrodisiac foods, visit intercourses.com