Potato Pancake Power

This weekend I tried my hand at a dish that's new to me: latkes.

With Hanukah in full-swing, Cooking Light did a feature article on latkes (Jewish potato pancakes) in their latest holiday issue. Seeing as I'm not Jewish, I've never been fortunate enough to taste an authentic latke before, but Cooking Light's recipes looked incredibly enticing.

And let's face it: who doesn't love crispy potatoes?

Since I'm never one to shy away from a cooking challenge, I completely by-passed the "Classic Latke" recipe and went straight to the non-traditional feature: "Curried Butternut Squash and Potato Latkes with Apple Salsa."

The result: Pure potato bliss. I was one starch-happy woman after that dinner.

The seasonings were fantastic--curry, coriander, cilantro, and cinnamon. Talk about a party in your mouth. I subbed in sweet potatoes for regular potatoes, which I definitely recommend (a little extra vitamin A and beta carotene never hurt anyone). And the apple-lime salsa is just not optional--it adds a wonderful sweet n' tart accompaniment to your potato-packed plate.

For those of you celebrating Hanukah this week, enjoy! And thank you for bringing such wonderful latke recipes to our tables.

Curried Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Latkes with Apple-Lime Salsa

(a Cooking Light magazine recipe)

This recipe has already been marked as a favorite in our recipe notebook (Yes--On the first night we made it!). A word of caution: Our latkes had some trouble sticking together--perhaps because we used more grated potato than the recipe called for. If you experience the same difficulty, you may want to add an additional egg, or simply scramble it up into potato hash (which is what Adam ended up doing with the last batch).

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1/2 cups finely chopped apple
• 1 TBSP lime juice
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro (we were out, so we used dried; I definitely recommend using fresh!)
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• optional: If you like hot foods, you can add a finely chopped serrano chile
• 3 cups shredded, peeled butternut squash
• 3 cups shredded, peeled sweet potato
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 6 TBSP flour
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. coriander
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 - 3 TBSP fresh, chopped cilantro
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided

Directions:

1) Combine apple and lime juice in a bowl. Add onion, 2 TBSP cilantro, 1/8 tsp. salt (and chile if you're using). Cover and chill.

2) Combine squash, potato, and onion in a colander. Drain for 30 minutes, pressing occasionally with the back of a spoon until barely moist. Combine potato mixture with 1/2 tsp. salt, flour, curry powder, coriander, pepper, cinnamon, cilantro, and egg. Toss well.

3) Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 tsp. oil to pan . Spoon 1/4 cup potato mixture into the pan and flatten slightly. Repeat to form about 5 latkes (or however many will fit in your pan). Saute 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and thoroughly cooked. Repeat until all of the potato mixture is gone. Serve with apple-lime salsa.