Saturday, December 1, 2012

Latke L'Latke L'Hop in the Pan - Holiday Yum Chanukah Baked Latke Recipe!

I love Chanukah aka Hanukkah and I love all the (fattening) traditional foods. I also really enjoy hosting my Chanukah party. I have hosted for the past 3 years but gave up that privilege this year so my mother could host.
One issue that probably all hosts face is how to serve fresh and hot latkes without slaving over the frying pan during the party. After all, when I host, I want to mingle with the family and enjoy my time with the kids.
If I can be completely honest, I HATE FRYING just about anything. I prefer to prepare and just pop the dish in the oven. I do not like worrying about the oil content and swapping out old oil for a new, fresh batch. I despise standing over the hot stove while watching the food sizzle and brown.
My kids rarely get fried foods for this reason. PLUS, frying anything (schnitzel, latkes, french fries, etc.) is way too unhealthy to make a regular habit.
And this is why I LOVE my recipe for BAKED LATKES.

Baked latkes are healthier, easier, faster, and more enjoyable to make and serve at the party! I can pop them in the oven before the guests arrive and then spend my time with family and friends, knowing they will turn out delicious! They require so little effort - just a food processor, cookie sheet and a spatula! I let the oven do the dirty work. And I am out of the kitchen an hour before the party starts, so I can focus on what is really important.

Without further adieu, I now present my Holiday Yum (#holidayyum) recipe:

Oven-Baked Latkes
credit: adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

3 cups paper-thin onion slices
2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated on large holes in food processor
2 tsp. salt, divided
4 T oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Toss potatoes with 1 t. salt and let sit for 5 minutes. Squeeze out excess liquid using hands (I have no patience so I just strain it and squeeze). Add onions, oil and remaining salt and mix well.
Divide into 8 mounds on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and sprayed with Pam. You can divide into more mounds for smaller latkes if desired. Make sure to leave space between latkes.
Roast for 15 minutes, then flip latkes, pressing down to flatten them. They will be very soft at this point so work gently.
Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake until latkes are golden and crisp around the edges, about 45 minutes longer.
Serve with applesauce and sour cream.

Make sure to save this recipe because after you taste them, you will want to make them again next year for your annual Chanukah party!

More Holiday Yum
I have been sharing Holiday Yum recipes on twitter and hope you will consider checking out these other awesome posts that are coming:

November 17: Jenny Hansen's Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Meal
November 19: Kathy Owen’s Spiced Pecans
November 26: Ellen M. Gregg’s Chocolatiest Chocolate Cake Evah
November 28: Jenny Hansen's Almond Roca
December 2: THAT'S MY LATKES (see above)
Links to follow as the rest of the Holiday Yum unfolds:
December 5: Natalie Hartford’s French Lace Cookies
December 10: Kathy Owen’s Butter Spritz Cookies
December 14: Ellen M. Gregg’s Old-fashioned Buttermilk Sugar Cookies
December 17: Natalie Hartford’s back with a simple recipe for Cheesecake
December 19: Jenny Hansen's Holly Candy
December 23: Jess Witkins' appetizers
December 26: Kathy Owen's beef rib-eye roast with currant jelly brown gravy
December 28: Natalie Hartford shares New Year's Eve Mocktails
Stay tuned for link updates as posts go live and for more to be added to the schedule. Be sure to check out our host, Kathy Owen’s Holiday Yum page too for more deliciousness.

4 comments:

  1. Estee, I love this twist on the fab recipe! I never thought you could bake them. I'll definitely be trying this one. :D

    Thanks so much for being part of our recipe hop - what a fab contribution!

    Kathy

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  2. These sound delicious! I'm thinking they'd make an awesome (and vegetarian!) side dish to go along with chicken or turkey; a nice change from mashed potatoes. Thanks for sharing. :-)

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  3. This Is not a lie. I have so many mashed potatoes left over from Thanksgiving, I think that I might actually be able to use this recipe by adding a few onions! I am willing to give it a whirl this year. You have to be stupid to not TRY to be heart smart; afterall, we have eight nights. There's bound to be oil somewhere!

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  4. Thanks everyone! Hope you enjoy and come back to tell me how they were.

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Come again!