Archive for the ‘Lisa Barnes Blog’ Category

« Older Entries

Ahhhhh….Oscars!

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

I love Oscar night.  I really enjoy movies, and while I don’t get to the theatre much to see anything over a G rating, I’m always there for the Oscars.  It’s the fashion, the comradery, the bloopers, the hopes and joyful tears and jeers… and the food (more on that later).  I don’t watch alone and not at home (the kids aren’t up for a marathon of dresses and talking by real people).  I go to my dear friend Janelle’s, who’s been hosting this night as long as I can remember.  There was a few I missed, but only because I was out of town.  Twice we were out of the country (London one year and Prague another) and did everything possible to get a feed of the Oscars in our hotels, but to no avail.

There’s always one movie I’m excited about.  I love to cheer for the movie and cast my ballot for favorites.  In the past few years since kids, I try to make educated guesses for movies I’ve never seen or even heard of.  This year in addition to A Single Man, I was routing for Food Inc.  I though the movie was great and had just heard the producer speak on a panel at the Teens Turning Green Summit and really wanted her to take the stage and give an Oscar speech.  It unfortuately didn’t happen and now while sad as it is, I need to see The Cove.  The good thing is that Food Inc. is out there and according to the producer is the number one selling DVD of all time.  Hopefully that will help make some changes in the commercial food industry (or at least wake up some consumers).

Back to our oscar food…the spread reads like the Oscar for best appetizers and wine to be found, followed by dessert.  Everything from local cheeses (at least 6 kinds) and crackers (wheat, gluton free, rye, etc), to wild salmon and onion spread, to organic veggies and hummus, to charcuterie to marcona almonds and more.   We laugh and eat and drink and gossip and do it over and over until the show is over – 3 plus hours later.  Mind you there seems to be this much food and variety whether there’s 2 of us or 8.

This year I brought dessert.  Cupcakes and sandwich cookies. Nope you’ll be surprised I didn’t make them.  Fitting the Oscars into a Sunday full of french toast breakfast, a ballet birthday party, a soccer game and family gardening duties is tough.  There’s no time for extra baking and missing out on something else.  The sweets were purchased from Teacake Bakeshop in Corte Madera.  Aren’t they lovely?  Yep, and yummy too.

cupcakes and cookie sandwiches

Tags: ,
Posted in Lisa Barnes Blog, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Happy Chinese New Year – Beef with Lettuce Cups Recipe

Monday, March 8th, 2010

We’d been celebrating Chinese New Year the entire month of February.   Making dishes for other blogs and articles, we had been eating lots of yummy recipes so I could take photographs, like this.  See below for the lettuce cups recipe.

lettuce cups

Of course the grand finale of our Chinese New Year celebration was the actual parade.  This year as the past three, was a spectacle of sights and sounds of dancing dragons, decorative floats, music and firecrackers.

Like year’s past, we arrived early and walked the streest of Chinatown; snacking on a pork bun, buying poppers and sparklers, visiting the pet shop, stopping at the fortune cookie factory and people watching. 

A dried fish stand

I paid 50 cents to take this photo of the factory

Before the parade we had a great dinner of dim sum and seafood.  One of the dishes was a seafood nest.  The nest was potato strings all weaved together like a nest (th seafood sat inside).  I had wanted to take a photo to show you, however the waiter was so quick to break (oh gasp!) and serve the dish, I wasn’t quick enough. 

Ellery and her carrot flower

The evening ended for us a bit early (the parade wasn’t quite over) as the crowd was getting a bit rowdy (more than I remember in the past).  There were many more fireworks and smokebombs in the crowd.  Our ears had heard enough, our bellies were full (we had a custard cup on the walk back to the car) and we were happy to help usher in the year of the tiger.

Yum!

Beef-Filled Lettuce Cups

Lettuce cups are a fun excuse for kids to eat with their hands. If you’re looking for the flavor without the mess, you can simply have children eat the beef mixture out of a bowl with a spoon or fork. This also works as a salad when entertaining by shredding the lettuce and mixing with the beef to be enjoyed with chop sticks out of individual Chinese take-out boxes. For vegetarians substitute diced firm tofu for the beef.

Makes 3 cups beef mixture or 16 to 18 filled lettuce cups

2 teaspoons expeller-pressed canola oil

2 tablespoons minced organic red bell pepper

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 pound organic lean beef

¼ cup fresh organic mushrooms (portobello, crimini or shiitake), chopped

3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves

2 teaspoons organic low-sodium tamari

1½ teaspoons ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice

16 to 18 organic butter lettuce leaves

2 tablespoons prepared plum sauce (optional)

In a large frying pan or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, shallot, and garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add beef, breaking apart and stirring, until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Drain off excess fat and liquid from mixture.

            Stir in the mushrooms, cilantro, tamari, allspice, ginger, and lime juice and cook until beef is cooked and mushrooms are tender, about 2 minutes.

            Serve beef mixture in a large bowl alongside lettuce leaves. To eat, spoon beef mixture into leaves then top with ½ teaspoon plum sauce (if using).

Pack Perfectly. To pack and take to a family dinner or pot luck, put beef mixture in one container and layer cold, crisp lettuce leaves in another.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Holidays, Lisa Barnes Blog, Uncategorized | No Comments »

I Left My Heart….

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Were you wondering what happened to Valentine’s Day?  Asking yourself, “Why didn’t she do a blog with heart foods?”  Well, I was so hearted out I needed a break.  Yes a heartbreak. (pun intended).  The good thing about hearts is that they work all year long.  In fact I think cutting hearts in cookies or sandwiches away from Feb. 14th is more meaningful, cute and unexpected by your children.

This year I did the treats for both kids’ classes.  So I wasn’t busy blogging about heart shaped goodies, but I was busy making them.  Here are some pics…

These heart sandwiches were for my daughter’s class.  These were super simple and festive to make.  Here’s what I did:

1. Using a small 1 1/2 – 2 inch heart cutter, cut out hearts from slice of sandwich bread. (carefully cutting you’ll get 4 out of each slice).

2. Put bread hearts into pairs for sandwiches.

3. Spread one side of bread hearts with cream cheese

4. Spread another side of bread hearts with strawberry or raspberry fruit spread

5. Put together. Ta dah! 

 

Heart shaped graham crackers along with lovely organic, Oxnard, CA. grown strawberries for my son’s kindergarten class.  These were pretty and easy to pass out, nestled in recycled paper muffin cups.

Then, as we were hurrying to make and eat dinner before another evening school event (and the cookie cutter was still out) we make some simple heart shaped cheese toast.

The cookie cutters really come in handy for all kinds of things: from tortillas to cookies to sandwiches to cheese, etc. there’s lots of ways to create fun shapes all year long.  It’s also a fun activity that can involve your kids.  For now I’ve left my heart in the basket with the other 100+ cutters I own (yes, it’s a bit of an obsession), but look out you never know what shape will be chosen tomorrow.  St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner.  Then there’s baseball season, Easter, May Day, first day of summer…..

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Holidays, Lisa Barnes Blog, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Oh Baby! with Asian Pear Puree

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Don't call it baby food

I don’t like the words “baby food”.  It automatically conjures up bland, boring, stinky jarred food.  While commercial baby food has come a long way – there’s still great strides to be made.  I prefer to make food for people and babies just happen to be people who need a smoother creamier texture to begin their eating experience.  Thus purees.

Not having babies of my own, I don’t make purees as often as I used to.  I still do demonstrations for new parents, but lately with being focused on school aged snacks and lunches for my kids, I  forget how much purees come in handy.  Take for instance soup.  All great vegetable soups start with a homemade vegetable purees.  And fruit purees make wonderful butters on toast, and topping over ice cream and swirled into plain yogurt.

A friend of mine had her third child and he’s almost ready for solids.  This of course is exciting for me to hear.  So when we came to their house for the older siblings to play with my kids, my daughter (her taste testing the puree in photo above) and I made and brought a puree for the baby.  He may not be ready to eat this for a few weeks, so I froze the puree into cubes and popped them in a freezer safe container, so mom is ready when the time is right.  I chose asian pear because of a few things:

1. it’s in season

2. it’s mild and sweet

3. you can’t find it in a jar

4. it’s Chinese New Year

Here’s the recipe and steps of photos.

Asian Pear Puree (from The Petit Appetit Cookbook)

Asian pears look more like an apple than a pear.  They are round and yellow with a brown speckled skin.  Inside they are sweet and juicy and very refreshing.

Makes 16 – 18, one ounce baby servings.

 3 Asian pears, washed, quartered and cored just before cooking

 Steamer Method:

Place prepared pears in steamer basket set in a pot filled with a small amount (about 1 – 2 inches, but not to touch fruit) of lightly boiling water.  Cover tightly for best nutrient retention and steam for 10 – 12 minutes or until pears are tender.  Pears should pierce easily with a toothpick.  Set pears and cooking liquid aside to cool.  Scrape pears for skin and puree in a food processor with a steel blade.  Add tablespoons of reserved cooking liquid to puree to make smoother and adjust consistency.

Freeze puree in ice cuber tray or individual molds.  Pop out cubes and store in freezer safe container for up to 3 months.

Cut asian pears, ready for steaming

Steamed and peeled pears ready for pureeing

Pureed asian pears

Ready for freezing

Posted in Baby Food, Holidays, Lisa Barnes Blog, Uncategorized, organic | 1 Comment »

So Sorry…With Sugar on Top

Monday, February 1st, 2010

I find myself sometime wrestling with my parental guidelines.  You know those things you tell yourself you’ll never do with your kids.  These seem to be set before you even have children (and don’t know what you’re in for).  It could be something you don’t want to repeat your parents did with you (licking your finger and wiping child’s face) or something you see your friends doing (giving in to tantrums) or even a situation you witness at a park (ignoring crying child while on cell call).  There’s always something we tell ourselves will never happen at our house and then it does.  At that moment, three things could happen…1. You look around and wonder “did anyone else notice I did that?”  2. You tell yourself “O.K. just this once”.  3. You realize the parental guideline needs to be revisited or ammended on a case by case basis.

So here’s one of my guidelines… do not reward, discipline or comfort with food.  Sounds good enough.  We reward at our house with priviledges (child gets to pick an activity or outing, such as miniature golf) when things go well.  We disclipline by taking away priviledges or discussing why we won’t be getting more freedoms, choices and priviledges.  However I am finding times where the priviledge (choice, freedom) is tied to food.  Child picks favorite restaurant when given the choice of where the family should eat.  Child wants to go for ice cream as a “treat” for doing a good deed (helping in the yard, etc).  Child (and mom) want to make hot chocolate together, after hiking in the rain.  Here the experience and choice of priviledge is related to food and that’s o.k. with me.

Here’s last week’s example.  I took my son to a great (everyone said) day camp at a place where kids build (using real tools) in a woodworking studio or create a craft (beading, jewelry etc).  Trouble is, for my son it was not so great.  After being there 1 1/2 hours I picked him up expecting smiles and got sadness.  For him it was a bit overwhelming (too many kids and not enough structure).  We decided to have lunch just the two of us, at a favorite lunch spot (La Boulange – that’s another story) before picking up my daughter so we could talk about the camp.

Feeling sorry for my son, I told him he could have whatever he wanted.  I figured he’d have a sandwich and want a cookie or croissant after.  However taking full advantage of my guilt he ordered the most decadent (and delicious) sandwich ever… banana and Nutella with cream on toasted brioche.  Really, they make that?  That’s what you’d like for lunch?  There was no going back.  It came with a side of fruit, which made me feel a bit better.  But this was quite a sandwich, even if it had come on a bed of spinach – this was quite a sandwich (yes, he shared a bite with me).  My son thoroughly enjoyed every messy bite and couldn’t wait to tell his sister and dad about “the sandwich” when he got the chance.  He also confided in me about the camp (for him it was a bit overwhelming with too many kids and not enough structure/assistance).  

By the time his dad got home my son was more relaxed and even left room for the possibility of trying the woodshop again.  My guilt was lessened and the lunch experience was fun.

I guess I covered the pain in Nutella.  Will it happen again?  I’ll go with #3 above – it will be on a case by case basis (but the cases need to be spread out).

Tags: , ,
Posted in Lisa Barnes Blog, Uncategorized | No Comments »

I Say Granita, She Says Benicia

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

While on the way to school this morning my daughter exclaimed “I didn’t get Benicia!”.   Benicia?  I had no clue what she was talking about and neither did her brother (he’s usually pretty good at deciphering).  She continued to kind of talk to herself about falling asleep early the night before.  She moved on and forgot about the question. 

Tonight when I was making dinner my daughter asked ”Do we still have Benicia?”  Again with the Benicia.  When I told her we were having salmon, veggies and rice she got quite irritated with me and said “for dessert!”  It took me a minute.  “Ohhhhhh.” I said ”Do you mean Granita?!”  She laughed and said “It’s not called Granita, that’s silly.  You know that blood orange stuff.”  Okay, Got it.   

I’ve been getting a head start on making some of my favorite Chinese New Year  recipes so I coul d get some photos for articles and blogs and had made the granita a few nights ago.  Granita is an icy dessert; made quite simply with juice, water and simple syrup.  It’s a light and refreshing finish to a meal by itself and can also be served over vanilla ice cream.  You can make this with any citrus, although I usually use tangerine because of the good luck factor during Chinese New Year.  This time I couldn’t pass up the blood oranges.  I love them and they’re not always in season.  It was delicious and so pretty (fun pink for Valentine’s idea too).

Citrus Granita

This recipe was inspired by pastry chef Andrea Mautner of Restaurant TWO in San Francisco (such a bummer it’s closed). While attending a cooking class she prepared a wonderful dessert with this as one of the “elements.” I thought this simple icy treat would be perfect for a Chinese New Year celebration, because one of the symbols for luck is tangerines, which are given to children during the holiday.   

Makes 8 (1/2-cup) servings

Juice of 5 to 6 blood orange or other citrus (about 1½ cups)

¾ cup Simple Syrup (see note below)

¼ cup water

 Combine citrus juice, Simple Syrup, and water in a bowl. Pour into an 8-inch-glass baking dish or pie dish. Freeze for about 2 to 3 hours, until frozen.

            Once fully frozen, scrape granita into flakes with a fork. They may melt easily and be a bit slushy. Granita can be eaten as a slushy now or refreeze for another hour. It will become icier.

Spoon into tall, old-fashioned ice cream glasses or mini ramekins. Serve immediately or return to freezer until ready to serve. Fluff with a fork again before serving.

 Tip. Clear the Freezer. Be sure you have a level space to set the granita to harden before walking over to the freezer with the liquid.

 Kids Korner

This will melt quickly. If kids aren’t eating it fast enough, serve along with straws to get all of the juice. Or spoon over vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt for an old-time Creamsicle reminder.

Note to Make Simple Syrup:

Heat equal amounts (1 cup each) of turbinado (raw) or white sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved and mixture has thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Lisa Barnes Blog, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Slow Cooker: Need it or Not?

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

slow cooker

All this cold weather makes me think about hot, comforting food like chili, soups, stews and others.  It also reminds me that I don’t have a slow cooker.   I’ve never really gotten over the crock pot foods of the 70’s.  My mom was a single parent and used the crock pot quite a bit.  It was easy, even at age 10, I remember sometime I was asked to put the ingredients in, which hours later yielded  the family dinner.  But I remember it all tasting the same.  Meat that after 8 or so hours was hard to identify, but fell apart easily and a sauce that was also a bit of a mystery (not bad, but boring).  We had everything from ham hocks and saurkraut (yes, really) to pot roast with veggies – but there was always a sameness.

After seeing so much about slow cooking, the ease of slow cookers (I am a busy mom after all) and some tasty looking recipes (always handy for a potluck), I recently mentioned being ready to purchase a slow cooker.  Of course now I learned of the debate over which ones are safe, because of the possibility of lead.  Here’s an interesting blog article about such research if interested and want to know which brands fess up to what’s in their product.  I can’t believe this is another product with safety issues.   

Then just when I thought I was going to embrace new foods from a slow cooker I was faced with more of that 70’s taste at a family gathering.  Hmmm. 

 

Between the blandness, texture and safety issues, maybe I’m better off wth one less appliaance.  You never know.  I may get there, but not a priority.  Please feel free to tell me I’m wrong and share some of your favorite slow cooker makes/models and recipes to help nudge me to the slow side.

Posted in Lisa Barnes Blog, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Snow or Bust

Monday, January 4th, 2010

snowman

We made it to the snow!  Every year we have plans to go, but someone gets sick or we’re not brave enough to make the drive in a storm (my husband and I have many stories of getting stuck in the snow).  My six year old was excited from the get go.  He was up for it all sledding, learning to ski, eating icicles, catching snowflakes, etc.  My daughter, age three had never seen snow.  I thought it would be quite interesting.  She only wears ballet clothes (whether it’s dance day or not) and does not like long sleeves, outerwear and cold.  I had a feeling I’d be inside with her while my husband and son snow enjoy the great outdoors.  

 

I planned on a game marathon with her and cooking some hearty slow foods.  Whenever I think of snow I think of chili and soups.  Yum!  However, she proved me wrong.  She loved the snow – after the initial shock that it is cold and turtlenecks and snow suits are made for a reason.  She even wanted to go to ski school like big brother.  And we all had too many hot chocolates in the lodge not to have fun.  I have a feeling we’ll be heading up again soon. 

 

I made and brought my white bean and chicken chili for this trip.  It’s an easy make ahead dish for transporting in an ice chest and makes enough for hungry people for lunch or dinner after snow play.  You can make this without the chicken too for the vegetarian skiiers.

 

White Bean and Chicken Chili (from Petit Appetit: Eat, Drink and Be Merry)

The origin of this recipe is from San Francisco Flavors, by the San Francisco Junior League. The original is great, but not many parents with small children have two hours to allow a stew to cook, let alone remember to soak dried beans overnight. The prep time is reduced in this recipe by using canned beans and sautéing the cooked chicken in the spices to soak up additional flavor that would come out from the slow-cooking process. You can reduce your time further if you have leftover chicken on-hand or buy pre-cooked chicken and pre-shredded cheese. This version for busy families takes only 35 to 40 minutes from start to finish.

 Makes 12 cups

 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ (4-ounce) can chopped mild green chilies, or 2 fresh chilies, roasted, seeded, and chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 pounds cooked boneless, skinless, organic free-range chicken (can be left over or purchased pre-cooked)

2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups organic low-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

2 cups shredded Monterey jack or mozzarella cheese (rBGH free)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 

In a large stock pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, chilies, cumin, oregano, cloves, and red pepper flakes and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Mix in chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Add beans and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.

 Transfer 1 cup of the broth to a small bowl and whisk in cornstarch mixture. Stir cornstarch mixture back into pot, cover, and cook another 5 minutes, stirring, to thicken.

 Add 1 cup of the cheese to the pot and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with remaining cheese.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Lisa Barnes Blog | No Comments »

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

Monday, December 28th, 2009
dec 09 025

 The only way I could stop myself from baking cookies this year during the holidays was to leave the house.  If I was at home I was baking.  From Thanksgiving until Christmas if I had a spare 20 – 30 minutes I was thinking “hmm. I have time to make some dough” or “I can bake one more batch”.  This also counted starting a batch at 11:30 p.m. (more on that later)  You name it I baked it.  All our family favorites from “kissed” peanut butter cookies (photo above), molasses sugar cookies, snickerdoodle biscuits, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, chocolate sliced cookies – just to name a few.  I don’t ever need an excuse to bake cookies.  I have cookie cutters (about 100) for every occassion and no special day at all (think octopus, train, lighthouse,  football, etc).  But this year, I seemed particularly driven.  The funny part is that I discovered I was not alone…

This year more than ever when I got together with friends and family they all had similar cookie baking stories.  Whether they were making them for the school gingerbread decorating, the family potluck or gifts for the neighbors, everyone was baking.  Was this because it was so cold?  My aunt (who rarely bakes, and gave us a beautiful container full of homemade sweets)  thought so.  We really had our share of cold and rainy days in the Bay Area and yes, I prefer baking cookies with my kids in a warm house in the late afternoon, over bundling and braving the weather at the park, again.  Another reason could’ve been the economy.  People tend to bake and eat comfort foods more than in the past.  What is more comforting than homemade cookies with milk?  My final reason is because it’s thoughful and a gift of time.  There seems to be a return to homemade gifts.  All the magazines talked about “green” gifting and things to make from the heart.  This year not only did we make cookies to send to relatives, we also make cookie gifts for neighbors, friends and teachers.  Here are a few of the packaging ideas that we used or received that are inexpensive and also green and fun to do with kids especially (and can be remembered for any time of year):

flower pot – filled with baked good and tied with a ribbon.  Kids can even decorate the pot with paint, stickers, glitter.

glass  jars – Ball, cookie, canning, french – in all shapes and sizes.  I found them for as little as $3.99 at the Container Store

dish cloths/tea towels – cookies or breads wrapped in pretty fabric that can be reused for dish or hand drying

china plates and bowls – scour flea markets, estate sales and china outlets for single, one-of-a-kind plates for unique presentation

With all the baking, gifting and shipping of cookies, I actually got burned out on cookies mid-way between Hannukah and Christmas.  Even my kids were a bit tired of helping mom and asked “why are we making more cookies?”  However at this point I had already committed to bring cookies to a few events and a friends’ house for the kids to decorate.  Starting a batch of cookies at 11 p.m. after a long day and evening of holiday shopping, wrapping and merriment did not produce my best results.  See below.  I was impatient and put the butter in the microwave to soften.  I knew it had gone too soft, but used it anyways.  As you can see the cookies spread and the results were more plump than pretty – although still just as tasty.  I already had some gingerbread men as well as other sucessful cookies to bring, so I brought them for the kids to decorate anyways.  They didn’t care.  It’s amazing what some frosting, sprinkles and raisins can do to transform the “failed” cookie.  Here’s a tip when decorating cookies, or really anything with kids – use a muffin tin lined with muffin cups.  This works great to hold a variety of small objects, in this case sugars, sprinkles, raisins, currents, marshmallows, coconut, died fruit, and candy cane pieces.  It makes it easy for kids to share, there’s less waste and mess than diving into separate bowls and clean up is quick and easy. oops! too

 

oops! The plump cookies (before)

oops! The plump cookies (before)

 

Christmas 2009 047

decorating tray

 

sugar and gingerbread after kids' decorated

plump cookies with gingerbread people after decorating

Since I was getting tired of cookies I wondered about others.  Think of the teachers, who while appreciative of homemade sweets probably get overwhelmed by sweets at the holidays.  I’ve always been meaning to make cookie dough mixes in jars and this year I tried it.  I liked the idea of short cutting the recipe and not shaping and baking more cookies.  I also liked the idea that the recipient could bake their cookies whenever they had a craving or wanted to share with others.  However I learned there is an art to creating the cookie mix and making it look presentable.  My first attempt, didn’t look as neat as my third.  Those pretty layers were tough to see.  I went online and found some tips that really helped.  The most important being :  flour and white sugar seeps down to other layers of ingredients, so layer those at the bottom and on top or between packed brown sugar.  Common sense, but easy to forget, again when you’re working late at night -  it’s easy to layer before thinking (and there’s no going back).

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Holidays, Lisa Barnes Blog | No Comments »

O’ Hannukah with Latke Recipe

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Our Impromptu "Lights"

Our Impromptu "Lights"

So it’s a bit confusing around my house with all the holiday festivities and celebrations.  Anytime you have a 3 and 6 year old there’s bound to be questions and comedy.  There’s been lots of talk and queries about God, Santa, Hannukah, presents, the North Pole, etc.  Everything from “Why don’t all kids get presents since Santa can make as many toys as he wants and gives them for free?”  (good point) to “We’re Jewish right?.  You make latkes and we go to a party and play dreidle”.  (that’s true, but…)

Like many I like to use food as a way of celebrating and teaching different holidays, cultures, and history.  There’s always a story and a food for most of life’s tradition, beliefs and gatherings.  However now my son thinks our family is all religions, cultures and ancestry because I cook it all.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but he (and I) needs some guidance.  I ordered a book (not a cookbook) entitled One World, Many Religions by Mary Osbourne to hopefully give me some more educated answers about religions, faith, and beliefs around the globe.  I need something more than the simple story about the oil lasting for 8 days and now here’s a latke. 

Thankfully other children in my son’s school and circle of friends are noticing different ways family’s celebrate too.  I hear them ask ”Why don’t we have a Menorah/Christmas Tree?”  So we’ve been able to share in some friends’ candle lighting and dreidle games (and note our impromptu “lights” above) and also have ornaments for those to put on our tree that don’t have one at their home. 

Here’s the latke recipe that launched a thousand questions. 

Potato Latkes

(from Petit Appetit: Eat, Drink and Be Merry)

Wanting to reduce the amount of oil and frying in traditional latkes, I developed a version that’s finished in the oven to give extra crispness without extra fat and grease. These are great accompanied by applesauce and sour cream.

 Makes 12 servings

 

1½ pounds (about 2) organic russet potatoes, scrubbed and shredded (4 cups)

1 medium yellow onion, shredded (½ cup)

2 medium shallots, minced (1 tablespoon)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large cage-free organic egg

2 (6-inch-squares) whole wheat matzo, broken into pieces

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

 

Toss potatoes, onion, shallots, and salt together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a sieve set over a large bowl and let drain for about 15 minutes. Squeeze potato mixture by handfuls over a glass bowl to release excess moisture (some moisture should remain) and put potato mixture in a separate bowl. Potato liquid will have a pasty-white sediment (starch) in the bottom of the glass bowl that you can see. Carefully pour off and discard top liquid and add starchy portion to the potato mixture. Stir in egg.

Put matzo pieces into a food processor (or see below) and process to coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs and pepper over potato mixture and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate until matzo is softened, 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with oil.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Stir the potato mixture. Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, scoop potato mixture and add to pan without crowding. Press with a spatula to flatten to about a 3-inch cake. Cook until crispy and golden, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the latkes to prepared baking sheet. Continue cooking, using additional oil to prevent sticking, if needed. Once all are cooked and on baking sheet, transfer to the oven and bake until heated through, about 10 minutes.

 

Kid’s Help vs. Processor. Instead of using the processor to make matzo crumbs, put matzo in a plastic bag and have kids roll with a rolling pin to break and crumble. Of course the project takes longer, but is more fun.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Holidays, Lisa Barnes Blog | No Comments »

« Older Entries