Hanukkah has always been one of my favorite food holiday’s.


It is all about getting together with family and passing down tradition to the next generation.  In my family, it is all about food and producing the perfect potato pancakes. In the past, most years I have celebrated Hanukkah with my children.  Due to COVID19, December 2020 was the first year that I celebrated this wonderful holiday solo. Always looking on the brighter side, this gave me an opportunity to reinvent my recipe for future family gatherings and enjoyment.   I am so pleased with the taste and texture of my new and improved Potato Pancakes.  I hope you enjoy them, as much as I did.

What is Hanukkah? The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. Hanukkah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew, begins on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar and usually falls in November or December. Often called the Festival of Lights, the holiday is celebrated with the lighting of the menorah, traditional foods, games and gifts.

The Hanukkah “Miracle”  According to the Talmud, one of Judaism’s most central texts, Judah Maccabee and the other Jews who took part in the rededication of the Second Temple witnessed what they believed to be a miracle. Even though there was only enough untainted olive oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for a single day, the flames continued flickering for eight nights, leaving them time to find a fresh supply. This wondrous event inspired the Jewish sages to proclaim a yearly eight-day festival.


Amelia’s Amazing Potato Pancake


6 yellow potatoes

1 yellow onion

3 eggs 

1 cup of gluten-free or regular flour

A quarter teaspoon of salt

1/2 of a handful of parsley fresh or dried

1 Tablespoon of cracked pepper black pepper


Let's get started:

Step 1:

Wash and peel the six potatoes and put them into a bowl of water

Step 2:

Grate the onion first and then grate the six potatoes into the same bowl

 Step 3:

Take the potato mixture with the onion and put it into a cheesecloth or a fine strainer and squeeze all the water out of the potatoes and onions until the potatoes are dry

Step 4:

Add three eggs the one cup of flour the parsley salt and cracked cracked pepper and mix until all of the ingredients I mixed together

Step 5:

Cover the mixture with wrap or tin foil and put it into the refrigerator for 30 minutes


Lets Get Cooking!!!

Prepare your pan with oil.  

To test the oil drop a little bit of the potato mixture in the hot oil.  


If  it sizzles and rises to the top then the oil is ready.


When the oil is hot take a spoonful of potato mixture and put it into the hot oil.

Keep adding until you have a full pan.

Once the potatoes are browned the oil flip them over so the other side can cook.

It should take about three minutes on one side and three minutes on the other depending on how hot your pan is and how hot your oil is.

Once both sides of the potato pancake mixture is golden brown.

Remove the potato pancake from the pan.

Place potato pancakes on  a cookie pan that is lined with a paper towel to soak the oil. Keep doing that until all of the pancakes are cooked. 

Served hot or room temperature with applesauce, Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt.

Enjoy!!!!

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