Hanukkah starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. This year Hanukkah begins on December 20th and lasts until December 28th. Our family celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. We are a dual-faith family and there are many of us out there. Neither my husband nor I are particularly religious by text book standards. We don’t attend services and we do not belong to a church or synagogue. Our approach to religion and how we incorporate it in our lives is very specific to our family and, as religion should be, a personal choice.

Despite the pleading from our children in years gone by (they’ve given up now) we do not give gifts on Hanukkah and Christmas. We leave the gift giving for Christmas. Traditionally, gift giving was not a big part of Hanukkah and has become more popular in the United States. We celebrate Hanukkah, which in the world of Jewish holidays, is a minor holiday, in a low key, but festive manner. Hanukkah is not mentioned in Jewish scripture; the story is related in the book of Maccabees, which is not accepted as scripture.

Naturally, we light our menorahs (we have one for each family member) each night. It is always with great pleasure that we shut the lights, open our blinds and look at the menorahs glowing on the last night, when all candles are lit. Each night we’ll read a little from the book of Maccabees, relearning the story behind the holiday. And, on one night we will have a small party, inviting friends of both Christian and Jewish faith.

It has recently become popular to have parties in which you create a “bar” of one particular item that has many serving options. For example, the baked potato “bar” with many toppings to choose from is quite popular. We put our own spin on this and created a latke bar. We serve the latkes with their traditional toppings, sour cream and applesauce. But, we also create other options such as salsa, cheese sauce, sour cream and chives, dill mayonnaise, brown gravy and more. The toppings will vary from year to year according to new suggestions.

Potato Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

Ingredients

2 pounds russet (baking) potatoes, peeled and placed in a bowl of cold water
1 medium onion, grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
canola oil for frying

Directions

1. Line a large baking sheet with paper towels. If not serving the latkes immediately—out of the frying pan into the dining room—preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Have a large bowl of cold water ready.

2. Grate the potatoes, using a hand grater or food processor fitted with the medium shredding disc. As potatoes are grated, transfer them to the bowl of water. When all of the potatoes are grated, set aside for 5 minutes. Drain the shredded potatoes in a large colander, rinsing with cold water. Transfer to a clean bowl.

3. Add the onion, the eggs, flour, salt, and pepper. Thoroughly combine the mixture.

4. In a large pan, add oil to a depth of ¼ to ⅓ inch. Heat oil until a shred of potato dropped in the oil sizzles immediately.

5. Form pancakes, using 2 tablespoons from a regular silverware set. Scoop up a generous spoonful of the potato mixture with one spoon; flatten the mixture with the other spoon. Slide the latke into the oil. Repeat until the pan is full, but not crowded. Cook the latkes until browned. Turn the latkes over and cook until fully browned. Transfer the finished latkes to the lined baking sheet to drain excess oil. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

6. If not serving the latkes immediately, transfer the latkes onto a foil lined baking sheet; place sheet into the preheated oven to keep warm. DO NOT PUT IN THE OVEN ON PAPER TOWEL LINED SHEET.

7. If serving even later, set the latkes aside to cool to room temperature, and then freeze until ready to serve. Reheat the latkes in a 350-degree oven, and drain again on paper towels because reheating will release more oil.

8. Serve with sour cream or applesauce. Add salt to taste.

Hanukkah starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. This year Hanukkah begins on December 20th and lasts until December 28th. Our family celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. We are a dual-faith family and there are many of us out there. Neither my husband nor I are particularly religious by text book standards. We don’t attend services and we do not belong to a church or synagogue. Our approach to religion and how we incorporate it in our lives is very specific to our family and, as religion should be, a personal choice.

Despite the pleading from our children in years gone by (they’ve given up now) we do not give gifts on Hanukkah and Christmas. We leave the gift giving for Christmas. Traditionally, gift giving was not a big part of Hanukkah and has become more popular in the United States. We celebrate Hanukkah, which in the world of Jewish holidays, is a minor holiday, in a low key, but festive manner. Hanukkah is not mentioned in Jewish scripture; the story is related in the book of Maccabees, which is not accepted as scripture.

Naturally, we light our menorahs (we have one for each family member) each night. It is always with great pleasure that we shut the lights, open our blinds and look at the menorahs glowing on the last night, when all candles are lit. Each night we’ll read a little from the book of Maccabees, relearning the story behind the holiday. And, on one night we will have a small party, inviting friends of both Christian and Jewish faith.

It has recently become popular to have parties in which you create a “bar” of one particular item that has many serving options. For example, the baked potato “bar” with many toppings to choose from is quite popular. We put our own spin on this and created a latke bar. We serve the latkes with their traditional toppings, sour cream and applesauce. But, we also create other options such as salsa, cheese sauce, sour cream and chives, dill mayonnaise, brown gravy and more. The toppings will vary from year to year according to new suggestions.

Potato Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

Ingredients

2 pounds russet (baking) potatoes, peeled and placed in a bowl of cold water
1 medium onion, grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
canola oil for frying

Directions

1. Line a large baking sheet with paper towels. If not serving the latkes immediately—out of the frying pan into the dining room—preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Have a large bowl of cold water ready.

2. Grate the potatoes, using a hand grater or food processor fitted with the medium shredding disc. As potatoes are grated, transfer them to the bowl of water. When all of the potatoes are grated, set aside for 5 minutes. Drain the shredded potatoes in a large colander, rinsing with cold water. Transfer to a clean bowl.

3. Add the onion, the eggs, flour, salt, and pepper. Thoroughly combine the mixture.

4. In a large pan, add oil to a depth of ¼ to ⅓ inch. Heat oil until a shred of potato dropped in the oil sizzles immediately.

5. Form pancakes, using 2 tablespoons from a regular silverware set. Scoop up a generous spoonful of the potato mixture with one spoon; flatten the mixture with the other spoon. Slide the latke into the oil. Repeat until the pan is full, but not crowded. Cook the latkes until browned. Turn the latkes over and cook until fully browned. Transfer the finished latkes to the lined baking sheet to drain excess oil. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

6. If not serving the latkes immediately, transfer the latkes onto a foil lined baking sheet; place sheet into the preheated oven to keep warm. DO NOT PUT IN THE OVEN ON PAPER TOWEL LINED SHEET.

7. If serving even later, set the latkes aside to cool to room temperature, and then freeze until ready to serve. Reheat the latkes in a 350-degree oven, and drain again on paper towels because reheating will release more oil.

8. Serve with sour cream or applesauce. Add salt to taste.

Andorra is an autonomous and semi-independent co principality under the joint suzerainty of France and Spain since 1278. Andorra shares closer ties with Spain with Catalan as its official language. Located high in the Pyrénées Mountains on the French-Spanish border Andorra’s climate is that of the high mountains; generally dry, cold in the winter and mild in the summer.

Naturally the food of Andorra reflects its geographical location so it isn’t surprising that one of the best known Andorran dishes, called “trinxat”, combines foods that are readily available in the Pyrenees. Potatoes and cabbage are common and could be grown locally since the climate permits. Pork is also easily available as cattle do not do well in a mountains region where grazing areas are limited.

Perhaps a fresh mountain breeze is also needed when preparing this dish. The aroma of boiling cabbage combined with frying bacon is definitely not in any danger of becoming the next best selling Yankee Candle. With windows wide open we prepared this Andorran version of “bubble and squeak”.

Trinxat (“Chopped”)

Ingredients

salt
1 2-lb. Savoy cabbage, rinsed and outer leaves discarded
2 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled
12 thick slices of bacon
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
2 ½ oz. fatback, rind removed, thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Bring two pots of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Place the cabbage in one and potatoes in the other; lower the heat in the cabbage pot and simmer until very tender. Boil the potatoes until they are tender.
Drain the potatoes, set aside. Drain the cabbage in a colander; allow cooling slightly and then pulling out and discarding the core. Pat the cabbage as dry as possible.

In small batches, add the cabbage to potatoes in a food processor. Finely chop. Do not over do it. The cabbage should not be pureed. Place the mixture into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Brown the bacon in a skillet. Set aside to drain. Wipe out the skillet. Heat the oil in the skillet and then add the garlic. Cook until soft. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and add it to the cabbage mixture.

In the same skillet, heat half the fatback until fat is rendered. Add half the cabbage mixture, and flatten into a 1/2″-thick pancake. Cook over high heat until a bottom crust has formed and the trinxat slides easily. Invert a large plate over skillet, and very carefully flip trinxat over. Slide it back into skillet, browned side up. Cook until bottom is browned. Transfer to a platter.

Repeat the process beginning with the other half of the fatback and with the remaining cabbage mixture. Serve directly afterwards with the bacon.

If you have issues using fatback (as we do) please use olive oil. Not happy about losing the flavor of the fatback then a happy compromise is to us a tablespoon of bacon drippings in the pan with the olive oil. It will help give that rich flavor to the trinxat without submerging it in fatback.

Andorra is an autonomous and semi-independent co principality under the joint suzerainty of France and Spain since 1278. Andorra shares closer ties with Spain with Catalan as its official language. Located high in the Pyrénées Mountains on the French-Spanish border Andorra’s climate is that of the high mountains; generally dry, cold in the winter and mild in the summer.

Naturally the food of Andorra reflects its geographical location so it isn’t surprising that one of the best known Andorran dishes, called “trinxat”, combines foods that are readily available in the Pyrenees. Potatoes and cabbage are common and could be grown locally since the climate permits. Pork is also easily available as cattle do not do well in a mountains region where grazing areas are limited.

Perhaps a fresh mountain breeze is also needed when preparing this dish. The aroma of boiling cabbage combined with frying bacon is definitely not in any danger of becoming the next best selling Yankee Candle. With windows wide open we prepared this Andorran version of “bubble and squeak”.

Trinxat (“Chopped”)

Ingredients

salt
1 2-lb. Savoy cabbage, rinsed and outer leaves discarded
2 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled
12 thick slices of bacon
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
2 ½ oz. fatback, rind removed, thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Bring two pots of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Place the cabbage in one and potatoes in the other; lower the heat in the cabbage pot and simmer until very tender. Boil the potatoes until they are tender.
Drain the potatoes, set aside. Drain the cabbage in a colander; allow cooling slightly and then pulling out and discarding the core. Pat the cabbage as dry as possible.

In small batches, add the cabbage to potatoes in a food processor. Finely chop. Do not over do it. The cabbage should not be pureed. Place the mixture into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Brown the bacon in a skillet. Set aside to drain. Wipe out the skillet. Heat the oil in the skillet and then add the garlic. Cook until soft. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and add it to the cabbage mixture.

In the same skillet, heat half the fatback until fat is rendered. Add half the cabbage mixture, and flatten into a 1/2″-thick pancake. Cook over high heat until a bottom crust has formed and the trinxat slides easily. Invert a large plate over skillet, and very carefully flip trinxat over. Slide it back into skillet, browned side up. Cook until bottom is browned. Transfer to a platter.

Repeat the process beginning with the other half of the fatback and with the remaining cabbage mixture. Serve directly afterwards with the bacon.

If you have issues using fatback (as we do) please use olive oil. Not happy about losing the flavor of the fatback then a happy compromise is to us a tablespoon of bacon drippings in the pan with the olive oil. It will help give that rich flavor to the trinxat without submerging it in fatback.