latkes!

now that i had this jar (albeit, not completely full jar) of applesauce, i decided to try my hand at making latkes. it didn't hurt that it's hanukkah and everywhere i looked, there were recipes for them. it was probably why i even attempted to make applesauce in the first place.

LATKES

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/dining/061frex.html

i didn't have matzo meal but i saw on some other sites that they used flour instead, which is what i ended up doing. i used two big yukon potatoes and i think i shredded way more than three cups of potatoes so i threw in an extra egg at the end because i didn't think the two were enough? not that i really know what the consistency of the batter should be. it just seemed too dry?

and it was the first time i ever grated an onion. it was pretty hard b/c of the layers. like i would grate it a little and then one of the layers would come off so i ended up with a lot of big chunks and couldn't get good shreds. AND it was really releasing the stuff that makes you cry (apparently Syn-propanethial-S-oxide). like i don't think i have ever cried this much while dealing with onions. i also read somewhere that it was good to squeeze as much liquid out of the potatoes as possible before making the batter so i got some cheesecloth to help with the wringing.

i haven't had latkes in forever so i don't really remember what the consistency should be. i think it was pretty good but probably needed to be a little crispier? all the recipes talked about placing them on paper towels or something to absorb the extra oil, which i didn't really have to worry about so definitely a sign that i didn't fry them with enough oil or long enough.

oh, and i also failed at making a full meal. next time, i have to remember to make some meat to go with this.

i'm baaaack

yup! i'm baaaaaaaack! i know it's been forever and a day since i've posted but i'm having motivation again. my g/f got me a sweet camera for my birthday, so the first thing i thought of was taking pictures of food! everything i take pictures of looks artsy with that thing. and it lets me combine two things that i've been wanting to do more of, cooking and photography!

i'll probably update with some pictures of random stuff i made in the last nine months in a separate entry.

anyways, so i had a bunch of apples that i didn't think i would finish before i left to go home for christmas so i thought to make applesauce. i got some ideas online and just went for it. i had maybe eight apples to use but was worried that it wouldn't come out well so i scaled it back to five of them. i used one granny smith and four reddish-yellow ones that my aunts gave me. not really sure what kind they were.

i cut them into quarters and cored them and figured the skins would come off after boiling them. the skin came off the granny smith pieces pretty easily but it was a pain for the other ones. i think next time i'm just gonna peel them ahead of time, unless i get some kind of food mill to chop those puppies up.


i read a post where someone used some apple cider in the water and i didn't have any of that so i was like, why not orange juice? afterwards, i realized that it honestly had no point. i ended up scooping out most of the water i boiled the apples in because i realized that it was waaaaaaaay too much liquid. so i basically boiled it and boiled it until they got soft enough for me to smash with my wooden spoon. then i cooked it down some more til it wasn't as liquidy and more the constancy of applesauce.

i poured it into a jar that i've been saving, which ended up being perfect. i kinda wish i used all eight apples so then it could have actually filled the jar. oh wells. either way, it makes me wanna buy some canning equipment and then i can make a bigger batch next time!

i don't like my applesauce super sweet. i actually really like the mott's natural kind, especially the one they make out of granny smith apples. the g/f doesn't like cinnamon so i didn't add any of that either. i was thinking that it might be kinda cool to get a food processor or something and throw in like pineapple chunks. i think pineapple/apple sauce would be pretty yummy.