With Hanukkah around the corner, chef and restaurant owner Einat Admony shares her recipes for beet latkes and Sufganiyot, a traditional jelly-filled donut. The recipes are excerpted from her book, "Balaboosta: Bold Mediterranean Recipes to Feed the People You Love."
Beet Latkes with Roasted Apple Yogurt
Makes 10-12 latkes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup potato, peeled and grated
- 2 cups beet, grated
- 1 ½ cups onion, grated
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 pinch of freshly ground black pepper
- Vegetable oil for frying
Roasted Apple Yogurt
Makes about 1 ½ cups
Ingredients:
- 2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ½ slices (I like Gala or Fuji for its sweetness)
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon honey
- ¾ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
- 1 cup full-fat Fage yogurt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Kosher salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
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For the yogurt: In medium mixing bowl whisk together 1 tablespoon olive oil and honey. Add apples, aleppo, and a decent pinch of salt and toss together until evenly coated. Place on a sheet tray lined with parchment and roast for 25 minutes. The apples should be nice and tender. Let cool completely.
To a food processor add roasted apples, remaining tablespoon of olive oil, and lemon juice. Mix on high until you apples are a (somewhat) smooth mixture. This may take up to 5 minutes. Add mixture to a mixing bowl and fold in the yogurt. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and mix until fully combined.
For the latkes: right after the ingredients are grated, take a towel a squeeze out all the excess water from the potatoes and beets. Using your hands, mix all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. In a large sauté pan add ½ inch of oil and heat on medium high to about 370 degrees Farenheight. When the oil is heating up shape the mixture to 2” round patties and fry on both sides until they are golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and serve immediately with a roasted apple yogurt.
Sufganiyot
Makes 15 to 20 doughnuts
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for the work surface and baking sheet
- ¾ cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup sugar, plus sugar for dusting
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon brandy
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Grated zest of ½ lemon
- Canola oil for deep frying and for the bowl
- Blueberry or raspberry preserves
Place the 3 cups flour in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixer; if you don’t have a stand mixer use a large mixing bowl. Create a large well in the center and pour in ¼ cup of the milk, the yeast, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Let stand until the yeast mixture becomes foamy, about 10 minutes.
In another bowl, stir the remaining ½ cup milk, the remaining sugar, the eggs, salt, brandy, butter, and lemon zest.
If using a stand mixer: With the dough hook attached, turn the mixer to low speed and mix the yeast mixture into the flour. Then slowly add the milk mixture, beating until just well combined, about 3 minutes. Crank up the setting to knead the dough for 5 minutes.
If using a mixing bowl: Incorporate the flour with the yeast mixture using your hands. Then slowly pour in the milk mixture with one hand while working the flour into the liquid with the other.
You can knead the mixture in the bowl or dump it on your kitchen counter over a lightly floured surface. Knead for 5 minutes.
Shape the dough into a large ball and transfer to another bowl slicked with canola oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm place away from any drafts. After an hour, the dough should double in size.
Lightly flour the surface of your work area and roll the dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Use a 2½-inch round cutter or drinking glass to cut the sufganiyot and place them on a lightly dusted baking sheet. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the sufganiyot to prevent sticking and cover with a plastic wrap. Let it rise for another 15 minutes in a warm place.
Meanwhile, heat a deep skillet with 2 inches of oil to 365˚F. Working in small batches, fry the sufganiyot in the hot oil until golden brown, about 30 seconds on each side. Drain on paper towels.
Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a pointed tip with jam. Make a hole at the top of each donut using a toothpick or wooden skewer. Insert the pastry tip into the hole and squeeze about a tablespoon of filling into each sufganiyot. Roll them around in some sugar and watch them disappear in seconds.
Excerpted from Balaboosta by Einat Admony (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2013.
