grape and ricotta latkes

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i’ve just returned from about 40 hours in new york and i feel like a blob that just ran a marathon. not that i would know what a marathon hangover feels like, but when you adjust to a stationary life in a driving town and then briefly return to your city lady semi-roots that are heavily influenced by a complete aversion to riding the subway so you spend a ton of your time walking and eating and walking some more, and because shoe shopping is not your favorite you do it all in terrible shoes that lack proper arch support, you feel a little hurty the next day. it’s ok! i got this new matchy katniss everdeen sweat suit that feels like a continuous hug so i think i’m going to be just fine!

most of my time was spent with the deeelightful humans at apartment therapy and the kitchn for their 10 under 40 maker talk! we built gingerbread houses (here’s the glittery one i built with gaby and 1/2 of sir kensington!) which was easily some of the most fun i’ve had collaboratively building an edible dwelling since sunday school when we made pretzel sukkahs. and then at night we had to give speeches in front of an audience and i did not barf on stage even though i was almost positive i would, therefore i consider the event a success. 

the rest of my time in the city was spent eating bagels with jonah hill (rather, splitting lox with donny and siobhan while we stalker stared across the room at the back of jonah’s head while he drank orange juice), hummus with 1/3 of my bridal party, condiments in the facebook cafeteria with talia, popcorn with lior at the beautiful food52 holiday popup, shakshuka focaccia with a side of triumph at breads (because do you know how many times i have been to breads looking for that shakshuka focaccia and they’ve been sold out???), and a kasha knish from yonah. 

now i am back just in time for the last few nights of hanukkah, so i’m squeezing in one more latke for you! it’s nothing too crazy, just a simple twist on a classic. it’s the same combination of crispy/salty/sweet/creamy elements that you get with the traditional sour cream and apple sauce latke, but i’ve subbed out sour cream for ricotta and apple sauce for grape jam to give you another way to keep the eight nights of latkes exciting.

grape and ricotta latkes

1. make a batch of ex-boyfriend latkes

2. top them with a healthy plop of ricotta and a sprinkle of salt

3. make a divot in the ricotta to hold the jam

4. fill the divot with grape jam (i'm loving this ancho chile grape jam!)

5. enjoy!

-yeh!

thank you so much to grapes from california for sponsoring this post!

furikake latkes

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hello! eggboy and i have just survived a very eventful weekend, complete with late-night cheezy pickles, a wild halva-filled chrismukkah party (+ eggboy’s second-ever hangover), and getting up-to-date on the new hallmark christmas movies while lighting our menorah. it was very holiday-centric, and d.j. tanner coming back as a hallmark movie star is my favorite comeback story of the new millennium.

happiest of hanukkahs!!! mmm latkes and donuts and the one time a year when i buy sour cream. have you seen all of the beautiful new latkes that have emerged onto the internet this year?? ramen latkes, sabich latkes, tater tot latkes, harissa sweet potato latkes... i want to try a new one every night. but i also want to save room for donuts. so, um, split one with me?

a little while ago i was hanging in malta with alana and we were discussing our holiday blog plans. i told her i was thinking of making a furikake latke, only i pronounced it like the country bumpkin that i am: "furry cocky latkee."

"no no, say 'foo-ree-kah-kay lat-kay'" she said, using some major pronunciation acrobatics that you just don't see in winterfell that often. it was so cool! i tried it and it was so fun that i sat there saying it over and over, as staccato as possible. 

furikake is a seasoning made up primarily of seaweed and toasted sesame seeds. sometimes bonito flakes and a bit of sugar are sprinkled in, and it's usually sprinkled on rice, but here i'm sprinkling it on crispy latkes! doesn't it kind of look like confetti?? a bit of sesame oil in the frying process heightens the sesame experience here, and a soft cooked egg on top makes it kind of like a ready-to-party version of hash browns and eggs. i'm so excited about these and about hanukkah in general. and presents... where are my presents?

furikake latkes

1. make a batch of ex-boyfriend latkes (add 2 tb sesame oil to the frying oil)

2. top them with a 7-minute egg

3. a sprinkling of furikake 

4. and a drizzle of sriracha!

5. enjoy!

-yeh!

thank you so much to the american egg board for sponsoring this post! check out their site for fun holiday recipes this season, like classic eggnog and these cute mini french toast casseroles. also follow along with #recipeeggchange to stay updated on new holiday recipes as they're posted! 

blueberry cream cheese donuts + a giveaway!

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i slept through half of the macy’s parade and then played defense against eggboy, who kept trying to change the channel to the godfather, then we made potatoes and a turkey bird and a pie that was the most rustic pie i ever done seen, and then we put up our chrismukkah bush which was still fully decorated from last year (?!) and missing two of its big light bulbs because i never replaced the ones that i grabbed in lieu of a glass to smash on the way outside to get married, and then we watched elf (sup, tyrion lannister in a suit). so, it was low-key and great. how was yours?? did you have a good black friday, small biz saturday, something something monday? i think the only thing i bought throughout all that was a shit ton of chocolate lip balm because the winter is coming and so are my gross dry lips. 

thankfully all of the thanksgiving leftovers are pretty much gone by now and in eggboy’s belly, giving us just enough calm before the hanukkah storm to go to fargo and celebrate the true end of the farming season. every december there is a big multi-day beer-filled holiday inn bash for farmers in the area so, uh, wish us luck? i’ll actually be spending my fargo days scribbling away at my book while eggboy schmoozes about tractors, and then we’ll be back in time for latkes, menorahs, and sufganiyot this weekend. yipee!

idk if it was obvious or not but these past few months i’ve fallen so hard for baked donuts that i almost forgot about reeeeeal friiiiied donuts. omg they’re so good. thank you, hanukkah, for giving me reason to recall this! so as we head into sufganiyot season, i am 1) presenting you with a classic jam donut that gets a lil unsolicited help from my good friend cream cheese, and 2) going to teach you something i learned recently when i spent the better part of last month deep-frying foods: deep frying in cast iron is the best way to keep the heat of the oil at a consistent temperature. before i discovered this, i thought i was going crazy when i had to constantly adjust the heat knob in order to keep the oil at a fry-able temperature (about .00001% of you are going to relate to this, but it was like riding the pedal while playing on crappy out-of-tune balance-action timpani). so now i have converted to only frying in cast iron and it’s a darn good thing because i have this pretty new magic* dutch oven from lodge that is perfect for all of my hanukkah/frying needs. and i’m giving this puppy away, so scroll past the recipe for more deets!

blueberry cream cheese donuts

makes 12

ingredients

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 eggs
1/3 cup flavorless oil, like canola or vegetable, plus more for frying


8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup blueberry jam
powdered sugar

 

clues

In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar and give it a little stir. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it becomes foamy on top. 

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the salt, flour, and remaining sugar. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and oil.

When the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry mixture immediately followed by the egg mixture and stir to combine. Knead, either by hand on a floured surface or with a dough hook for 7-10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary (but try not too add too much), until you have a smooth and slightly sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours. 

Fill a large heavy pot fitted with a thermometer with 2” of oil and heat over medium high heat to 360º F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/2” thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out 3” circles, re-rolling scraps until the dough is used up. Cover the circles with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 more minutes. Fry in batches for 1-1 1/2 minutes on both sides and use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a wire rack.

To make the filling, mix together the cream cheese and blueberry jam. When the donuts are cool enough to handle, use a skinny knife to poke a hole in the sides and rotate it to create space for the filling. Use a piping bag to pipe the filling into the donuts, dust with powdered sugar, and serve. 

*this new lodge dutch oven, which is part of a new entire line from lodge, is a heat-treated cast iron pan of ***magic*** because the heat-treated part means that it’s rust resistant, which means you can soak it! until now i’ve bestowed the job of cleaning the cast iron on eggboy because i am too terrified to ruin it, but with this new dutch oven that is basically impossible to ruin, i might have to take some responsibility for my messes…?? anyway, there are five new pieces in this heat-treated line, which are available at macy’s, and they have a slightly curvier design than the classics. super cool. to enter this giveaway, check out the line (9” skillet, 11” skillet, grill pan, griddle, and dutch oven) and leave a comment here telling me which piece you’d like if you won and what you’d make in it first! open to u.s. residents. a winner will be chosen at random next week! update: this giveaway is now closed.

-yeh!

thank you so much for sponsoring this post, lodge! 

hazelnut mini cakes

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ok, hi!!! this isn't *thanksgiving content* this is just a list of things that i am excited about. you can read it now or when everyone else is tryptophan napping (and you're not because you b.y.o.-ed a squashducken) or when your husband is outside hanging christmas lights from the chicken coop even though half of them are burnt out. i don't know. 

eggboy's birthday! and eggdad's too! // they are both early next week so we are celebrating this weekend and eggboy has requested corned beef hash, which i have never made before! do you have any tips? so far all i got is the name and number of the town diner, in case i screw it all up.

my quin candy advent calendar // it's been sitting in my kitchen for about a week now, tempting me every time i walk by. thankfully there are bonus days thrown in there, so i've broken into those already, but now i've gotta wait until december 1 to actually start the countdown.

pizza night x 2 // since today is the friday of this week's work week, we get to have pizza. and since real friday is also still friday, we get to have pizza again. yippee!! amy thielen's cracker crust pizza has been one of our favorite's lately and we've been grinding up some of the wheat that eggboy grows to put in the dough. very tasty! very farm to belly.

these cute-as-a-button cake stands // they are the ones in these pictures and they are from aheirloom and yessss, your mini cakes deserve their own mini stands.

i'm gonna be in the tv making gingerbread cookies all weekend! // turn on food network or hgtv on saturday night at 8pm (eastern time) and i'll be making these little guys at some point during the hour! 

the turquoise raymond loewy skillet // i mean, look at it, it's stunning. it makes me want to be one of those people who are into design and who can authoritatively say things like, "ah yes, i love a good mid-century modern design." or something.

the spring awakening revival // it is my favorite musical and it recently returned to broadway with a cast that's a mix of hearing and deaf actors. watch this video, it is so beautiful. 

cake in a crate // my old friend from juilliard and his ladyfriend recently started the coolest ever company that is basically like blue apron but for vegan/gluten-free/refined sugar-free cakes! i tried it out over the summer and it is great. all of the ingredients come in cute individual packages (a.k.a. my true weakness in life) and the recipes are super tasty. i am especially excited about it right now because these here hazelnut mini cakes are now one of the crates that they're offering! 

...so these are vegan and gluten-free??? yesyesyes! they are super squishy and nutty and a little bit coconutty, and of course chocolaty because what is a hazelnut without its friend, chocolate? they are so easy to make and they whip up in a heartbeat and in case you're snowed in or you don't want to put on pants to go to the store or you just like cute awesome things, here, have cake in a crate send you all of the ingredients! 

hazelnut mini cakes

makes 12

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/4 c Gluten-free all-purpose flour
2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and finely ground
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2/3 c maple syrup
1/3 c coconut oil, melted but not hot
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 c full fat coconut milk

Ganache

3/4 c chocolate chips
2 tb coconut oil
1 tb coconut milk
2 tb maple syrup

Assembly

Crushed toasted hazelnuts
Sprinkles

Clues

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, hazelnuts, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, and coconut milk. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then pour into the muffin tins. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean; begin checking for doneness at 16 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the ganache, place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until the chocolate is fully melted. Stir in the coconut milk and syrup, and then continue stirring for a few minutes until the ganache cools slightly. 

To decorate, pour the ganache over the cakes so that it drips down the sides. Top with hazelnuts and sprinkles as desired. Enjoy! 

-yeh!