Tag: Spinach

Latke Fest 2012

Sadie3 Comments
Happy (belated) Chanukah! This past weekend my family had what my mom dubbed “Latke Fest 2012.”  In celebration of the last night of Chanukah we made three latke recipes that yielded about 100 latkes in total.  Our kitchen was basically transformed  into a latke factory.  We made a traditional version from an old Jewish cookbook we’ve used for years.  Then a sweet potato version that’s actually a Rachel Ray recipe that my mom has made before.  And lastly we tried a new recipe that I saw in the Food Network magazine this month: Spinach Latkes.  The recipe caught my eye because: 1. Jewish recipes are hard to come by among all the Christmas cookies recipes in magazines this month (no offense because you know I love cookies), and 2. whenever I see a spinach recipe I immediately think my mom will be interested (I was right).
Here's the spread: 3 kinds of latkes, plus some roasted broccoli, and a kale salad!
Here’s the spread: 3 kinds of latkes, plus some roasted broccoli, and a kale salad!
I enjoyed all three recipes that we made, but this new one was particularly great. I enjoyed that it had more than just potato and seasonings.  It includes a few different vegetables, plus feta cheese right in the latke.  The cheese added a nice creaminess to the latkes.  If you need some healthy fritters in your life, I would give these a try!
Spinach Latkes
Yeilds about 20 latkes depending on size, from Food Network
Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying
  • 3 ounces spinach, stems removed, chopped (about 4 cups)
  • 2 leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1 pound russet potatoes
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • Freshly ground pepper

Method

  1. Saute the chopped spinach in a pan over medium heat with a little oil.  After the spinach is wilted in a couple minutes, take the spinach off the heat and let it cool to room temp.
  2. Next, heat some more oil in the pan and saute the sliced leeks for 10 minutes until tender.  Add the chopped scallions and cook for 3-4 more minutes.  Make sure to season with some salt.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temp.
  3. Grate the potatoes.  Put the grated potatoes in a clean towel and squeeze out the excess moisture.  Combine the potatoes with the eggs, flour, spinach, leeks, scallions, feta, and seasonings. Once the mixture is uniform, it’s ready for frying.The mix
  4. Heat up vegetable oil in a heavy skillet for frying.  Once the oil gets hot enough (sizzles when water is flicked at it), form latkes the size of a heaping tablespoon or about a quarter cup.  Make sure they are flat like pancakes so they will cook through. Fry them for a couple minutes on each side until golden brown.  Try not to put too many latkes in the pan at once, or the oil will drop in temperature.frying time
  5. While you’re frying the latkes, you can set your oven to about 200, and place the batches of cooked latkes in the oven to keep them warm.yum!

Stuffed Pork Loin

CarrieLeave a comment

Here is a crowd pleaser for the holidays. I made it last night for my 2nd Annual Tree Trimming Party. It is deliciously tender and delightful for the tastebuds. The most difficult part of this recipe is butterflying the pork loin. Trust me, you can do it!

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Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Pork Loin

Ingredients
olive oil
4 slices bacon
8 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (I used the smaller slicing blade on a food processor for this to make them really thin)
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
1/2 c. chopped parsley
pork loin (desired size depending upon the company you need to feed)
zest of one lemon
baby spinach

Directions
1. Heat two tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until it is crispy. Add the mushrooms, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook until the mushrooms are soft and tender. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in the breads crumbs and parsley. I like to use panko breadcrumbs. Grate in the lemon zest.
2. Butterfly the pork. Make an incision on the top of the loin about one third to the left of the top of the pork. Cut to about one inch from the bottom. Take a look at the picture below.

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Then just cut from the incision across the bottom of the pork. Now you will have a flat piece of pork.
3. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Layer spinach down on the pork leaving about a one inch border on the two longer sides. Then place mushroom mixture in the center of the pork. Fold the pork over and season the top with salt and pepper. Use butcher string to secure the pork in place while roasting. You can find a tutorial here

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Season the top of the pork with salt and pepper. Move the pork to a baking dish. Place in the oven at 450 for twenty minutes. Then, baste the pork with 1/2 cup of wine. Reduce the heat to 350 until the pork reaches 140 to 160 degrees. Baste the pork with more wine every half hour. Pull out of the oven, cover with foil, and let it rest for twenty minutes. Then the pork is ready for carving. You can pour the pan drippings over the pork before serving. Enjoy!