Potato Latkes

The basic Latke recipe includes simple ingredients: potatoes, onions, eggs, matzo meal or all-purpose flour, salt and oil.  Traditionally, Germans eat their pancakes with applesauce.

Ingredients

  • 3 medium potatoes. grated
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 large eggs
  • 9 tablespoons matzo meal (substitute a dozen salt free saltine crackers, rolled in plastic bag until the consistency of course corn meal)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • vegetable oil

Instructions

  1. To prepare the Lathes: Place small batches of grated potatoes in the center of a dish towel, gather up the sides of the towel, and wring excess liquid from the potatoes. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining potatoes. Add onion, eggs, matzo meal (crushed crackers), ¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper to the potatoes, mix well, and set aside.
  2. Heat ¼ inch of oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the potato mixture by the ¼ cupful to the hot oil, lightly flatten pancakes with a spatula, and cook latkes until golden, about 5 minutes. Turn over and cook until heated through and golden brown, about 5 more minutes. Serve warm.

Culinary Tradition:  Europe — eastern; associated with celebration of Jewish Hanukkah.
My Rating (out of 5 stars): 

COMMENT: Many Americans associate potato pancakes with Hanukkah. They originated in the eastern European countries of Germany Austria, Russia and Poland as a peasant food. Potatoes were cheap, plentiful and easy to store, making them a staple and necessitating inventive potato recipes. Still, it was the European Jews who gave potato pancakes their now-famous Yiddish name–latkes–and repurposed them as a holiday food.

Week 24, Foreign Influences

Christ the Rock Community Church, Saturday Morning Men’s Bible Study

This week’s reading June 9-151
1 Kings 8:1 – 18:46
Acts 7:51 – 11:30
Psalm 129:1 – 135:21
Proverbs 17:1-13

Next Week’s Reading June 16-22
1 Kings 19:1 – 2 Kings 7:20
Acts 12:1 – Acts 16:15
Psalm 136:1 – 142:7
Proverbs 17:14-25

Discussion Questions:

Old Testament

  • Jehoshaphat didn’t want to consult the prophet, Micaiah, because this prophet never prophesied good things. 1 Kings 22:8. Do modern Christians still prefer to hear good news, rather than the truth?
  • Continue reading “Week 24, Foreign Influences”

  1. If you are participating in the Saturday morning class, “The One Year Bible Challenge,” you should read the daily materials as set out in The One Year Bible.” The verses listed on this page will include a couple of extra days each week.

Week 48, One Year Bible Challenge: “The Fourth Man”

Christ the Rock Community Church, Saturday Morning Men’s Bible Study

This week’s reading November 25 to December 11
Daniel 2:24 to Daniel 11:1
1 Peter 4:7 to 1 John 3:6
Psalm 119:81 to 121:8
Proverbs 28:15- to 28:28

Daniel in the Lions Den, from Beauties of Sacred Literature, Thomas Wyatt, 1852

 

Next Week’s Reading December 2-8
Daniel 11:2 to Joel 3:21
1 John 3:7 to Revelation 1:20
Psalm 122:1 to 128:6
Proverbs 29:1 to 29:18

Discussion Questions:

Old Testament

  • Was the statue that Nebuchadnezzar made in Daniel 3:1 an image of himself, or another “god?” What does this story tell us about the Babylonians’ understanding of “god?”
  • King Darius, the Mede, decreed that no one could worship anyone but him for 30 days. So why did Daniel pray to God in a way he could be seen? Couldn’t Daniel just have secretly prayed to God for those 30 days? Daniel 6:4-13.
  • What was the sin of Belshazzar, and how was he punished for it? Daniel 5:18-31. Is it fair for God to punish someone for not following Him, if that person was raised to believe in another religion or god(s)?

New Testament

  • How do you think the devil “walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”? 1 Peter 5:8.
  • Where do prophets receive their prophecies? 2 Peter 1:19-21.
  • Is it bad to say we haven’t sinned? 1 John 1:8-10.

FOOTNOTE:

  1. If you are participating in the Saturday morning class, “The One Year Bible Challenge,” you should read the daily materials as set out in The One Year Bible.” The verses listed on this page will include a couple of extra days each week.

image_pdfimage_print