Potato Latke with Fried Egg

Tuesdays Toast

I know that Hannukah has passed and each year I promise myself that I will make potato latkes again before the holiday arrives next year.  These shallow-fried potato and onion pancakes are traditionally eaten savory with sour cream or sweet with apple sauce. With a fried egg on top I am sure to make these again and again throughout the year.

Potato Latke with Fried Egg

(makes about 2 dozen)

Potato Latke

  • 2 large potatoes, peeled.
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or matzo meal
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • Vegetable oil
  • chives
  1. Grate potatoes and onions together using the grating attachment of your food processor.
  2. * MOST IMPORTANT PART* Transfer potato and onion mixture to a dish towel or cheese cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Return to bowl.
  3. Add eggs, flour, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly until incorporated.
  4. To shallow-fry the latkes, pour enough vegetable oil in large skillet to reach 1/4 inch up the sides. Heat oil on high.
  5. Working in batches, take a baseball size amount of latke mixture and place in hot oil. Flatten with back of spatula. Cook until crispy about 3-5 minutes then flip and continue to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.
  6. Place on paper towels to dry.

Fried Egg

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon butter
  1. Heat pan over medium/high heat. Add butter and swirl around pan to cover.
  2. Lower heat to medium and crack egg in pan.
  3. Cook egg until whites are set and yolk is still runny.

Place one fried egg on a latke and sprinkle with chives.

 

Smokey Eggplant, Parsley on Craft Ale Toast

Tuesday's Toast

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Hmmm, how to write this without alienating eggplant lovers?  I am not the biggest fan of eggplant but I am a huge fan of Gabrielle Hamilton, owner/chef at Prune on the lower east side of NYC. To listen to her describe this smokey eggplant dish and to watch her make it on the only food show I watch, The Mind of a Chef, I had to give it a chance. It was crazy delicious and I promise you, your kitchen will smell amazing. I paired it with Orwashers Bakery's Craft Ale bread, a malty, crusty loaf with complex flavors. This is adapted from Gabrielle's appearance on season 4, episode 1 and watch The Mind of a Chef on PBS, it is not so much a food show as a food journey.

Smokey Eggplant

makes 1 quart (serves 6)

  • 1 1/2 lbs standard purple eggplant
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, microplaned
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
  • liquid from charred and steamed eggplants
  1. Place eggplants directly on the burners of your stove with flame set to high.  Allow skin to char completely, occasionally and carefully rotating eggplant using kitchen tongs so not tear or split the skin. This will happen naturally as the flesh inside cooks and begins to bubble.  When completely blackened, approximately 15 minutes, maybe longer depending on stoves BTUs, remove eggplants and place in a large stainless steel bowl.
  2. Cover bowl tightly with saran wrap and allow eggplants to steam until cool. 
  3. Remove eggplants from bowl saving the smoky brown liquid and set aside
  4. Cut eggplants in half from stem to base and with a large spoon remove the flesh from the charred skin and place in a clean bowl.  Make sure that all the blackened pieces of skin are removed and discarded.
  5. Strain the brown liquid through a fine mesh sieve, removing any remaining charred pieces of skin, over the eggplant flesh.
  6. In the bowl, cut the larger chunkier pieces of eggplant flesh with a knife. keeping the overall consistency on the chunky side.
  7. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and salt. Gently combine making sure not to over stir. Best served at room temperature.
  8. To plate, lightly drizzle olive oil on toast and place a spoonful of smokey eggplant on top.

White Bean Purèe with Sage

Tuesday's Toast

My kitchen garden is overgrown with beautiful tall stalks of sage and for some reason I continue to overlook it for the basil, dill and other herbs. I love the flavor and more so I love the the color sage. It is an American historical color that I used extensively when I renovated a 200 year old Bucks County stone farmhouse many years ago. I promised myself this weekend that I would put the sage to work. The white bean purèe is a perfect side dish for dinner and then the next morning with breakfast. I had mine on miche toast from She Wolf Bakery

White Bean Purèe

  • 1 cup dried white beans such as cannellini
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup drained white bean cooking liquid
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 bay leaf

Fried Sage Leaves

  • 6 - 8 sage leaves
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • flour
  1. Rinse dried beans and remove any debris. Soak beans in cold water over night.
  2. The next day, bring water and beans to a boil. Lower heat to simmer, add bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 hours until beans are soft. Add additional water if necessary to keep beans from drying out.
  3. Let beans cool in liquid. Remove bay leaf and drain beans reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
  4. Place beans in food processor, add the reserved liquid, chopped sage, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Purèe until creamy adding additional olive oil or reserved liquid to get desired consistency. This can also be done with a potato masher for a thicker more rustic purèe.
  5. Salt and pepper to taste
  6. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet
  7. lightly cover sage leaves with flour
  8. Add sage leaves to oil and cook for about 30 seconds until leaves are dark green. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels

Brush toast with olive oil, spoon on white bean purèe and top with fried sage leaf

Heirloom Tomato on Sourdough Toast

Tuesday's Toast

It is a burst of everything that is beautiful about an August morning in your mouth.  You cannot get a more flavorful tomato taste than a just picked heirloom, still warm from the early morning sun.

  • Heirloom tomato, sliced thick or to preference
  • Sourdough bread
  • Sea salt flake
  • olive oil

Toast bread and brush with olive oil. place tomato slice on top, sprinkle with a little more olive oil and sea salt.