I invited some of my girls over for holiday drinks, and a meal was requested. It seems with my #BratPack girls that my reputation precedes me, and I needed to prove my skills are legit. Playing hard to get, I gave a solid maybe, and started menu planning.  I had been waiting on an opportunity to try out the beef I received at a blogger event put on by Canadian Beef, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a roast in the oven, and to use the new Lodge cast iron I picked up. Nothing like cooking with good cast iron and roasts are so easy, and satisfying. Best part is that leftovers can be used for so many things (tacos, sandwiches, salads, pastas, etc.). Season the meat, get a good sear on it, pop it in the oven, and forget about it for a while. Easy. I had a piece of meat that was just under a kilo, and I roasted it at 275 for 90 minutes. 

Continuing on with the planning, I decided to make some creamed kale, that I felt would go really nicely with this decadent and warming meal. Kale is all the rage right now, and thankfully Vicki grows great kale, and I do like eating it. Mostly I make kale chips, but it is also great sautéed with bacon, or creamed. I used this Bobby Flay recipe, but I cooked some chopped up bacon (5 slices) in 2 tbs of butter, drained it off, and then added a bit more butter half way through cooking. 

Now, on to the headliner of dinner, my latkes. I have to admit, im not the Jewiest person in the world, but I do love my culture and especially our food traditions. That being said, I have never really made proper latkes on my own. Clearly it was time when my mom sent me a cool sounding recipe for latkes with turnip cooked in duck fat. This recipe sounded great, but not what I was looking to do, and I wanted to make a signature latke, something different. Traditionally you would eat your latkes with applesauce and sour cream, which gave me an idea, why not put apple IN the latke? Genius, right? Right.

Here is the process:

• 4 medium-ish russet potatoes (I used Agria, one of our favourite varities that Vicki grows), leave the skin on
• 1 large apple, (I used Ida Red) peeled, seeded and quartered

• 4 shallots, diced

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or corn starch

• 2 tablespoon dried thyme leaves

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Lemon juice

Grate the potato and apple on the large hole in your box grater, or with a Cuisinart. Toss in some lemon juice and salt and strain out all of the liquid possible into a bowl. You can use cheesecloth and squeeze it by sticking a wooden spoon through and twisting until no more liquid is coming out, as well. Add the shallots, and set aside. When you pour the liquid out of the bowl any sediment remaining is starch, and you can add that back into your vegetables, this will help them to stay together.

Combine the rest of the ingredients, and add the vegetable mixture combining well.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy bottomed pan (cast iron is preferred) until it is shimmering. You can test with a few pieces of the mixture, to see that it is rapidly bubbling and hot enough to fry.

Don’t crowd the pan. Don’t touch the latkes until they are ready to be flipped. Be patient. They should take 90-120 seconds per side, assuming they are about the size of your fist.

Set on a paper towel to drain, and serve with a dollop of sour cream.