Food & Wine Magazine’s 10 Latke Upgrades:
1. Fry the latkes in duck fat!
2. Make the hot, crispy latke a burger topping.
3. Double dip coating for extra crunch. Coat the latkes with panko before frying.
4. Add shredded Golden Delicious apples into your latke mix. No need for applesauce!
5. Serve extra-large, crispy latkes topped with scrambled eggs and crunchy bacon for brunch.
6. Shredded beets and carrots add striking color and a vitamin boost to your latkes.
7. Crumble spicy Italian sausage into your latke batter for a meaty surprise.
8. Latke poutine: Layer latkes with gravy and cheese, and broil until gooey.
9. Puree salmon roe with plain Greek yogurt for a cool, savory dip.
10. Shower the top with shaved cheese or truffles.
berry christmas pavlova from my square frying pan
Ingredients
Pavlova
4 eggs whites (at room temperature)
Pinch of salt
250g castor sugar
2 tsp of cornflour (sifted)
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Raspberry Coulis
125g fresh raspberries
Juice 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup castor sugar
1/2 tsp of brandy (optional)
Topping
300ml fresh cream – whipped
1 x pomegrante
Raspberries, cherries and strawberries to decorate
Bunch of holly or fresh mint
Method
Preheat oven to 120C. Line a tray with baking paper. Use a round baking tin to draw one large circle (22cm) then draw another circle inside it approximately 13cm wide.
Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar, a little at time until meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over sifted cornflour, vinegar and fold in lightly.You should be able to up end the bowl at this stage with no fear of anything coming out.
Grab a dessert spoon and scoop a dollop of meringue. Place this dollop between the outside and inside line. Repeat until a ring of meringue is complete. Create a second layer of meringue on top of the first until second ring is complete. Flatten the top by smoothing the meringue.
Place meringue in oven for 2 hours at 120C. When time is complete, turn off the oven and leave meringue in the oven until completely cool. This is very important as there will be less risk of the meringue cracking and collapsing.
When cool, spread with whipped cream, drizzle on raspberry coulis then decorate with cherries, pomegranates, strawberries, raspberries and holly or mint.
Raspberry Coulis
Blend fresh raspberries, lemon juice and sugar together until sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside until required.
tips for successful pavlova!
Make sure egg whites are at room temperature – not straight from the fridge – it makes it hard to whip to right consistency
Add ingredients to meringue in small amounts and consistently as per recipe
Do not open oven while pavlova is baking
Do not take pavlova physically out of oven until completely cool