Category: Breakfast

Cheese Latkes with Raspberry Sauce

If you follow my blog, you know that I’m not much of a baker. You also know that I’m working hard to stick to my diet plan. Which might explain why I’m not about to post a recipe for delicious, chewy, deep-fried jelly donuts or crunchy golden potato latkes. Instead, I decided to whip up a sort of deconstructed jelly donut in the form of cheese latkes with raspberry sauce. These fun mini cottage cheese pancakes are reminiscent of the classic chanukah treat with just a few less calories. Fry them up nice and golden, dust with powdered sugar, and don’t forget the whip cream!

Cheese Latkes
adapted from the Spice & Spirit Cookbook

3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 8 oz. container ricotta or cottage cheese (drain, if needed)
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
canola oil, butter, for frying

Method:

Mix all ingredients besides for oil until smooth. Heat up a skillet and grease with butter or oil. Add batter 1 tbsp at a time and fry until golden on both sides. Continue with remaining batter, adding additional oil or butter, as needed.

Serve with raspberry sauce, whip cream and a side of maple syrup.

Raspberry Sauce

1 bag frozen raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water or raspberry liquor
1 tsp lemon zest

Method:

Add all ingredients to a pot and simmer over medium heat until raspberries are soft and fall apart when mashed with a spoon, about 10 minutes. Add to a blender and puree. Pour the raspberry mixture through a cheesecloth and squeeze out juice. Chill. Serve over pancakes or ice cream.

Alternatively, pipe some raspberry jam in the center of the latkes and dust with powdered sugar to resemble jelly donuts!

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Persimmon Yogurt Smoothie

Persimmon is one fall fruit that doesn’t get the same limelight as apples and pears, but is equally delicious. I first fell in love with these orange fruit when I spent a year studying in Israel. I bought them whenever I had a chance, biting into them like I was chomping on an apple.

There are 2 types of persimmon – the heart shaped hachiya and the tomato-shaped fuyu. Hachiya persimmons contain high levels of tannins causing them to taste “furry” if eaten before fully ripening. Believe me, I know this because I’ve spent a lot of time scraping the “pithy” substance off my tongue. Fuyu persimmons, on the other hand, are non-astringent and can be eaten when firm. Upon ripening, they become freckled with tiny brown specs which add sweetness and flavor to the fruit.

What do persimmon taste like? Channeling Ron Ben-Israel on Sweet Genius, I would describe a ripe persimmon as, creamy. juicy. sweet. fragrant. peachy. hints of mango.

Freezing the persimmon and blending it with yogurt results in a thick, creamy consistency that is almost as good as ice cream!

Persimmon Smoothie

2 ripe fuyu persimmon
1 container thick plain yogurt, such as J&J
1/2 cup milk
honey
cinnamon
nutmeg

Method:

Peel and quarter persimmon and freeze overnight. Add frozen fruit, yogurt and milk to a blender. Drizzle some honey and add a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg. Blend, and add more milk to reach desired consistency.

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Honey Roasted Figs


Fig season is in full swing, but you don’t have to save them for the shehechiyanu tray on your Rosh Hashana table. While dried figs are available year-round, there is nothing like the taste and texture of fresh figs – sweet, chewy, with crunchy seeds in the center. Figs are rich in fiber and potassium and range in color and taste. Popular varieties include black mission and calimyrna. My local produce market had brown turkey figs, a mildly sweet variety, on hand and I knew just how I wanted to make them!

Roasting fruit concentrates its flavors for a richer, sweeter taste. A drizzle of honey and a pinch of sea salt, takes it over the top for a mouthful of sweet summer goodness in each bite.

Figs pair really well with tangy fresh cheese or yogurt. You can stuff them with goat cheese, spoon them over yogurt or farmers cheese, or top off an ice cream scoop with their chewy goodness.

Honey Roasted Figs

Fresh figs
Honey
Sea salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently wash figs and pat dry. Remove stem and cut in half lengthwise. Place in a pan, flesh side up, and drizzle generously with honey. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and roast for 15-20 minutes, until edges start to brown.

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Blueberry Corn Pancakes


There’s nothing better on a Sunday morning than good old pancakes. OK maybe just one thing: corn cakes. If you like corn bread, like I do, you’ll love these. Blueberries add moisture, tartness and a burst of flavor.

If you want to make the most of summer’s bounty, feel free to add fresh corn into the batter and use the blueberries to make fresh blueberry syrup (easy recipe included below).

Blueberry Corn Pancakes

1/2 c cornmeal
1/2 c flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 c milk
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter or oil
1 heaping cup fresh blueberries
oil or butter, for frying
maple syrup, for serving

Method:

Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, mix milk, egg and butter. Stir wet mixture into dry, mixing until just incorporated. Add blueberries. Do not overmix, batter should be slightly lumpy. Grease griddle or skillet and heat up. Spoon heaping tablespoons of batter onto the griddle. When browned, flip and crisp on other side. Continue with the rest of the batter. Serve with syrup.

Easy Blueberry Syrup

1 cup blueberries
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c water

Method:

Combine blueberries, sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Crush blueberries with the back of a spoon and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.

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Banana Dates Milk & Honey Smoothie


For all those Brooklynites out there, you may remember a certain little establishment on the corner of Coney Island and Avenue P called Bissale. It used to be opened till the wee hours of the morning (I’m not sure if it ever really closed) and hailed its own psychic, who’s only charge was to pay for her meal! The place had the absolute best Israeli food, but there was some shady business going on there (not to mention it was far from clean, but we turned a blind eye). At one point they opened up a secret hooka bar in the back (there might have been more than just hooka going on there!). Anyway, my friend Dina and I used to frequent the place and we always ordered up the same thing: ftut, french fries, and a banana, date, milk and honey smoothie. The ftut was basically some chopped malawach dough, mixed up with cheese and mushrooms, with a tomato dipping sauce. The french fries were incredible. But the prize, for me, was the smoothie. It was creamy and sweet, full of delicious flavor! Bissale closed its doors a few years ago, and while I miss the great food, and even better memories (not including the calories!), I’m happy to savor my favorite shake in my favorite place, home sweet home.

The original recipe uses whole milk, but I use almond milk to pack a protein punch and nutty flavor. Also, to eliminate the need for ice cubes (which will just water it down), I freeze the banana and dates a few hours in advance.

Banana Dates Milk & Honey Smoothie

1 cup almond milk
1 banana
3 dates
1 tbsp honey

Method:

Add ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.

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