Vegan Sweet Potato Latkes

This season is the first time I tried vegan latkes since adopting a vegan diet in 2006.  I have just heard too many failed recipes with the egg substitutes in latkes, and have learned myself that substituting egg on a stovetop dish mostly results in a flop.  You can manipulate the binding and rising really well in the oven, but that immediate bond is needed for the stovetop.  I looked at 2 different recipes to see how they were coming up with this bond and mixed what worked well for me, and realized the flour used helps a great deal in the bonding.  In mine, I used oat flour -- I think of mushy and sticky oatmeal -- because it is what I had in the house.  However, I am sure that brown rice flour would work equally well.  I would be leery on all-purpose or any other flour from a non-sticky grain, unless you want to use the recipe with eggs instead.  Here is what I came up with:

• 3 small to medium sweet potatoes
• 1 lengthy carrot
• 3 bundles green onions
• 1/2 cup oat flour (or brown rice)
• 2 flax egg substitute (2 tbsps flax, 1 tsp baking soda, 6 tbsps water)
• Grated ginger to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the flax egg substitute first, then set aside.  Shred sweet potatoes and carrots.  Remove water by taking handfuls of shreds with a good hand squeezing before tossing into a mixing bowl.  Chop green onions and add into mixing bowl.  Add flour and egg substitute.  Grate ginger to taste.  If you want these ingredients to stick together you have be willing to get your hands dirty.  I don't even own a mixer -- I always mix by hand, but this recipe especially needs the flour to imprint into the shreds.  A simple mechanical mixing will not do.  You will have to do a hand tossing and squeezing to ensure the flour and egg has bonded tightly to the potato and carrot shreds.  

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  I used coconut oil instead, which really complimented the flavors.  Potatoes need time to cook, hence a typical fry (quick high heat) won't be sufficient.  I turn it on medium to cook the potatoes properly, and at the final minutes put the heat higher for the crispiness of a fried food.  Cook until browned on each side.  Dash salt and pepper to taste in serving.  These latkes are very flavorful and can be eaten without a topping.  Happy Chanukah!

Eggless (Water) Chamorro Challah

I have eaten predominately vegan for over 8 years now.  More recently the only time I will venture outside of veganism is for the occasional fatty fish.  I started as a temporary fix for health concerns, but then loved it and stuck with it ever since.  I truly do not enjoy the feel of flesh between my teeth, not to mention how much it weighs me down.  I already have sensitives to lactose, never did like milk even in my youth, and now my nursing daughter cannot have any dairy, so dairy-free dieting is not a challenge neither.  I cannot stand the smell of eggs, and can even smell and taste it in baked goods.  Oh but I love a good bread, and so after tweeking other recipes I have tried, I've come up with a good water challah recipe that meets the sweet Hawaiian bread of my culture.  I call it my Chamorro Challah.

• 1 packet dry yeast
• 1 cup sink-hot water
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 4 cups flour (I like to mix all-purpose and oat flour, oat flour will do more of a 'sweet' bread)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons flax meal
• 3 additional tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons softened or melted coconut oil
• pinch of salt

Mix first three ingredients into a bowl and set aside.  Mix remainder dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, flax meal, salt) into a large bowl.  Add additional water and oil to mix.  Add yeast mix last.  The yeast mixture should be fizzy by the time you add it.  FYI, the flax meal and additional water cannot be cheated out of this recipe, these and the baking powder are an egg replacer.  If you omit, you must use another egg replacer (like oil/water mix)

I mix and roll the dough with my own hands until the bowl is clean of flour and residues.  Rub coconut oil throughout the mixing bowl, and roll the ball of dough around the bowl (to spread and transfer the coconut oil).  This is to prevent excessive sticking to the bowl and excessively stickly dough.

Let rise for up to 3 hours, depending on where you let it sit.  The dough should expand to the perimeter of your mixing bowl and raise at least double its size before you form it.

When dough has risen, divide into at least 3 parts, depending on how you want to braid the challah.  Roll each part to lengthen and braid, pinching the ends.  I make 2 braided challah loaves with the recipe above.  Let rise for another 30-60 minutes.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenhet, and then remove to brush a layer of coconut oil on top of loaves for the nice golden gloss of Hawaiian bread.  Bake for another 2-5 minutes.  Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom!