If you couldn’t tell by my love for brisket or my lifelong meal of homemade mac ‘n cheese, I’m pretty much infatuated with my Grandma’s home cooking. There’s no better way I’d rather spend December than hanging with my Grandma and eating latkes.

Latkes can be served with apple sauce, sugar, sour cream, or any combination of all three! Photo by: Rachael Joyner

The traditional Hanukkah dish, also known as a “potato pancake,” is served with apple sauce and sour cream. Yours truly doesn’t care for the sour cream, but I like to add a little sugar as topping, along with the apple sauce. Best served with love and a dreidel.

Grandma’s Great Latkes (serving size: 4-6)

2 lbs potatoes
1 small to medium onion
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
vegetable oil for frying

Shred potato and onion using a hand grater or food processor. Add egg, baking powder, matzo meal, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add oil to a large heavy frying pan and heat. Drop a tablespoon of the potato mixture in a mound. Cook until golden brown and crisp on one side (about 3-5 minutes), turn, flatten and brown other side. Remove from pan and place on paper towel to drain any excess oil. Continue frying until all potato mixture is used. Add more oil if needed.

Sliced beef brisket

One of the most enjoyable parts of my religion is the amount of holidays we have. While some people avoid family get-togethers at most, if not all costs, I embrace them. Let’s be honest, it’s not really because I want to see my family, it’s because I want to eat my Grandma’s delicious brisket.

Surprisingly, she wasn’t born with the amazing talent of making the meal. Every few months, she likes to tell me how she wasn’t always the famed and respected cook I make her come out to be… and with good reason.

“When I married your Grandfather [in 1953], I couldn’t even boil water,” she tells me. “I would burn rice. I would burn everything. It took me awhile to get the hang of things.”

I’m glad I wasn’t around for the bad parts, because the good ones taste so much better. Other brisket recipes has been attempted, but never replicated to the level of this one. It stands as the family favorite, and always has.

I’m surprised she was so giving of the recipe. But for the love of Jewish fat kids everywhere (and with Rosh Hashanah starting on Friday night), she knew it was for a good cause.

Grandma’s delicious Brisket

Serving size: 10-12

8-10 lbs of beef brisket
3 large onions, sliced
5 lbs of potatoes, halved
1 lb carrots, cut into thirds
3-4 cloves of crushed garlic
1 pkg of Lipton onion soup (2 pkg per box)
1 cup of ketchup (approx)
½ bottle of Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine
2 tablespoons of Kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 15 oz can beef broth
Water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place sliced onions and crushed garlic evenly on the bottom of large roasting pan. Place meat on top of onions and garlic. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper, then sprinkle the onion soup mix over the meat. Spread ketchup on top of the meat. Pour beef broth and wine over everything, and then add water to completely submerge meat (amount of water varies on the meat. Use however much necessary to completely submerge the meat). Cover the pan with lid or foil and roast for two hours UNTOUCHED. LEAVE IT ALONE. Watching the NCIS marathon or something…

After two hours, remove from oven and put meat on cutting board. Let it rest for 30 minutes. Slice the meat approximately 1/8-inch thick (or to your preference) and return to roasting pan. Add the potatoes and carrots and roast for one hour covered. Now back to that marathon…

Remove, put in a container, and refrigerate overnight. Yes, overnight. Why? Because it always tastes better on Day 2 (no really, trust me on this one). On Day 2, pour all ingredients in roasting pan and heat at 350 degrees for one hour.