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November 19th, 2013 – Vicky’s Millet Latkes

The inspiration for these millet latkes came from a friend and colleague, Daphna Rabinovitch. Daphna, a well-known and highly thought of recipe developer in Canada, has authored and edited several cookbooks, one which won her a national cookbook award. Her food bursts with freshness and creativity. Without preaching or even verbalizing, it’s apparent that her philosophy revolves around fresh seasonal food and high quality ingredients. And, I have to admit, that I agree with her. If your goal is to serve your family nourishing as well as gourmet meals, then your mantra has to be fresh combined with quality.

The inspiration for my latke was Daphna’s Fried Couscous Cakes (as seen in Estee Kafra’s Cooking Inspired).The cakes, like all of Daphna’s recipes, are delicious but unfortunately not suited for those on a gluten-free diet, due to the inclusion of couscous.  It started me thinking though. What if I tried this with millet? So off to the kitchen I headed and after a few tweaks, I arrived at a delicious millet-based latke. I opted to use water in which to cook the millet (as opposed to chicken stock) to keep the recipe pareve but kept it flavorful with the addition of garlic and onion powder. I have found that kids are attracted to the mild flavor and “carby” nature of millet, made all the more delicious here since the latkes are fried as well.

For both adults and kids alike, millet is an excellent choice. It’s easy to digest, contains a nice amount of fiber as well as minerals such as magnesium, manganese, phosphorous and zinc as well as an assortment of phytochemicals.

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Millet Latkes

Ingredients:

2 tsp oil

2 cups millet

4 cups water

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp garlic powder

8 lg eggs

1 tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

2  tsp  salt

Oil, for frying

Directions: 

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan set over medium heat. Add the millet. Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes or until the millet is lightly browned. Pour in the water, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 30 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. Let cool slightly.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, garlic powder, onion powder and salt, mixing until well combined. Gently stir in the millet until well combined.

3. Heat about ¼-inch of oil in a large non-stick skillet set over medium-high heat. Using a ¼ cup measure or a large spoon,  scoop out the millet, patting it into a latke shape. Add the “latke” to the pan, flattening slightly with the back of the spoon. Fry for 3 to 5 minutes per side or until golden brown. Transfer the latkes as they are done to paper towel-lined racks to drain slightly. Serve warm.

Yields 18 latkes.