Happy Chanukah with Chicken & Smashed Potatoes

The lovely Anna of Morsels & Musings is hosting a wonderful Festive Food Fair 2007 and regardless of which holiday you're celebrating....Happy Holidays to all! I can't wait to see what everyone will be serving this season.

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah -The Jewish Festival of Lights. It's very early this year, but here in Halifax it's snowy and white and blizzardy, so it feels like the holiday season.

For the majority of North American Jews, Chanukah without Potato Latkes is...well - unheard of! There will be riots everywhere.

In fact, when I saw this recipe for Roasted Smashed Potatoes in Fine Cooking Magazine from way back in January, 2007and told my family that I was planning on doing this instead, you should have seen Joanna's face, and my cousin (who is in Toronto and won't even be subjected to my blatent blasphemy) were shocked! And before you start ....we're going to Joanna & Ezra's Saturday and Ezra's parents tonight (weather permitting), both places will be serving the traditional latkes. Anyway, I decided to give these a try and they were so easy and so delicious, I may (shocking as this seems) never make latkes again! I guess my waistline is grateful that I didn't find these tasty morsels last year.

Traditionally, I've always made a huge celebration feast and served up three kinds of latkes...potato, zucchini and curried sweet potato and served them with my other favorite Chanukah dish (at least it is in my house) Barbecued Brisket which is quite the production. It's not that it's hard, in fact it's really very simple, but it does take 2-3 days - marinating with a dry rub, then roasting, overnight in the fridge (it's easier to slice when cold), more marinating in a very tasty sauce and finally....baking for another hour in the sauce. It's in Every Kitchen Tells Its Stories and it really is delicious, if you're interested, but I'm feeling lazy this year and letting Joanna do all the hard work. I'll just look after the baby while she's busy! Someone has to!

So back to my pre-Chanukah dinner last night... I served up this very tasty dish to accompany the smashed potatoes. It, too will be a new tradition.

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Shallots and Gingery Glaze

Happy Chanukah to all my Jewish friends and even if you're not Jewish, I promise you'll love this easy to serve dinner for entertaining during the Holiday season. Just add a simple salad like this Mixed Greens with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette and your guests will love you!

Related Links:Food and Drink :Food Blogging Event :Festive Food Fair easy cooking Holiday menu recipes entertaining chicken potatoes