Eggs and Latkes

November is a challenging month for my husband, he spends a lot of it on travel.  Today is the start of both of our vacations.  Unfortunately, we have a list of things to do to get the house ready to put on the market.  So I thought that we should begin this sure to be less than fun vacation with breakfast. 

Tom grew up in New Jersey, his best friend, Nate, is Jewish.  Nate had a big influence on Tom's taste buds.  The hungry, cross country running teenager ate everything and anything he was given.  His favorite breakfast is probably bagels and lox.  Sad to say, I make the best bagels that we have tasted since we moved to Texas.  But I don't really have time for it so I decided to make latkes with fried eggs and roasted tomatoes from Salt and Serenity's blog.   

One of the reasons that I like reading other people's blogs is that sometimes you learn more from a blog than from a cookbook.  If someone has made latkes all their lives and writes about it, you feel like you are sitting in their kitchen, at their elbow.

The recipe starts with roasted cherry tomatoes.  I used olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary.  The roasted tomatoes on top of the eggs took this dish to a new level.  I may throw some tomatoes in the oven any time I want to add pizzazz to an egg dish from now on.

Then you make latkes. 

I have tried a few different recipes, this may be my favorite so far.  You grate some yukon golds.  Then you chop up some onion in the food processor with half of the grated potatoes.  Head over to Salt & Serenity's blog for more detailed instructions.  Trust me, you would prefer to be at her elbow...

The potato onion mixture is put in a colander over a ball and the liquid is squished out. 

 And then she says pour off the water and save the starch and you think what is she talking about???  Tip the bowl to the side and see the white starch on the bottom.

The grated potatoes, starch, chopped potato and onion, egg, matzo meal, and kosher salt are mixed together.  
Fry them in hot oil 4 mins a side.  Top with an egg and some tomatoes and enjoy.

Now we are ready to:  take the car with the scary check engine light to the dealer, take the left over paint from the garage to the hazardous collection site, get the kitchen cabinets ready to paint...  oh the list goes on and on.