Everybody knows latkes are made out of potatoes. Heck, the Wikipedia page even redirects to “potato pancakes” — and if Wikipedia says it, it’s most certainly true. But consider this: Jews have been celebrating Hanukkah since the Maccabees successfully took back and rededicated the temple in the second century BCE, yet potatoes did not become available to them until well after Columbus’s voyage at the end of the 15th century CE, 1,700 years later. That’s a lot of latke-free Hanukkahs!

That would be a problem, if tradition specifically called for eating latkes, but that particular practice emerged relatively recently among the Jews of Europe. All that’s really needed is fried food — the oil it is fried in calls to mind the miracle of the days supply of ritual olive oil burning for eight days that Hanukkah commemorates. The fritters themselves have varied throughout the years according to local practice and availability.

Enter the turnip: this venerable old-world brassica would certainly have been available to Jews in the second century BCE, and it fries up to a mean little fritter. If you’ve got a couple of turnips kicking around the bottom of the crisper drawer you don’t even need to wait till Hanukkah (which is like a year away at this point) to enjoy these.

By the way, a religion with eight days dedicated to eating deep-fried foods? That’s something I could believe in — other than the whole giving up pork thing, of course.

Turnip Latkes

• 2 medium turnips
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp flour
• Black pepper, from the mill, to taste
• Olive oil for frying

Peel the turnips and coarsely shred them. I use a food processor.

Toss the turnip shreds with the salt in a medium bowl and let sit for a half hour, allowing the salt to draw out some of the moisture. After thirty minutes have elapsed, squeeze the turnip shreds (in your hands or in a kitchen towel) to extract as much moisture as possible. Turnips hold a lot of water, so squeeze hard.

Mix the turnips with the eggs, flour and black pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (you’ll have to use your judgment on how much — it should be no more than what would come halfway up the sides of the latkes but I used substantially less). When the oil is hot, take golf ball-sized dollops of turnip mixture and place them in the pan, pushing them as you do to flatten them into rough disks. Repeat until the pan is full. Fry the latkes until they are golden brown on the first side, then flip and fry until golden brown on second side. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and season with additional salt.

You can serve the latkes with sour cream or apple sauce but they are also great au naturel.

After biking to the Midtown Farmers’ Market in the dead of winter last week, I am happy to report that winter seems to be over in Minnesota and we’ve jumped back into fall. With a sunny blue sky and temperatures that require only a light jacket provided you keep moving, this was one of those great days to be at the farmers’ market taking advantage of the last of the season’s produce.

In spite of my dire predictions due to last week’s frost (and overriding pessimism brought on by early October snow), the supply of fresh produce at the market remains ample. There are even still peppers and tomatoes, although not necessarily of the same quality they were in late August (I passed on these the last few weeks). But I was happy to see there was still red kale, turnips with their greens on, potatoes, brussels sprouts and onions; all the makings of fall feasting food.

We also bought bacon from Chase Brook Natural. You can see in the picture that it is not streaked lengthwise with long strands of fat. That’s because this is cottage bacon — bacon is made from the shoulder of the pig, rather than its belly. It is a meatier, less fatty bacon (which isn’t necessarily a good thing). It will go well alongside eggs and toast at breakfast.

There are only two weekends left for the Midtown Farmers’ Market, but I continue to be amazed at all that is available.

Another weekend at the Midtown Farmers’ Market brought an impressive, but dwindling, bounty of vegetables. The late summer fruits — bell peppers and tomatoes — are clinging on to life even as the impending frost threatens to cut them off without warning. Their bright reds, oranges and yellows are starting to be crowded out by the earth-tones of the fall harvest: brassicas from root (turnips) to leaf (brussels sprouts, cabbage) to flower (cauliflower, broccoli); large carrots, onions and potatoes with hardy skins are waiting to fill root cellars for the winter (you have started filling your root cellar, haven’t you?). Sweet potatoes made their first appearance this week — their tender bulbs begging me to wrap them in foil, toss them in smoldering coals and eat them, steaming, right out of their jackets.  Green beans, which appear to be one of the longest-seasoned crops of all in Minnesota, seemed a proper compliment to this kind of food: good, hearty fare that makes you feel like a true Midwesterner.

It is hard to believe that there is only a month left in the market season; once October’s over, that’s it for convenient local produce buying. But while the season starts off a little slowly, it comes to a much more plentiful end; the last month of the market still promises plenty of good food.

I hate to toot my own horn, but I did an awesome job going through all my produce from the farmers’ market last week.  Between pickling, trying new recipes, and actually eating all our leftovers, by the end of the week our fridge, even our vegetable drawer, was looking empty. We even had to go to the grocery store for dinner Friday night since there was nothing left to eat in the house.

With this blank canvas to fill, I think I might have overdone it this morning. It didn’t help that this week instead of my usual school-size backpack I wore my Duluth Pack — something about that giant backpack makes you want to fill it. And with the variety and quality of produce available this time of year, it’s pretty hard to resist. Especially when $3 trays are 2 for $5. But what am I going to do with all this?

The haul for this week was: 3 onions, 8# generic tomatoes, basil, cantaloupe, fennel, garlic, potatoes, salad turnips, poblanos, honey gold tomatoes, variety heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and summer squash and radishes. The cantaloupes are new for me this week but Brett and Mary of Real Bread recommended them strongly.

I made sure to return to the Honey Creek Farm stand where last week we bought edamame and sun gold and heirloom tomatoes that made some of the best caprese and Greek salads of all time. More tomatoes, for eating raw, were a must and although there were no edamame this week, there was another interesting vegetable: salad turnips. Apparently these Japanese vegetables taste like a mild radish. Although I like my radishes sharp and spicy, I couldn’t turn down a new vegetable to try.

As for those eight pounds of tomatoes, I bought those with the idea that it is time for me to finally start putting up tomato sauce for the winter. I kick myself every year for failing to do so, so this is the year. I am planning on following Hank Shaw’s instructions for making and bottling the stuff. I figure 8# should give me 3 quart sized jars, a good start.

As for the rest, well, I have no idea. But hopefully I’ll come up with something before next Saturday when it’s time to load up again.