Happy Hanukkah! Now, I'm not Jewish. But I feel happy to send you this greeting no matter your religious associations. Because around my house we like to say I am Jewish adjacent, that's because my partner is Sephardic. The differences between Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi Jews are partly cultural and partly religious. These two branches of Judaism separated at one time by geography still retain many of their distinct culinary traditions.

One of these Ashkenazi culinary holiday traditions is the latke– joyously served as part of a Hanukkah celebration.

The Gentiles among us may ask "What makes a potato pancake, or more simply a potato fritter, a latke? "Well my reading tells me that a latke is much more than a pancake made from fried potatoes. In fact the potato latke is symbolic. It's a potato pancake on the outside but it represents the "humble man's" neshamah or what we in English might describe as a soul.

Geez (pardon the expression) that's a whole lotta holiday pressure to put onto one little pancake? But it does explain how the latke came to represent an integral part of this holiday for most Ashkenazi Jews.

But potato latkes aren't as traditional an element in the Sephardic Hanukkah tradition. In fact weren't even originally a part of Ashkenazi Hanukkah cuisine either.

I started this Sweet Potato Gratin without a recipe. Heck, I started it without a plan. All I knew was I wanted sweet potatoes like my mother used to make. My mother used to make sweet potatoes with maple syrup and caramelized onions. Hers were done in a mash. They were delicious but in my opinion they didn't take advantage of the very thing sweet potatoes do best. Sweet potatoes caramelize like no vegetable I know. In other words they need to be baked or roasted.

But as I started prepping I decided that a sweet potato gratin might be the direction I wanted to go. I had already boiled and sliced the potatoes. I had already slow cooked some Sweet 100 tomatoes. Caramelized onions were filling the house with their marvelous fragrance.

Was it too late to turn this into a gratin? Well I didn't prep a gratin pan. I already had a cake pan lined with parchment and drizzled with maple syrup all ready to go. I even had laid out an attractive layer of potato slices. But still I stopped what I was doing and ran to the computer. Just what was a gratin, I wondered.

Well it turns out a gratin is typically a vegetable baked with cheese and topped with crunchy breadcrumbs. Hmmm. Was I past the point of no return in making this into a gratin. Well yes and no. I had big chunks of potato and no plan for cheese. But I had some excellent aged goat cheese in the fridge and who says gratins can't have chunky potatoes!

I'm on day five of a week long series dedicated to the summer salad. So far all of my salads have been a bit special. Salads that could work as a main course– or salads that feature a special ingredient. But today I have a salad that is a side dish. Meaning it's supposed to play second fiddle to whatever else is served on the plate.

Which doesn't mean it's not special in it's own simple (quiet) way. Besides, how can a discussion of summer salads go by without a proper nod to potato salad? Today's salad fills that void. But it ain't no plain ole potato salad. It's a Chilled Sweet Potato Salad with Lime and Chili Oil.

Who says sweet potatoes (or even yams) need to be cold weather food? Not me. Why not shake up your ideas about potato salad. So leave the mayo in the fridge and have a look at what I can do with the humble (sweet) potato. My version is a little sweet, a little sour and even a little spicy. It's so me. So of course I love it. But as much as I love it I gotta say it's very second fiddle. Which isn't a bad thing. Except I just got through cooking with Linda of Salty Seattle, right here in my own kitchen. She was giving me a little lesson in molecular gastronomy (is that the right term?).

We were using chemicals like calcium chloride and sodium alginate to create little bouncy balls of pea and mint. They were pretty damn spectacular, but not at all second fiddle.

So as I sit here pecking away at this keyboard trying to explain how or why my simple potato salad deserves your attention I feel a little like the kid whose bird's nest show and tell flopped when Johnny SoAndSo brought a moon rock to class. It almost made me feel sorry for my simple little salad.

But you know what? Just look at the color of my salad. It might not bounce and squirt. But man oh man, does it taste good on the plate with grilled chicken on a hot summer's day.