Potato Pancakes--Cook-Off 16

[CaliPoutine]

My questions:

To squeeze dry or not the potatos?

Matza meal or flour?

Will only russetts do?

Im looking at a recipe in my file from an old issue of MSL. There is a recipe for parsnip latkes and they suggest a pear sauce in place of apple sauce. The recipe includes parsnips and potato. These sound good.

[Gifted Gourmet]

How about this recipe for kinder, gentler latkes?

after following those 30 steps to make them, I would be anything but kind and certainly not gentle!

[mizducky]

Dang, it's been ages since I made potato latkes. I was already plotting a major cooking extravaganza since Fearless Housemate is going out of town this weekend--what better excuse to fill the house with frying-potato smells?

My mom had her own very decided opinions on how to do potato latkes. She did the shred-by-hand-on-box-grater routine. She used plain old russets, and didn't blot them dry in any way. Some matzoh meal and an egg or two to hold them together. Fried in enough oil so that, when the pan had a load of latkes going, they were all immersed just half-way. The secret art is learning just how long to wait before flipping them to cook the second side--if you try too soon, they disintegrate; if you wait too long, of course, they burn.

I've never messed with my mom's recipe before, but now I'm feeling a little inspired. Suddenly I'm thinking that embedding some gribenes in potato latkes would be a most lovely thing. (Plus it would give me an excuse to make gribenes, plus then I would have schmaltz instead of oil to cook the latkes in.)

By the way, y'all have heard the classic parody version of "Oh Hannukah", right? The one that avers that Mrs. Maccabeus' potato latkes gave her husband the chutzpah to defeat the Syrians, but cooking the latkes resulted in the shortage of oil for lighting the temple menorah?

[jackal10]

Latkes: No squeeze, no washing of the starch. That's what holds them together. Then you don't need egg or matzo meal. Always seemed crazy to me to dry the potato, then add wet eggs and they dry them off with added Matzo meal. The potato and onion as grated fry up fine (especially in goose fat).

Like pancakes they get eaten as fast as they can be produced

I have been known to eat 17 in one sitting...

[Jim Dixon]

So, before I delve into making potato pancakes, what should I serve with them?

Warning: Culturally incorrect content follows.

Ketchup!

While I'm still partial to my TexMex latkes, I added a handful of Parmigiano to a batch the other night. Very tasty.

Jim

[BarbaraY]

My mom used to make potato pancakes with onion. For some reason they had an offish taste and texture that I couldn't stand but then my mom isn't the best cook around.

I have made several versions since then and found several that I liked.

I have read recipes that call for draining the squeezed out water to get the potato starch that has settled and then adding the starch back into the potato. Does anyone here do that?

[Susan in FL]

I have read recipes that call for draining the squeezed out water to get the potato starch that has settled and then adding the starch back into the potato. Does anyone here do that?

I too was wondering if anyone has used that method. It's breakfast or brunch when we eat the most potato pancakes. We often use our leftover mashed potatoes that way, but we also do the grated potato kind as well. My favorite go-withs are sour cream and "caviar" and sometimes smoked salmon. [i use quotes because it is usually the inexpensive supermarket stuff.]

[Della]

I made some potato pancakes a few months ago (for the first time) and I squeezed a lot of the water out of the potatoes as they seemed to give off a lot of moisture. (Russets) I used veg oil to fry them and I have to say that my house (not just kitchen) but house was all "oily" smelling for a couple days. I don't think I made too huge of a mess with the oil and I had the fan on. I have to say I vowed to never make them again but this topic is making my interest rear it's hungry head.

[eje]

Now that's interesting. I grew up with a Norweigan stepfather and we attended Sons of Norway events for years, including many a lutefisk or meatball dish. Lefse was always served along with dinner, and we used them just as you describe: much like a tortilla. I've eaten them hot off the griddle with butter (oh, my, were they ever good!), but have never seen them presented as a dessert item in any way.

Now I'm jonsing for lefse and cultured butter.

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Well, not so much as a dessert; but, just sweet. Dessert at the lutefisk dinners was usually the disgusting Rommegrot (or RommeGROUT as I liked to call it) or sot suppe. Stick with sandbakkel, rosettes, or krumkake if you are ever at one of these things. In the area I grew up in (South Western Wisconsin) lefse was only eaten as follows. Spread sheet with butter or margarine. Sprinkle on brown sugar. Fold in half and roll into spiral. Consume.

Maybe I'll have to get out my old church group cookbooks and give it a try. Be funny to bring some home made lefse to my parents (who now live in Arizona) for Christmas.

-Erik

Edited November 30, 2005 by eje (log)

[andiesenji]

I have read recipes that call for draining the squeezed out water to get the potato starch that has settled and then adding the starch back into the potato. Does anyone here do that?

I too was wondering if anyone has used that method. It's breakfast or brunch when we eat the most potato pancakes. We often use our leftover mashed potatoes that way, but we also do the grated potato kind as well. My favorite go-withs are sour cream and "caviar" and sometimes smoked salmon. [i use quotes because it is usually the inexpensive supermarket stuff.]

←

Actually I do save the potato starch water only because I like to use it for my sourdough starter, to "perk it up" so to speak.

When I first began with this starter some years ago, I was instructed to save the water from boiling potatoes, or soaking shredded potatoes to reconstitute the dry starter.

The lady who taught me to make the potato pancakes said the crust would be crispier if some of the starch was washed away. That is the only reason I do it, because that is the way I learned. Incidentally, I do hashbrowns the same way. I like 'em crispy/crunchy.

[Susan in FL]

I like them crispy & crunchy, too, so thanks for the info Andie.

[kiliki]

I have read recipes that call for draining the squeezed out water to get the potato starch that has settled and then adding the starch back into the potato. Does anyone here do that?

I do that (it only takes a minute for the starch to collect at the bottom of the bowl), and I think a previous poster mentioned it as well. Then the latkes are crispy, not soggy, since you got rid of a bunch of moisture, but they still have a creamy starchiness on the inside.

Latkes: No squeeze, no washing of the starch. That's what holds them together. Then you don't need egg or matzo meal.

This, to me, is hash browns. Indeed a wonderful dish, but with no egg or binder how is it a pancake/latke?

Edited November 30, 2005 by kiliki (log)

[monavano]

I made some potato pancakes a few months ago (for the first time) and I squeezed a lot of the water out of the potatoes as they seemed to give off a lot of moisture. (Russets) I used veg oil to fry them and I have to say that my house (not just kitchen) but  house was all "oily" smelling for a couple days. I don't think I made too huge of a mess with the oil and I had the fan on. I have to say I vowed to never make them again but this topic is making my interest rear it's hungry head.

←

Although i have a strong range hood vented externally, I give a lot of credit to my non stick all clad 14 inch fry pan, when it comes to reducing that 'oil in the air'. Which, by the way, I am very tuned into as I have asthma and this can be a trigger. To this day, I can't make tater-tots in the oven because the grease ALWAYS seems to hang in the air.

Anyway, back to the frying, I used far less oil and can make more cakes at a time, therefore decreasing the total amount of frying time. I find that by the time you get around to the second, third...Nth batch that the oil can get acrid. And THAT really stinks.

Hope this helps.

[Chris Amirault]

Holy spuds, Batman! This is, I believe, the largest outpouring to start a cook-off in history!

Some questions for y'all:

What differentiates potato pancakes from hash browns?

Why aren't your recipes in RecipeGullet?! I particularly encourage those folks with PPs from particular cuisines to weigh in with reliable versions.

What type of potatoes do you use? Jack's tater course, of course, offers some advice on this subject.

More to come!

[ruthcooks]

My German grandmother made potato pancakes. My recipe seems to have disappeared, but was probably pretty standard, grated potatoes, onion, egg. These were distinctively non-Jewish, fried in lard or bacon fat and served with pork chops or bacon and homemade applesauce.

[mizducky]

I made some potato pancakes a few months ago (for the first time) and I squeezed a lot of the water out of the potatoes as they seemed to give off a lot of moisture. (Russets) I used veg oil to fry them and I have to say that my house (not just kitchen) but  house was all "oily" smelling for a couple days. I don't think I made too huge of a mess with the oil and I had the fan on. I have to say I vowed to never make them again but this topic is making my interest rear it's hungry head.

←

Oh hey, as far as I'm concerned it's just not latke-frying time unless you wind up stinking up the whole place!

My fellow crazed-foodie friend from my twenties back in Boston had a personal tradition of doing a huge latke-fry brunch every New Year's Day (secular New Year's, just to be clear). Sooner or later, no matter how many windows we'd have open and fans and vents we'd have running, we'd have to take the battery out of the smoke detector or risk deafening our guests. Said guests, meanwhile, would be having a grand old time getting all up to their elbows in latke batter, because *everybody* wanted to take a turn at the frying pans. It was one gloriously messy cooking extravaganza, and we'd go through a bazillion potatoes and still have only a very few leftovers.

[saskanuck]

If I have time, I'll join in this. My mom also used the potato starch from the bottom of the bowl, and her pancakes were awesome.

She made them very thin and quite large, almost like regular pancakes, and they were fried until crispy. We ate them as a meal, with sour cream and homemade dill pickles. I could eat a ton of those when I was a skinny little kid.

I will have to look in my mom's old handwritten cookbook to see if she has a recipe written down. I know it was potato grated on the bigger holes of a box grater, some egg, salt and pepper, and I think that's all. But I don't know the proportions.

[Samantha]

Its the Japanese transliteration of "Croquette" from English to Japanese Romaji spelling. Like "Aisukurimu" is for Ice Cream.

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So what say you? Should croquettes be considered a potato pancake? They are made from potatoes and are vaguely pancake shaped.

[jeniac42]

Its the Japanese transliteration of "Croquette" from English to Japanese Romaji spelling. Like "Aisukurimu" is for Ice Cream.

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So what say you? Should croquettes be considered a potato pancake? They are made from potatoes and are vaguely pancake shaped.

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I plan on making some of these anyway with my leftover potatoes, so if it's OK I'll post about them here. If not, I'm pretty sure there's a korokke thread in the Japan forum so you can always look there for an update on the scary fried potato cakes with stuffing mixed in...

[Chris Amirault]

Please do post here!

[monavano]

Here's the version that I've always known, you know, what "mom used to make". I don't ever remember the shredded potato version, just the leftover mashed potato kind.

I simply add egg, flour, salt and pepper to the consistency of pancake batter. Today, I also added parsley and chives.

I plan to try some of the other latkes mentioned already, but since I am just using up the last of the Turkey Day spuds, I thought I'd post . More to come.

[Chris Amirault]

I think there's something pretty darned great

about those prosaic pancakes on that prettified plate.

Sorry -- Shel Silverstein bedtime reading for my daughter!

What fat did you use to cook these?

[monavano]

Would you believe just a tad of veg oil? I'ts the non stick all clad pan that I keep gushing about. The china is Czech Bohemian / Tirschenreuth. My fave. I have the dinner and square lunch plates. \

My mom made our potato pancakes in an old Revere Ware (Reverware?) pan. Hers looked exactly the same. I could NEVER do it in a non stick the way she does.

[Pam R]

To squeeze dry or not the potatos?

I squeeze.

Matza meal or flour?

flour

Will only russets do?

I never use russets.. reds please.

I have read recipes that call for draining the squeezed out water to get the potato starch that has settled and then adding the starch back into the potato. Does anyone here do that?

←

I do this sometimes.. depends on the mood.

I also need to point out that my latke recipe varies depending on the quantities. If I'm using 20 lbs. of potatoes I squeeze out as much liquid as possible and add more flour than if I'm using a couple of pounds. As the 'batter' sits, it releases more and more liquid. Large batch latkes also tend to be less lacy.

Because I like sour cream with latkes, I use fry in vegetable oil - canola specifically. Many people use schmaltz - and that's gonna make a tasty pancake, but limits my topping choices.

I used to fry the pancakes in a frying pan on the stove - I now use a large electric frying pan. Nonstick.

When I was growing up, my Baba (grandmother) used to make us blue (purple) potato pancakes. No, she didn't know about blue potatoes. Her potatoes would oxidize as she hand-grated enough to feed the whole family. My tip of the day: grate the onions first and toss the grated potatoes in the onion juices as you go. Some people add vinegar - but I don't like the flavour it adds.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Pam R (log)

[Daniel]

This was from a couple of months ago.. I took Yucon Golds fried with duck fat.. Added creme fraiche and American fish eggs.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Daniel (log)