Bird's Milk .... Faina, My doctor and I thank you. I've probably gained 10 pounds just reading all of this.

LOL and should I hide from your dentist?

Any tips for grating the potatoes? I don't suppose you can use defrosted frozen hashbrowns? I'm thinking I'd like to cook a Chanukah dinner for my family (will be the first). Thanks!

Never tried frozen hashbrowns, but I'd guess you can use them!

Use a foodprocessor if you have it. I personally like shredded latkes, not grated, they come off crispier and tastier. Every cook has a secret, and I'm letting mine out: I like to add garlic powder instead of onions. Not too much, though!

I like shredded, too. I do it by hand,using the large-hole side of a box grater -- but that's only practical if you're not feeding the multitudes.
After you've grated/shredded the potatoes, DRAIN THEM. I do that by squishing them down in a bowl with a plate and pouring off the liquid.

As Faina said, every cook has a secret, and my grandma used to joke that hers was the blood from the fingers of the poor person who did the grating. Also, she used matzoh meal instead of flour, and I like it too, because I prefer a more textured latke.

Snowrooster--I made using preshredded Simply Potatoes that come in the the refrigerated section of the supermarket (In my store, they were by the eggs). I don't think it made a difference in taste and it sure saved the knuckles.

And Faina--Must you post something about a candy that I have yet to try and then describe it in such a way that I'm willing to go out in my daggy sweats to find some?! I love tiramisu and to think there is a candy that sort of tastes like it...You're torturing me!

Which food processor blade do you use? I hand grate on the large holes - I too like the bigger pieces. I drain them in the collander over a bowl and then wrung them as dry as I can in a dish towel, and then add back a spoon or two of the potato starch from the bowl under the collander.

One year my non-Jewish best friend had a Chanukah dinner. Her sister-in-law, the JAP (Jewish American Princess for the uninformed), insisted on making the latkes. "Oh, I never wring them out", first mistake, second mistake, throw them in pan, flip them over, and serve them almost white. "Saves time with a big crowd" says the JAP. I was kvelling (bursting), but I couldn't say anything because she had taken over the dinner - as she does everything else. Worse than horrible - yuck.

Even my applesauce couldn't save those greasy, undercooked blobs.

_Maybe_ next year (or sooner) I'll give in and use the foodprocessor. So many of my friends use it and are satisfied. Again, please tell me which disk.

The above sister-in-law used the processor, but she must have must have used a bigger disk, because the pieces were so big.

Nina66, I have prepared my potatoes using the food processor and by grating the potatoes on the hand grater. The name of the blade? I'm not sure what the technical names is, but I use the one with the holes that are about 1/4 in diameter. If I'm making a small batch, I just do it by hand - less to clean up. I also use my electric frying pan which lets me make a larger quantity.

snowrooster, that's a clever idea using frozen hash brown potatoes. Let me know if you try it that way and how it turns out.

Oh my G_d..... our departed mothers, grandmothers and the generations before them, would be rolling in their graves if they could see what their daughters and granddaughters have done to their latke recipes. First foodprocessors and NOW frozen hashbrowns ;-)

Happy Chanukah to all. Anyone else who'd never heard of "pelmeni"? Did a google search. Sound good but never had them.

PamSF, "the candlelabra smuggled out of Germany in the 40's by the family cook" sounds like a good story..?

Frozen hash browns will not work right because they don't have the wetness/absorbency of fresh/wet grated potato- they've actually become "drier" during the freezing process. Taste won't be the same. Red potatoes make the best latkes, Idaho are fine but not as "solid" and grainier. I believe the top drawer potato pancakes makers use red. If I use Idaho, I'll squeeze a bit, NOT all liquid off with cheesecloth. The consistency must be right and you don't want the mixture to be soupy at all.

I use the larger grater attachment that makes a "shredded" strip of potato. You don't have to "squeeze" out as much liquid doing this. In squeezing out all of the liquid- you are going to make the latke much denser and less light- almost the consistency of kugeli or true potato dumpling. We like lighter.

My tips and modifications from my grandmother who died at 99 in 1989: she actually DID grate a slice of very dried- 2 or 3 day old piece of white bread into the mix instead of the matzo meal when it wasn't available. It is our way to do it now. Makes the whole thing crispier and less dense. And her town always put in a dash of grated nutmeg with the salt/ pepper/ grated onion /eggs. I used to watch her do it all the time as a girl. And my job was to grate and fry.

They are fried, VERY CRISPY and dark brown, as undercooked potato pancakes are horrible. You can actually see the potato shreds (although they are brown) in the finished product.

Happy Chanukah to all. My kitchen still smells heavenly from the latkes I made on Wednesday night. I have modernized and use my food processor. I shred half of the potatoes (using just the shredding disk, no blade) then use the shredding disk and the blade together for the other half, which come out grated finer. when mixed togehter, it has a great consistency. also, I drain the whole mixture (potatoes and onions) and then wrap it in a kitchen towel (flour sacks or cheese cloth style) and wring the mixture out. then mix with eggs, a little baking powder, flour, matza meal or breadcrumbs. Wringing the mixture out produces really crispy latkes! I use an old cast iron frying pan and use vegatable or peanut oil (whatever is on hand, but peanut oil is better). Be sure to flatten the latkes out with the back of a spoon to get them crispy and not mushy in the middle. Maybe i'll make another batch tonight.

Cool, everybody! Just run to the nearest McD and get their breakfast has browns, hot from the oven, LOL

And those hash browns resemble and relate to these latkes. Not! In fact they don't resemble real hash browns, let alone latkes.

No McDonald's food is worth the trip, chemicals, or calories to me- but the breakfast stuff UGH- I couldn't even eat it if they paid me. Plastic processed food with a side of grease dip.

May a non Jew insert a comment here? Reading this thread has me going out of my mind! I am soooo jealous of all of you who know how to prepare latkes. I would give up one of the children (so to speak) to have a serving and especially with homemade applesauce.

I have tried preparing them years ago. What a disaster! Well maybe with all this good advice I will try again.

Do not laugh please, but I had used olive oil. Please, no laughing!!

Enjoy my friends. And Happy Chanukah to all of you.

I can appreciate the inventiveness of some when making latkes. I, myself, am more of a purist and enjoy grating (also hate cleaning the food processor).

LoveItaly, glad to see you - have you been away? You need to really wring the moisture out of the potatoes to get a good pancake. Keep trying, one day you'll get it

seetheworld. Hello, been a bit busy but rather relaxing today.

And seriously I am "drooling" over the latkes. I knew a beautiful Jewish woman (who was a client) who told me how to prepare them. Obviously I did not listen properly. And am sure the olive oil did not add anything to the "mess" I made. Seriously all of you would have gagged. Nina66 description of her friends SIL latkes had me laughing so hard. And bet they were still better than mine.

I do cook good applesauce though!

I didn't get it: why using olive oil can make somebody laugh? This is what should be traditionally used, as the miracle of Chanukah is about one day supply of olive oil lasted for 8 days.

I use olive oil now in USA, in Belarus we didn't have it, only sunflower oil was sold. Here I also tried corn oil and canola oil. So it's not the oil...

As I said in an earlier post, I use mashed potatoes but then I'm not Jewish so maybe I'm really missing something. The recipe is the same except for using mashed potatoes. They are fried extra crispy on the outside and are soft inside and sometimes it's the only thing we have for dinner. We love them but would I love them more if I used shredded potato?