i just tried to make potato pancakes

[aliceinfairyland]

Newp. It was a disaster. I can't even describe the casserole like dish I ended up with.

[PinkSquirrel]

How did you manage to get a casserole like dish out of potato pancakes? Haha Some things just aren't meant to be

[fussbucket]

That's invariably a dish for someone else to make AFAIC.

[aliceinfairyland]

Yeah, see, I followed the recipe, but they didn't stay together or cook right. And then I was worried about the eggs not being cooked. So I scraped the whole mess off the griddle and threw it in the oven.

Not good. I wasted some 5 year old cheddar and all I got was a belly ache.

[broc]

cheddar? what is this I don't even.

[aliceinfairyland]

Cheddar? Cheddar cheese? Lol

[fussbucket]

Nov 28, 2012 21:05:28 GMT -5 aliceinfairyland said:

Cheddar? Cheddar cheese? Lol

[MixedBerryJam]

.

Not good. I wasted some 5 year old cheddar and all I got was a belly ache. [/quote]

Well, there's your problem, right there.

Grate potatoes
Toss with flour.
Mix with grated onion and beaten egg.
Season.
Drop by the spoonful into hot oil (I use some bacon grease but this is not exactly kosher), press to shape, flip when lightly browned.
Serve with applesauce and/or sour cream.
Please note I do not mention cheese anywhere.

[maucat]

My grandma's recipe:

Grate potato and onion. Combine with 1 beaten egg. Add salt and maybe pepper. Drop "spoonfuls" into hot Crisco to fry. Flip ans necessary. Drain on plate lined with paper towels, then serve with apple sauce.

I love hers because the potato pancakes turn out fairly light. Much less dense than ones with matzo meal, anyway.

[aliceinfairyland]

I was using leftover mashed potatoes, which was probably my first problem.
I added egg. Wouldn't stay together. Threw another egg, looked good, tried to fry it. Nope. Did not work. Added onion, tried again. Added more egg, tried again, then the cheese as a last ditch effort. Anyway, I give up and I'll stick to dumplings from now on.

[dixienormous]

You need grated or ground potatoes. they have to have more texture than mashed have.

[broc]

Nov 29, 2012 8:16:19 GMT -5 aliceinfairyland said:

I was using leftover mashed potatoes, which was probably my first problem.
I added egg. Wouldn't stay together. Threw another egg, looked good, tried to fry it. Nope. Did not work. Added onion, tried again. Added more egg, tried again, then the cheese as a last ditch effort. Anyway, I give up and I'll stick to dumplings from now on.

Okay, that makes more sense... you're going more for knish than latke. IME the best way to do this is roughly 1 egg and a tbsp of flour per cup of potato, and then after you shape them, put them in the fridge for like a half an hour, then roll them in some dry bread crumbs before you try to fry them. I will say though that if you add a little oil to the crumbs you can bake the cakes in the oven at like 375 for 15-ish minutes (until they turn brown) and it's all good.