Halfway through I called my neighbor over. Hers are perfection. One step is the key for me, from her.

"Cover potatoes with cold water and bring to boil. Boil exactly 10 minutes. Pour off water and refresh with cold water. Leave 5 minutes exactly (important to time this recipe carefully). Dry potatoes very well."

(I did 8 minutes)

They grated so easily but still 'al dente'. And dry!.

(They sat with skins one for an hour before I was ready. (multi-tasking many other things)...best thing as a do-ahead.

I formed too loose and too much stuff in them...kinda dumb knowing they should be a bit more packed together but got carried away with internet pics of 'birds nested' lovely and crispy broad plated evenly browned perfection.

Keep it simple.

I was making a fancy slaw with golden beet, celery root, fennel, ...at the same time for a separate salad to go with the brisket, NewYear's day...so I put some in.

Too much extra moisture.

Glad I did the trial batch. So good that our salmon dinner did not have latkes. Stolen right out of the p-toweled resting pan in the kitchen.

Keep it simple. ...Potato, steamed, shallot minced, chives minced.

So many latkes have al dente potato centers, but this method solves that and no draining of moisture.

I also screwed up on the egg. Mine are small organic. I had a feeling I should have used two. But multi-tasking I got overly confident.

The moral of the story...testing a few days ahead of a gathering...still a great meal for the family as screw ups are edible...(DH found the failures headed for the dog bowl and ate them,) lol.

I've never made latkes. They look something like Swiss rosti (roesti). Given the choice would you pan fry or deep fry?

I've always made them with raw potatoes so seeing all these cooked potato recipes is surprising to me but I know there's many variations

John, If it's a latke, it's pan fried.

I think Andrew Zimmern's are the best. Really superior. There's a perpetual discussion of grated or mashed, fine grated or strings, etc. AZ's are two kinds of potatoes, mashed and strings, and are really good.

BUT, there's nothing wrong with your recipe. Pre-cooking the potatoes isn't necessary, but can't hurt. Otherwise, you do have to make flat rather than domed ones or the edges will be overcooked/middle under cooked. The fine grated or mashed don't have as much of a problem with this.

Skin on is a new one to me. More nutritious, but odd. Baking powder I suppose could lighten the mashed potato kind but light latkes is also weird. ;) Can't hurt.

Mainly, you need some kind of potatoes, onions, more salt than you might think you need, flour or matzah meal and eggs as binder. Fry till really brown and crisp.

Draining excess water from the potatoes and eggs is vital. This year I overdid it! If you're doing the mashed version, you can press them in a sieve with a cooking spoon.

And, yes, with any Jewish cooking, if you're not sure on the eggs, add another. Add an egg for good measure. Add an egg even if it doesn't call for eggs. :) It's a thing. :) Okay, for real, you don't want so much egg that it's slimy and won't mix in, so if you're really worried, add half and see...

So. Do it a couple more times. It'll be fine.

Well, I did latkes in the air fryer and all I can say is DON'T. They were edible potato cakes but most definitely not latkes. The brisket was good, though....

I do like the looks of yours, sleevendog, with all the "stuff". Mine just had potatoes, eggs, grated onion, salt and pepper. Oh, and a few bread crumbs. They tasted OK, but the texture was just wrong.

Annie

Thanks, Annie! I've always wondered about air fryers. I know they do well with the things you can make in a good oven, but have always wondered about those things that I thought would really need oil, like latkes.

I make latkes with russet potatoes, scrubbed very well with the skins on....grate in the Cuisinart with the medium blade, rinse in cold water and spin dry in the salad spinner. Add half an onion to grate with every 3 or 4 potatoes depending on size. Add a couple of eggs and flour mixed with baking powder...1 teaspoon per half cup of flour...the grannies said it prevents the potatoes browning, but I don't think that is so....mix and fry in an inch of hot oil.
Jewish people call them Latkes, my great grandmother called them potato pancakes.

I make latkes the way you do, lindac. The most important thing is that the potato shreds be dry before you pan fry them. Delicious.

nada

Nada?

You mean, "bupkis"?

How so?

Aha! Yes. Sometimes a new batch is best. I figured out today, looking at the last latke how it got weird. No one else even noticed. :) Very glad to hear that the new batch came out so well, because you're right: with all of your ability to make fried cakes, the latke had to be conquered! Happy New Year!