Potato Pancakes

Janet Wilder · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 230

Okay, it's Chanukah. Two traditional foods are potato pancakes and jelly
donuts. Lets not go near the donuts, but here's a though on the latkes
(potato pancakes):

I use the shredder blade in my Cuisinart to first shred the potato. I
put the shreds into a bowl of ice water until I'm done with all the
shredding. After squeezing out all of the water, I pulse it with the
knife blade a few times with a hunk of onion.

When I'm all done there several tablespoons of potato starch on the
bottom of the bowl that held the shreds and water. What I'm wondering is
how much of the starch am I removing? Is is significant? How could one
measure?

DH is on strict portion control when it comes to latkes and he's really
good about it so he never has a spiking problem, but I'm wondering if he
might count less carbs for his bolus with all that starch coming out.

Any ideas?

Happy Chanukah!
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

Archived from group: alt>food>diabetic

pavane · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 6

"Janet Wilder" wrote in message $0$24613$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
> Okay, it's Chanukah. Two traditional foods are potato pancakes and jelly
> donuts. Lets not go near the donuts, but here's a though on the latkes
> (potato pancakes):
>
> I use the shredder blade in my Cuisinart to first shred the potato. I put
> the shreds into a bowl of ice water until I'm done with all the shredding.
> After squeezing out all of the water, I pulse it with the knife blade a
> few times with a hunk of onion.
>
> When I'm all done there several tablespoons of potato starch on the bottom
> of the bowl that held the shreds and water. What I'm wondering is how much
> of the starch am I removing? Is is significant? How could one measure?
>
> DH is on strict portion control when it comes to latkes and he's really
> good about it so he never has a spiking problem, but I'm wondering if he
> might count less carbs for his bolus with all that starch coming out.
>

This is a really interesting question. Throwing away the starch in the
bowl has to eliminate a big amount of the total carbs, since all the
potato really is is starch, a tad of protein and some fiber. So your
reduced starch latkes should logically be much better (how much, who
knows?) Now my family recipe took shredded potato, added finely
chopped onion leaving the potato shreds whole and long, patted them
into thin pancakes, into the fridge for a while to set up and then fried
them. Not the thick pancake-type latke, but thin lacy ones. I can't
tell which type you are making. The glucometer is the final judge, you
might try a couple and see how bad they are. If they don't stick
together possibly add an egg. Good luck and happy Chanukah to you also.

pavane

Jackie Patti · Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 61

Janet Wilder wrote:

> When I'm all done there several tablespoons of potato starch on the
> bottom of the bowl that held the shreds and water. What I'm wondering is
> how much of the starch am I removing? Is is significant? How could one
> measure?

I doubt it's significant. Potatoes are nearly all starch and most of
the potatoes still remain. If it were me, I'd not change the bolus for it.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

Alice Faber · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 25

In article ,
Susan wrote:

> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Alice Faber wrote:
>
> > I did my standard zucchini pancakes. Five small zukes and a third of an
> > onion made about 4 servings, so the 2 tbs or so of matzo meal didn't
> > have much of an impact. Of course, I had to serve them with sour cream
> > instead of apple sauce.
> >
>
> I always used sour cream anyhoo. Smile

>
> Do you squeeze the zucchini in a towel to extract moisture, or can you
> make latkes with it as it is?
>

I was too lazy to do this, but I probably should have.

--
"[xxx] has very definite opinions, and does not suffer fools lightly.
This, apparently, upsets the fools."
---BB cuts to the pith of a flame-fest

Alice Faber · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 25

In article ,
Susan wrote:

> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Alice Faber wrote:
>
> > I was too lazy to do this, but I probably should have.
> >
>
> How'd they cook up?
>

Not too bad. I used 5 small zukes, 2 eggs, about 2 tbsp of matzo meal.
Some liquid stayed at the bottom of the bowl. My big problem was that I
didn't have peanut oil, so I had to use canola. I had to be a little
careful flipping the pancakes, but they tasted just fine. I brought one
in to have with my lunch today, and it held together just fine through
the packing and nuking at work.

--
"[xxx] has very definite opinions, and does not suffer fools lightly.
This, apparently, upsets the fools."
---BB cuts to the pith of a flame-fest

Nicky · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 102

On Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:55:28 -0600, Janet Wilder
wrote:

>Okay, it's Chanukah. Two traditional foods are potato pancakes and jelly
>donuts. Lets not go near the donuts, but here's a though on the latkes
>(potato pancakes):

Hubby's family (Lithuanian) either do potato pancakes (kuguli, sp), or
a baked grated potato/onion mix (blinl). [Very confusing names, my
Russian tradition says Blini are pancakes. mutter...]

I do the baked dish occasionally and sub grated cauli for some of the
potato. It's successful up to about half-and-half; you still need some
straight starch to bind it together. I still can't eat very much...

Might be worth trying similar with the pancakes - particularly if you
try a little egg to bind?

Nicky.
T2 dx 05/04 + underactive thyroid
D&E, 100ug thyroxine
Last A1c 5.6% BMI 25

Alice Faber · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 25

In article ,
Susan wrote:

> x-no-archive: yes
>
>
> Alice Faber wrote:
>
> > Not too bad. I used 5 small zukes, 2 eggs, about 2 tbsp of matzo meal.
> > Some liquid stayed at the bottom of the bowl. My big problem was that I
> > didn't have peanut oil, so I had to use canola. I had to be a little
> > careful flipping the pancakes, but they tasted just fine. I brought one
> > in to have with my lunch today, and it held together just fine through
> > the packing and nuking at work.
> >
>
> So, it crisped up, or was it more like a vegetable patty type texture?

Somewhere in between. If I'd had more patience, I would have had
smaller, crisper pancakes. But I was kind of in a hurry.
>
> I've often thought about making them from zucchini, but figured I'd have
> to choke the life out of them first, that's why I'm asking so many
> questions.

I think the matzo meal really made a difference. It was a very small
amount, relative to serving size. I think I got 8 large pancakes out of
my recipe, so that's <2 g carb from the matzo meal per serving.
>
> Now that I seem to be in a cortisol trough, I can have some sweet
> potato, but I usually don't eat any starche, so zucchini would be my
> first choice.
>
> I used sunflower oil.

I'll have to get some next time I want to do serious frying. The canola
oil definitely wasn't the best option. But it was handy, at least.

--
"[xxx] has very definite opinions, and does not suffer fools lightly.
This, apparently, upsets the fools."
---BB cuts to the pith of a flame-fest

Janet Wilder · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 230

Jackie Patti wrote:
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> When I'm all done there several tablespoons of potato starch on the
>> bottom of the bowl that held the shreds and water. What I'm wondering
>> is how much of the starch am I removing? Is is significant? How could
>> one measure?
>
> I doubt it's significant. Potatoes are nearly all starch and most of
> the potatoes still remain. If it were me, I'd not change the bolus for it.
>

Thanks. I didn't. I gave him a carb count based on the amount of raw
potato. It was more than he usually eats, but his numbers are good and
he can cover with the bolus. He didn't spike, so I guess we did well.

--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

W. Baker · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 97

Nicky wrote:
: On Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:55:28 -0600, Janet Wilder
: wrote:

: >Okay, it's Chanukah. Two traditional foods are potato pancakes and jelly
: >donuts. Lets not go near the donuts, but here's a though on the latkes
: >(potato pancakes):

: Hubby's family (Lithuanian) either do potato pancakes (kuguli, sp), or
: a baked grated potato/onion mix (blinl). [Very confusing names, my
: Russian tradition says Blini are pancakes. mutter...]

: I do the baked dish occasionally and sub grated cauli for some of the
: potato. It's successful up to about half-and-half; you still need some
: straight starch to bind it together. I still can't eat very much...

: Might be worth trying similar with the pancakes - particularly if you
: try a little egg to bind?

: Nicky.

That baked dish sound like what we call a potato kugel. I like the idea
of the cauli mix.

For potato pancakes, I use a mix of potato shreds and zuchinni shreds.

Wendy