A happy discovery: easy grain-free breakfast "roll-ups"

Recently Hugo made our favorite family pancakes for Oliver's breakfast while I was at the farmers' market, and when I got back there was one left. I tasted it and asked, "where's the banana?" The recipe calls for 3 eggs, 2 tbsp nut butter, and 1 ripe banana....but the banana hadn't made it in there. The resulting thin crepe-like pancake was flexible and tasty -- and not too eggy! I added some homemade garlic-thyme yogurt cheese, a few strips of leftover bacon, and some fermented veggies, and wrapped it in aluminum foil for later. It made a surprisingly enjoyable snack!

I've made this a few times since, with a little extra cashew butter and salt. You can make about 4 thin crepes using 3 pastured eggs, 3 pinches of salt, and 3 Tbsp nut butter (I like homemade cashew butter made from soaked and dried organic cashews). Combine and blend in a food processor or blender. Pour the batter into a hot skillet coated in bacon fat or coconut oil to cook. Add grated cheese and a few strips of cooked bacon after you flip each crepe. Then top with shredded fermented veggies, roll up, and enjoy!

Recent Weston pics from the iPhone

Potato pancake recipe

These delicious potato pancakes are a childhood favorite of mine, and a great way to use up any less-than-lovely potatoes you might have on hand (which is all I had to work with recently).

Be sure to get organic potatoes since chemical runoff concentrates in the soil. I used 6 small potatoes for this recipe, first washing and peeling them and cutting out the sprouts ("eyes") that had grown from them.

1. Steam your washed, peeled potatoes until tender when pierced with a sharp knife.

2. Allow to cool thoroughly. I like to cook potatoes ahead of time, while I'm preparing dinner on Saturday evening for example, and then put them in the fridge before I go to bed. That way they're ready for Sunday morning brunch.

3. Grate the potatoes on the biggest side of a box grater into a big bowl.

4. Combine with 1 egg (got a double yolk today! but it's only one egg), 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1/2 + 1/8 tsp sea salt. Mix well.

5. Make small patties (I made 7 in all plus a tiny one) and fry in a very hot skillet with a generous amount of hot pastured chicken fat melted in the bottom.

6. Serve with butter and raw yogurt (my preference) or sour cream. These were a big hit today, served with omelets (seasoned with Herbes de Provence and goat cheese), and beef breakfast sausage from Grazin' Angus Acres,  plus brown-rice-bread French toast for Hugo, and my homemade lactofermented vegetable medley.

Recent family pics from the iPhone

Blowfish tails recipe: a springtime Greenmarket discovery

The seafood display at our Bay Ridge seasonal Greenmarket (Walgreens parking lot at 95th St and 3rd Ave) really caught my eye this past weekend. It was beautifully arranged and much more varied than usual. I noticed some appealing-looking little fish cuts in one corner and learned they were blowfish tails, and only available for a limited time. The guy behind the table gave me 3 to try and on the walk home I daydreamed about the spices I would use on them.

As soon as we got home I set to work sautéing several small bulbs of fresh spring garlic in plenty of grass-fed ghee. Then I added the tails and sprinkled on sea salt, ground ginger, cumin, and just a tiny dash of cayenne powder. According to the fish vendor's instructions I turned the tails once during cooking, and of course seasoned the other side as well. It as clear when they were done: the color of the fish had changed and there was a nice crust.

The results: unbelievably delicious! My mouth is watering as I type this and I can hardly wait to buy more tomorrow.