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.

Awesomely easy steak tartare

Well, to be perfectly honest I should probably acknowledge that any steak tartare has got to be fairly easy and quick to make since it isn't even cooked! But it always seemed like one of those dishes that requires the sanction of a restaurant atmosphere.

Not so!

My friend Julia recently bequeathed me the contents of her freezer upon moving across the country, and since this enticing little package of ground steak tartare from Grazin' Angus Acres was already thawed I decided to enjoy it that very afternoon.

In a bowl, mix 8 oz. high-quality organic grass-fed ground steak with the following:
-1 pastured egg
-Organic Tamari to taste (this will add all the salt you need)
-Organic expeller-pressed sesame oil (start with a tsp or 2 and add more if desired)
-Fine-ground white pepper to taste (this stuff is spicier than the regular black variety so don't go too crazy!)

Mix well, tasting as needed, and turn out onto a serving plate, molding into a nice round shape. Garnish with snipped parsley or very thinly-sliced scallions (I didn't have any of the latter). Take small bites--I like to use chop sticks because it just makes it tastier--and enjoy the delicious smooth flavor. You will get an amazing boost of energy from this!

I offered some to Oliver and he gobbled it right up with me.

A better use for a soda dispenser

I think I may have invented the first-ever mini-fridge chicken carcass dispenser! Since buying this fridge last month I've been vexed over the wasted space and have been trying to fit various things in there. It has now proved itself as the perfect spot for saving two lovely chicken carcasses until I'm ready to make broth. :)