Potato pancakes with cavier

This is the continuing story of the caviar my friend Nancy received as a gift. If you refer to the recipe for red potatoes with caviar you will get caught up. Anyway....she had this jar of caviar she needed to use up and, being the good friend that I am, I of course, wanted to help her out. We looked around for an appropriate recipe and ended up making a shredded potato pancake topped with smoked salmon and caviar. Hum...now that I think about it, there seems to be a potato and caviar theme going on here. We finally used up the red caviar although I have no idea what type it was. All I know is that it was beautiful. Don't you agree?

The potatoes are shredded, dried well, and sauteed in clarified butter until crisp on both sides. The nice thing is that the potatoes have to soak in a bowl of water for awhile so you could get them shredded and in the water before your guests arrive and then they would be ready to make appetizers. I personally could eat these as a meal because I love potatoes and with the topping it can be hearty. We cut each pancake into 4 pieces but I suppose you could cut them into 6 for smaller portions.

As for the butter, the recipe calls to make your own, but if you want to skip this step you could buy clarified butter. It's not hard to do it just takes an additional step and the time. I rarely use clarified butter so I made my own.

The recipe: (adapted from Weir cooking in the city)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 pounds baking potatoes
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
• 8 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon
• 1 ounce caviar
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives, thinly sliced

Peel the potatoes and use a mandoline to cut into julienne strips. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and cover with water. Change the water several times until the water is clear. Let them soak about an hour.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, turn off and let sit for about 15 to 20minutes. Spoon the foam off the top and discard. You want the deep yellow clear butter that remains to cook the pancakes with. It will prevent burning.

Drain the potatoes and dry them. You could use a salad spinner for this but a clean kitchen towel works just as well. Toss the potatoes with salt and pepper.

In a 10 inch skillet melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and get hot. Add one third of the potatoes and press to form a flat pancake. Cook about 8 minutes until golden brown and slightly crisp, then flip. Do this by inverting onto a plate and then sliding back in to the skillet. Be very careful, this step could result in a broken pancake. Continue to cook the second side for another 8 minutes. When done, transfer to a serving dish, or hold in the oven on a sheet pan if making more. (We eat them as they come right out of the skillet.) Repeat the process with the rest of the potatoes making 2 more pancakes.

Cut each pancake into 4 wedges and top each wedge with creme fraiche, a slice of the salmon, a small teaspoon of caviar, and the chives.

Enjoy with a sparkling wine, our fav, or a glass of your favorite white wine.