Potato Pancakes(or Blinis)...with Smoked Salmon

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Potato Pancakes(or Blinis)...with Smoked Salmon .

First of all, I would like to apologize for not posting in a while. Thank you all for your patience....

I have been out of the country, visiting the beautiful country of Ireland and have not had any time to post/respond until recently. So, here is yet another post. I thought I would post a recipe using some of Ireland's traditional ingredients...smoked salmon and potato.

Ok, so I like smoked salmon....and what better way than to combine it with a potato pancake. I originally saw a video clip with Jacques Pepin preparing potato pancakes and topping it with some caviar. Now, I don't have expensive caviar lying around the house, so I substituted some smoked salmon for mine. If you are a bit more fortunate, and DO have some caviar, I would suggest using the caviar instead :). The recipe looked rather uncomplicated and simple to make...sort of like regular pancakes. You place all the ingredients in a blender and make a batter out of it. You pour a bit in a pan and make these small blinis or pancakes that you can top with whatever you like. I chose to use some smoked salmon for mine, but you can top them with an olive tapenade, ajvar, cream cheese and sliced radishes, or any thing you like. I know most recipes use cooked potatoes, but this uses raw potatoes. I think that was the main reason I wanted to try the recipe. You might want to halve the recipe and see if you like the pancakes. This way you don't have to do the whole batch. But we liked them,... which is why I am posting the recipe. These little pancakes/blinis are a great alternative to the same ol' same ol' appetizer. They are also a great little tea sandwich as well. Plus, these are perfect for the gluten intolerant(if you use the potato flour). Hope you like these.

You will need: adapted from Jacques Pepin More Fast Food My Way.

2 cups diced raw potatoes

2 eggs

½ cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic smashed

2 Tbs potato starch or slightly more ordinary flour

½ tsp baking powder

salt and pepper to taste

some oil for frying

~You may top the blinis with some chopped chives, chopped red onion, chopped cucumber, fresh dill, or any topping you prefer.

~ You can easily halve the recipe, if you only want to make a few.

~You can add some favorite herbs in the potato pancake batter, if you like.

Directions:

Peel and dice potatoes. Cut onion and peel garlic.

Place potatoes, garlic and onion in blender.

Add flour, salt, pepper, and eggs

Puree everything in a blender.

I used my VitaMix for this. I find that you get a smoother finish.

Fry in olive or vegetable oil using 2 Tablespoons of puree per pancake.I used med/low heat. Lower the heat if you feel they are burning. I don't use too much oil for frying, don't want them to be too greasy. It is very similar to making regular pancakes. You might need to stir the batter every so often before pouring it in the pan.

You can definitely make the pancakes bigger if you want. Turn them over and continue cooking until golden brown, about a minute or so.

These pancakes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They will lose their crispiness as they sit. Top the blinis with some whipped cream cheese, smoked salmon, chives/onions/cucumber.