Look away, it's ALL cooking!

Last night I mastered 2 kitchen techniques that have been bugging me for quite awhile.

The first is potato pancakes. I’ve never looked at a recipe and I don’t think my Mom made them. I think most people use shredded raw potato for traditional ones. However I’ve always been interested in turning leftover mash potatoes into pancakes. And never quite gotten it, as I always focused on making patties of some kind and got hung up on the egg to starch ratio. More like potato cakes.

But, get a little buzzed and get in the kitchen and there can be moments of illumination. I was able to look at it a different way, and voila.
I treated them as flour and then turned them into batter. Meaning oils, eggs and seasoned flour. Lots of whisking and they became light and delicate, little, dilly pancakes.

I have also been studying how to carve birds. And while I have gotten pretty damn good at it, (I am always asked to carve at Dali’s thanksgivings) there was always a disconnect when it came to getting those beautiful slices from the breast.
Since I’m making chicken soup, I had 2 birds, and four breasts to work at till I got it absolutely right. The trick is to come at the breast from a 90 degree angle.
In other words hold a serrated or incredibly sharp knife sideways at 90 degrees and make slices. Start at the top using nice long sawing motions, cut to the bone until its sectioned all the way down to top of the wing. Then cut straight down from the top of the breast bone and follow the bone to release the slices. Beautiful.

Actually now that I think about it I made some of the best roast beast hash ever the other day too. The trick to the fried potatoes (and fantastic mashed potatoes for that matter) is that as soon as the potatoes have boiled and are the proper cooked-sistency, drain the water off, then leave them in the pot to steam dry. I usually make lots so I can have a mashup as well as pull some out to fridge for fried tatos the next day.
Once they have dried a bit and you have removed however many you’ll want for frying, then add (lots of) butter to melt with the heat. Mash ‘em with just butter at first, then start adding whatever you add. I add milk and sour cream.

For the fry-up, you fridge ‘em overnight, then chop a ton of onion and cook till softened in a pan of olive oil and butter. You gotta have the bit of butter with olive oil because of it’s low flash point, or they won’t brown quite the same.
Then you add sliced or chunked potato and let it all get quite brown. Then use paper toweling and soak up ALL the oils. Then they start browning fast so throw in your chunked roast or corned beef and keep flippin’ everything ‘round till it’s well warmed. Yum.