Clarified-Butter Kartoffelpuffer with Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, horseradish, lemon juice, half the chives and a little of the salt, then chill the cream until serving.

   Add in this stepSour cream 120 gGrated horseradish 2 tspLemon juice 1 tspChives, finely snipped 1 tbspSalt ⅛ tsp

2. Peel the potatoes and grate half on the coarse side of a box grater and half on the fine side: the coarse shreds give crisp texture, the fine pulp binds. Grate the shallot on the fine side into the same bowl.

   Add in this stepFloury potatoes 600 gShallot 40 g

3. Wring everything hard in a clean tea towel over a second bowl, rest it for 1 minute, then wring again to get out as much liquid as possible. Leave the liquid to stand for 5 min until the starch settles, pour off the water and keep the starch.

4. Add the settled starch, the egg, potato starch, the rest of the salt, the white pepper and nutmeg to the potato and mix lightly. Potato starch instead of flour makes the pancakes lighter and crisper. Fry straight away.

   Add in this stepEgg 1Potato starch 2 tspSalt 0.6 tspWhite pepper 1 pinchGround nutmeg 1 pinch

5. Melt part of the clarified butter in a 26 cm pan and heat it over medium-high heat for 2 min, to about 175 °C: a dab of batter should sizzle at once. Unlike ordinary butter, clarified butter doesn't burn easily, so you get a nutty butter flavour and a proper crisp crust. Keep the pan and your hands dry and a lid within reach.

   Add in this stepClarified butter (ghee) 36 g

   medium-high heat

6. Lay down 1.5 tablespoons of batter at a time, away from you, and spread each one thin, 7–8 cm across and 4 mm thick. Turn down to medium heat and fry for 4 min per side, flipping when the edges are deep golden. Fry 8 pancakes in total, 3–4 at a time, adding more of the clarified butter before each batch and letting it heat up again.

   Add in this stepClarified butter (ghee) 24 g

   medium heat

7. Arrange the pancakes in a single layer on a rack set over a baking tray and bake in the oven at 200 °C for 4 min to drive off the last moisture. They are ready when they sound crisp when you tap them.

   oven

8. Overlap 2–3 pancakes on each plate, add a spoonful of horseradish cream, drape the smoked salmon on top in loose folds and scatter over the rest of the chives. The contrast between hot pancakes and cold topping is the point, so serve at once.

   Add in this stepCold-smoked salmon, sliced 120 gChives, finely snipped 1 tbsp