day sixteen - stacked potato rosti layered with smoked salmon and sour cream and chives

Layered potato rosti with smoked salmon and sour cream and chives

Recipe from here

 I must say, I throughly enjoyed preparing and eating this dish. I loved the crunchy texture of the rostis paired with the herbs and smoked salmon. Very simple dish to make but also a very presentable one.

Ingredients - Rosti

• 4 medium sized pontiac potatoes (or ask you green grocer for any comparable alternative such as desiree) (I used one small desiree potato)
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme (I only had dried)
• Sea salt
• Cracked black pepper
• Vegetable oil
• 7.5 cm (3 inch) egg or pastry ring  

Ingredients - The Rest 

• 1 small bunch watercress (I topped mine with parsley which is all we have fresh in the garden)
• 20 slices smoked salmon
• 200 grams (7 oz) crème fraiche (if crème fraiche unavailable, sour cream can be used - I used sour cream)
• 1 small bunch of fresh dill (Didn't have fresh dill - used chives instead)
• A few tablespoons fresh pouring cream (in U.S. whipping cream)

Preparing rostis 

• Shred the potatoes and onions on medium cutting side of manual grater
• Mix the onion and potato in a large mixing bowl.
• Transfer to a strainer and press out as much liquid as possible.
• Transfer half the mix to the centre of a clean tea towel and shape into an oblong shape along the centre
• Fold the tea towel around the mix and wring it out over the sink as hard as you can, (the aim is to remove as much of the water in the potato and onion mix as possible, doing this will help make the finished product crispy).
• Add the egg, chopped thyme, and a couple pinches of salt and some cracked pepper.
• Mix well until combined.

Preparing the crème fraiche 

• Chop a couple tablespoons of the dill and fold through the crème fraiche.
• Add a little salt and pepper and split the recipe in two.
• Fold some pouring cream through one of the mixes to make it slightly runny.
• Place both the mixes in the fridge.

Cooking rostis

• Place a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat.
• Add a few tablespoons of olive oil.
• Place the ring in the frying pan and add ½ tbsp of the potato mix.
• Using the back of a soup spoon press the mixture flat and to the edges of the ring, it should be very thin.
• Remove the ring and repeat process in another area of the pan.
• Once the sides start to brown, turn rostis over and cook until that side is browned too.
• Remove the rosti from the pan and drain of excess oil.
• Transfer the rostis to absorbent kitchen paper for a few minutes.
• Taste the first few for seasoning and adjust as required.
• Once you have mastered the cooking process and you are happy with the seasoning, repeat the above process until you have as many as you need.
• Once drained of all oil, place the rostis on a drying rack set on a flat oven proof tray.
• Five minutes before you ready to assemble and serve place the rack with the rostis into a 180 degree (350 fahrenheit) preheated oven.

Assembling the dish 

• Cut off any brown unsightly parts of the salmon.
• Cut the salmon into pieces that will fit well onto the rosti without overwhelming it.
• Pick off 18-20 sprigs of watercress, rinse and dry them.
• Place a small dollop of the thicker crème fraiche mix onto the centre of each plate.
• Use this to glue the first rosti to the plate.
• Place a little more of the thick crème fraiche on the rosti; glue a piece of salmon to that,
• Add a sprig of watercress to that.
• Put a little of the thick crème fraiche on the bottom and top of another rosti, put that on top of the first layer and repeat the process with another piece of salmon etc.
• Once the building of each stack is finished drizzle a little of the runnier crème fraiche around the stack.

 Voila!