One Local Summer Week #2

I returned to some of the same sources I used last week to make this week's meal. I used

4 Allen Farm lamb shanks

some onions from Tiasquam Brook Farm

and some rosemary from the garden to braise the lamb shanks in 2 cups of broth at 300 for almost 3 hours.

Then I decided I wanted to make Ruth Reichl's Hashed Brown Potatoes. This is taken form her book Garlic and Sapphires.

Here is a quick version of her recipe

8 small new potatoes (Tiasquam Brook Farm)
6 (yes six) Tbs butter (Cabot from Vermont)
1/2 small onion (I used a shallot from my garden and chopped fresh garlic also from garden)
salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes and cool. Peel potatoes and cut into one inch dice. Melt 4 Tbs of butter over medium heat in a well seasoned cast iron skillet. Add potatoes and mash them down into the pan with a spatula. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 6 minutes until a good crust as formed on the bottom. Keep pressing with that spatula forming them into a flat cake. and run around the edges to keep from sticking
.
Scatter the diced onions over the top and grind some salt and pepper over the whoe thing. Remove from heat and cover with a large plate. Leave for 2 minutes allowing the potatoes to steam. Here's the tricky part. Using oven mitts, hold the skillet and plate together and invert so that the potatoes fall onion side down onto the plate.

sliding the potato cake back into the skillet

Put the skillet back over medium heat, add the remaining butter and carefully slide the potato cake back into the skillet trying not to break it. Add more salt and pepper and turn the heat up to medium high and brown the potatoes for another 5 minutes until a crust forms.

You can choose to slide it out of the pan onto a serving plate, or simply serve right out of the skillet as I did.

This is dish worthy of practice. My first batch was a mess. But I am getting more skilled each time I try it.

The house smelled heavenly all afternoon in the rain as the lamb shanks braised in the slow oven. I finished the plate with my first cropped of snap peas from the garden.