ONE CLASSY LATKE from page G4

Franklin Road between 13 & 14 Mile

32751 Franklin Road, Franklin, Ml 48025 248.855.5230 Tues.- Sat.10-5

interest and texture to the resulting
pancake. Using a mandoline — a
chopping device sold in specialty
food stores and cooking cstalogs —
will make the julienne job go like
clockwork. But if you don't have
one, a sharp knife will do the trick,
too, Mishkin says.

AIM HIGH

The frying-up part is simple. If
you've ever made buttermilk pan-
cakes on a Sunday morning, you can
handle it. "Go for golden-brown,
and don't skimp on the butter while
you're at it," says Mishkin.
Otherwise the cakes won't crisp
properly, and there is nothing sadder
or more disappointing than a limp
latke.
Once the griddle cakes are out of
the pan, the real action begins.
Mishkin stacks his up sandwich-
style, alternating between layers of
sumptuous fixings. His arsenal:
smoked salmon (he prefers Scottish);
house-made horseradish-dill creme
fraiche; baby arugula; and finely
diced cucumber, red pepper, red
onion and capers as a garnish. The
final outcome is a sandwich fit for
kings and queens, as elegant as the
foie-gras burger at Manhattan's db.
"The quality of the smoked

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11/22

2002

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32751 Franklin Road • Across from Franklin Grill • (248) 626 1139

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u p er level

salmon is the most important thing
in the dish," Mishkin notes. So how
do you know good salmon when you
see it? "It requires tasting," he says,
"but generally, a good indication is
price. And I don't recommend previ-
ously frozen smoked salmon. My
experience is that when you thaw it
out, it becomes mushy."
Stacking is an old chef's trick that
you can easily copy at home. In this
case, a single potato-leek pancake is
topped with a dollop of the creme-
fraiche mixture, a few leaves of
arugula and a layer of smoked
salmon, then the process is repeated
over again, with the garnishes com-
prising the finishing touch, as gar-
nishes tend to do. In contrast to the
typical flat, two-dimensional
approach, says Mishkin, "stacking is
a little more elegant. When you cut
into it, you get all the different fla-
vors and elements in the same bite."
And those flavors are really some-
thing. The smoky richness of the
salmon plays off the peppery bright-
ness of the baby arugula and the
sharp warmth of the horseradish
sauce. Then there's the inviting con-
trast between textures, of crunchy
pancakes versus luxuriously silky
smoked salmon. The two, says
Mishkin, "are things you often find
at the same meal, but not always put