He became man and lived in this world. He ate and drank, and this means that the world of which he partook, the very food of our world became His body, His life. But His life was totally, absolutely eucharistic—all of it was transformed into communion with God and all of it ascended into heaven. And now He shares this glorified life with us. “What I have done alone—I give it now to you: take, eat.…”

~

Alexander Schmemann

If one intends to raise chickens, it’s a great thing to love eggs!  This spring our family acquired eight hens and as of now, we harvest six eggs a day, on average.  That’s 42 eggs a week.  So we are now gladly sourcing recipes with eggs!

This potato gallette is a really easy weeknight meal.  It’s savory with a hint of herbs from the garden.  Our egg yolks are so absolutely vibrantly orange (like the old fashioned red orange crayola color) it’s abundantly clear they are packed with choline, folate, vitamin A, vitamin E, tons of beta-carotene and plenty of omega-3 fats from the flax we feed them and the free range forage they enjoy.  If your interested in how the life and diet of a hen reflect in the nutrient content of her eggs, check out these results from Mother Earth News.

Now onto the potato galette!  I strongly recommend using a well seasoned cast iron pan if you have one.  I find them non-stick far better than others, and the heat is so nice and even that it really crisps up the galette.

Before we begin, a note on the potatoes.  If you are using fresh potatoes, that have not hint of green on them (like right under the peel) then do not peel the potatoes… lots of good nutrition there.  If however, your potatoes where not stored well and they have that green you can either peel the parts with the green or peel the entire potato.  My grandmother, who grew up in Germany during a time of root cellars, world wars and no refrigeration always told me that the green on the potatoes is poisonous.   You can read more about it here in this short article in the New York times.  Storing potatoes properly is very important.  They will begin to sprout depending on light and temperature.  GrowAGoodLife has a great article on potato storage.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil – enough to coat the potatoes and cover the bottom of the cast iron pan
• 1-2 pounds potatoes, new or yukon gold
• 2 teaspoons celtic sea salt or other natural salt
• 1-1/2 cups onions : I prefer vidalia or some other sweet onion, but your basic yellow onion is just absolutely fine
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, thyme or basil or some combination of fresh herbs
• 5 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 6 large pastured eggs or 8 small pastured eggs (we have all sizes here!)
• fresh ground black pepper

Preparation

Using a mandolin, slice potatoes about 1/8 of an inch.  Place in a very large bowl, sprinkle with salt, pepper and about three tablespoons of olive oil.  This coats them so they will not stick on pan.

Drizzle olive oil to cover the bottom of  a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Place potatoes in pan and cook them in batches.  You should not hear a searing sizzle, we are just par-cooking them.  They should not be turning color, and should not be soft so that they break when you remove them.  After each batch place potatoes in another large bowl.

While these are cooking, you want to crack your eggs and beat them in a small bowl.  Add herbs and a little more salt.

Once all potatoes are done, add the onions and garlic to the pan.  Saute till softened and fragrant, but not browned.  Rinse the skillet.  Add egg mixture to potatoes and toss well to coat.

Coat bottom of skillet with oil again and place over medium high heat.  Add in potato mixture.  Do NOT stir or move the mixture.

Let it cook for about ten to fifteen minutes.  The sides will start to pull away from the pan.  Again we are not going for a high heat because we want them to cook evenly and thoroughly – as well as get a nice brown on the potatoes.

Okay, now for the fancy flip.

After about ten minutes you can start to tease the side of the galette away from the pan, if it is not starting to do so.    At this point you will want to get a plate so you can flip the galette.  The plate needs to be bigger than your pan.

Take the skillet off of the burner. Carefully, place the plate a top of the skillet.  With your hand on top of the plate turn the skillet upside down so that the potato galette falls out of the skillet and onto the plate.  Now you can slide the galette back into the skillet to brown on the other side.

Let this cook another five to ten minutes until browned.   Remove from skillet and place on serving dish.  Garnish with more fresh herbs if desired.

Serve and enjoy.  This makes a great leftover meal as the flavors continue to melt together as time goes on!