Meat and Potatoes - Pommes de Terre a la Boulangere

Do you ever have the hankerin' for the delectably meaty flavored potatoes that usually accompany a Yankee Pot Roast?  Yeah, I like 'em a lot.  I don't always have 4 lbs of roast lying around though.  Wait, I NEVER have a 4 lb roast lying around, because it would take me a 2 weeks to eat that much beef.  But I really love the potatoes that have been cooked with the roasted meat juices.   HEAVENLY!

Luckily, I have a solution... or rather, the French have a solution. (and no, they didn't steal the idea from the Italians either.  At least, I don't think they did)  ;)

Pommes de Terre a la Boulangere (bool-ahn-ZHAIR) or Potatoes from the Bakery

I like to think that it was inspired by the roast.  You see, "back in the day" people didn't have an oven in their house.  Even if you DID have an oven, something like a roast (cooked low and slow) simply used too much wood fuel to make at home.  That is, unless your home doubled as the town sauna.  So, the villagers turned to the town baker and his/her huge oven.  All the women of the village would prep their roasts by laying them on beds of potatoes and onions.  When the town baker was done baking his bread for the day, the roasts were placed in the large oven as it was cooling.  While the roast was hangin' out and soaking up the lowering heat of the baker's oven, the potatoes were busy soaking up all the luscious beef drippings.   Thus the basic concept of "Potatoes from the Bakery" was born.

So how do you make beefy roasty toasty potatoes without roasting a roast?  All you really need is some beef stock, caramelized onions and an oven. I think it's pretty safe to say that we all have ovens in our homes and no one is going to have to make a trip to the local bakery.  One other thing you are going to need is time.  It takes time to caramelize onions and it takes time to bake potatoes this way...  At least an hour, usually a little longer.  But I think it's well worth the effort.

Pomme de Terre a la Boulangere 

1 rasher (slice) of Bacon, julienne
2 TB Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, sliced thin (I prefer Sweet onions for this)
1 large Shallot, sliced
1 Star Anise
2 lbs White Potatoes, sliced thin (Cause the skins are tender and I prefer not to peel)
Thyme (or Herbs de Provence)
Black Pepper
Kosher Salt
1 1/2 cups Beef Stock
2 TB Butter for dotting

Heat Olive oil in a saute pan over medium flame, then add the bacon and saute until the fat renders out and the bacon is crisp.

Move the now crispy bacon to a paper towel to drain.

Place the saute pan back on the flame and add the Onion and Shallots.

Saute until tender, then reduce the flame to low and add the Star anise. (it makes the onions more meaty tasting)

Continue cooking the onions down until they are deep brown in color and almost jammy looking.
(this tends to take at least 15-20 minutes, so go ahead and eat the bacon bits to keep up your strength)
Remove the pan from the heat and remove the Star Anise.

Add several branches worth of Thyme Leaves and allow the onions to cool slightly while you.....

Butter a baking dish, set it aside and begin preheating the oven to 350 F (175 C) Degrees.

Slice the potatoes (or use a mandolin).

Set aside some of the "prettiest" slices for the top layer (about 8 oz of them)

Place 1/2 of the remaining potatoes in the baking dish and level them out. (you don't have to do any fancy overlapping yet)

Spread 1/2 of the caramelized onion/shallot mixture over the top.

Sprinkle with Kosher Salt and Black Pepper.

Scatter the other 1/2 of the potatoes over the top. (again, no fancy overlapping, yet)

Spread the potatoes with the remaining caramelized onions and more Kosher Salt and Black Pepper

NOW you get to do the fancy overlapping with the reserved potato slices.

Season with Kosher Salt and Black Pepper.

Then, since I don't think there is any such thing as "too much thyme" when it comes to potatoes, add some more thyme leaves.

Carefully pour the Beef stock over the potatoes.

You see the stock peeking out from underneath the potatoes around the edges.

Dot with Butter. (I love "dotting" things with butter)

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake an additional 30-45 minutes.

Until golden brown and delicious.

Crispy on top, soft and unctuous umami-ness underneath. 

Mangia!!
~~

A Passion For Potato Pancakes - Kartoffel Pfannkuchen

Even though I tend towards all things Italian, especially pasta dishes, every once in awhile my German roots begin to show. At these moments I find myself craving Sauerbraten, Spaetzle, Würstchen im Schlafrock, Hassenpfeffer and Black Forest Cake. But above all the aforementioned German delights, I crave Kartoffel Pfannkuchen.

There is just something about potato and onion all fried up nice and flat to really make your taste buds go into overdrive. It is quite a difficult thing to be the one who is frying them up and not start snitching bits of the edges while they are draining; in essence, burning your fingers, but hey, sometimes you gotta be bold and "Carpe Kartoffel". Cause in this family, if you aren't quick, you won't get one. Mom use to have to hide a few in the back of the refrigerator on the top shelf, so dad could have a couple for breakfast the next morning. LOL

What is are Kartoffel Pfannkuchen exactly? It is a shredded potato pancake, technically a Latke... except for the condition of the potatoes. At least for me. I tend to think of Latkes as being made with mashed potatoes, where as Kartoffel Pfannkuchen are always shredded fine, with onion. I know this is wrong, for Latkes are shredded as well as mashed, but it's how I keep the two straight in my head.

No matter WHAT you actually call them, they are absolutely delicious, even if a little bad for you due to the pan frying. But this is another one of my guilty pleasures, especially since I don't eat then that often. I suggest Peanut oil for frying, as you will be frying at about 380-400 degrees. Canola can't cut it and Soybean oil isn't much better. You might be able to get away with Corn oil, but I always have peanut on hand for deep frying.

This is a conversion from the original family recipe, which was kind of vague. 6 medium potatoes and a small onion. I hate measurements like that in recipes. I mean, I know what it means cause I grew up on these, but there is no way that what *I* think is a medium Potato is necessarily what *you* think is a medium potato. And while this works best with Russet Potatoes, if you choose to use Red potatoes, well, a "medium" Russet is bigger than a "medium" Red Potato, so I decided to convert it into weights both "Standard" and Metric. Thus all the chicken scratch from weighing and re-weighing to find an average... LOL

Kartoffel Pfannkuchen

45 oz (1.25 kg) Russet or Red Potatoes, shredded
3/4 cup (3.6 oz) (105 g) AP Flour
3 large Eggs
1 tsp Kosher Salt
5.6 oz (160 g) White Onion, shredded
Peanut Oil for Frying

First you must peel the potatoes. (for while potato skins are tasty, they will burn really easy)

Then prepare a bowl of cold water.

Shred the potatoes into the cold water. (this will remove a small amount of potato starch, since you will be adding flour AND it will prevent the potatoes from browning)

In a separate bowl, whisk the Flour, Eggs and Salt together to fo0rm a "batter".

Stir in grated Onion.

Drain and squeeze most of the moisture from the shredded potatoes and place in a large bowl.

Pour the Flour/Egg/Onion mixture over and toss everything to coat.

Cover with plastic wrap on the surface and let sit for 20 minutes.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12 inch skillet set over medium-high flame. Once it's hot, scoop about 2 TB worth of the "batter" and drop into the skillet.

Working as quickly as possible, use the back of the spoon to spread the "batter" so that it is lacy.

Fry until the edges become medium brown before flipping them over and frying the other side. (about 2 minutes per side)

Drain on paper towels before sprinkling with a little salt and pepper.

And serve with a little dollop of sour cream if desired. (Though I more often just eat them plain)

Mangia!!
~~

A Little Creole Soul - Penne alla Nawlens

It all started when I decided to cook dinner for my youngest brother and his family, minus my niece who was at the beach with my parents. I was toying with the Macaroni alla Nawlens, that I made some time ago. When I mentioned Andouille floating in a sea of cheese and pasta, the idea was met with zeal. So it was decided... Penne alla Nawlens it was. This is when the problem started.

As I mentioned, I already made this recipe, or at least something along the same venue, a while back (Macaroni alla Nawlens), but I figured, in light of my recent successes without using béchamel as a base, that it was time to re-vamp the recipe a little.

When I started looking at the recipe it became glaringly apparent that I was off my "game". If memory serves me correctly, though I was attempting to recreate a recipe I had eaten at the New Orleans Cafe in old Town San Diego, I was in a hurry, I was hungry, and I was simply cleaning out the refrigerator of so many small pieces of cheese. Which would be fine, except for the fact that I blogged about it. I probably shouldn't have, as I had not entered into the project with any sort of definitive plan. (even an experiment needs a plan) I was simply making it up as I went along. And while it was tasty, I think it could be much better....

So I post this again, but THIS time, it is with a serious endeavor to create a Macaroni and Cheese dish that actually reflects the flavors of Cajun/Creole cuisine.

First, as I mentioned, the béchamel HAD to go. This is based on Heavy Cream, Butter, Crème Fraîche and Cheese (lots of Cheese). Secondly, I had to attempt atoning for my mistake; when I originally threw this together I committed a cardinal sin that shall haunt me to the end of my days (cause I knew better). I completely left out the "Holy Trinity". I have no idea what I was thinking, but the combination of Onion, Celery and Bell Pepper is quintessential to ANY Creole/Cajun dish. Sure, I had thrown in some onion, but that is a pale shadow of what is possible. Lastly, the cheese had to be addressed. So I sat and contemplated. I finally went with 1 firm cheese (Gruyere), 1 semi-firm cheese (Emmental), and 1 smooth melting cheese (Danish Fontina). A lot simpler, but more flavorful, than the train wreck of cheeses I used before. The funniest part is, that I actually used less cheese this time, but without the béchamel, it had SO much more cheese flavor. Awesome!

After all, if I am gonna cook for family, I SHOULD be putting my heart and soul into what I am doing. They're worth it. So without further nonsense babbling.... I present Macaroni alla Nawlens, the way I should have made it the first time. And I must admit, I was not disappointed at all, it was SO much better this time.

Penne y Formaggio alla Nawlens

24 oz Andouille Sausage
1/2 Bell Pepper, chopped (I used left over peppers from some other dishes, thus the rainbow)
1/2 medium White Onion, chopped
1 rib Celery, chopped
1 Cup Heavy Cream
4 oz Butter
6 oz Emmental
8 oz Fontina (Danish red wax type)
8 oz Gruyere
8 oz Crème Fraîche
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 lb Penne (Elbows or Cavitappi will work too)
2 oz Panko

Slice up the andouille. (I use Aidelle's cause that was all I could find)

Set a large pot of water over high heat so it can come to a boil while you are grating all the cheeses so your ready.

Once you have grated all the cheese, grab a handful from the pile and set it aside for later.

Place Heavy Cream and Butter in a small sauce pan, melting it over low heat.

Place 1 TB Olive oil in a saute pan set over medium flame.

Add the andouille (in batches if necessary) and saute until lightly browned, but more importantly, until you have some of the fat rendered into the pan. (you're gonna need that for the next step)

When you have fried all the andouille, set it aside.

Add the "Holy Trinity" to the hot andouille fat, and saute until soft.

You should be able to drop your pasta now, boil for 1/2 the time called for on the package.

Begin preheating the oven to 325 degrees.

Once the Butter and Cream are melted and homogeneous, add a handful of the cheese mixture and whisk until melted and smooth before adding another handful.

Add all but 1 handful of the shredded cheese.

When all the cheese (except for the handful you set aside) has been added and is melted, add the Crème Fraîche and whisk again. (it will look a little runny)

Whisk in the Cayenne Pepper (add more if you have a higher heat threshold)

Drain the penne (don't forget to give it a really good shake to get the water out of the tubes) then pour the pasta back into the pot you boiled it in.

Add the Fried andouille and the Holy trinity.

Pour the hot cheese sauce over the top.

Then toss everything to coat it really well.

Add the reserved handful of cheese and stir it in.

Immediately pour the mixture into an 9 x 13 casserole dish. (Hooray for old CorningWare!)

Sprinkle with Panko.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until is begins to bubble.

Switch on the broiler on and place under the element for 3 minutes to finish of the top crust.

Then indulge in spicy cheese happiness.

(My nephew sure did)

Now if I only had some Crayfish.

Hoooo wee!!
~~