Consumed with Corningware

In case you have not noticed, I have been a little MIA as of late.   There has been cooking and baking going on, but there has also been an extreme lack of time for writing and picture modifying and such. 

What it really boils down to, is that I have finally found the limit as to what I am capable of pumping out blog-wise.  Having 2 blogs makes things a little rough, for when one is being nourished with tasty recipes, the other one is starving.   At this point, it has been Culinary Alchemy that is suffering in lieu of Corningware411 posts on patterns, pieces and food. 

Not to mention my first ever Vintage Corningware Giveaway (that was a fun experience).

So if you are not following Culinary Alchemist on Facebook, to which all Corningware411 posts are also funneled, here are some of the things I have been Cookin' Up, Old School.

Roasted Chicken

Bulgar Pilaf with Mushrooms

Stuffed Trout on Leek and Fennel

Chilled Watercress Soup

Tartiflette

As you can see, there has been definite cooking happening, just not enough time to post on both sites. 

Because Corningware411 is still a fledgling blog and over 50% of the posts are regarding patterns produced by Corning Consumer Products Division over the years, I feel that it needs to be fed more diligently at the moment than Culinary Alchemy, which encompasses a substantial body of work already. 

Because of this, I am going to put Culinary Alchemy on hiatus for the next couple of months... I will be back in full swing by November, when the Holidays begin.  This is not to say that I will not be posting at all over the next couple of months, but they will be infrequent at best.  I will be occasionally posting links to Corningware411 recipes, but be forewarned, they will be extremely Vintage Corningware-centric.  LOL

I would like to thank all the readers out there for your support and interest in Culinary Alchemy.  I would also like to thank you for your patients while I try to  figure out how to divide my time more effectively between the two blogs.

Mangia!!
~~

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!!
~~

Taste of Purple - Baby Potatoes with Lavender

Potatoes.

Is there any better blank canvas for interesting flavors?   I think not.

Sometimes I like to push the envelope with my taters. I know...  Shocking, huh?  Just like my Sesame-Cinnamon teeny tiny potatoes, lavender adds a somewhat unconventional flavor to your next spud-fest .  So if your feeling a little avant garde, then by all means, give this a try.  You will be surprised.  They are quite delicious.  Well, that is, unless you don't like Lavender. :)

Lavender Baby Potatoes 

2 lb Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes
4 TB Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
4 TB Unsalted Butter
4 tsp culinary Lavender
optional - 1/4 tsp Lemon Zest

Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.
Slice any larger Potatoes in half so you are working with more uniform sized tubers.

Toss the Potatoes into a bowl and drizzle with Olive Oil.

Season with Kosher Salt and Cracked Black Pepper and toss to coat.

Move the Potatoes to a foil lined baking sheet.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, turning once to ensure even browning.
While the Potatoes are roasting, melt Butter in a sauce pan.

When warm, add the Lavender and continue cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute. (If using lemon zest, add it now as well)

Remove from the heat and let set until the Potatoes are done.

Once the Potatoes are well roasted, move them to a bowl.

Drizzle the Lavender Butter over the Potatoes and toss again...

and serve.

Mangia!!
~~

Dining in Dauphiné Style - Gratin de Pommes de Terre à la Dauphinoise

It has been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since I have made a good Potato au Gratin. As a matter of fact, aside from the Fennel Gratinata I made several weeks ago, I have not Gratinéed anything in almost two years. So it has been a long time in coming.

Part of the reason I don't make au Gratin dishes very often is that, though they are delicious, they are almost always terribly high in excess fat calories. Much more so than the dishes I normally cook. Granted, there is nothing more luxurious than victuals smothered in Heavy Cream and topped off with cultured butter and/or cheese, but I have been trying to respect my arteries a little more in the last few years. ;)

That, of course, does not mean that I cannot indulge my longings for such a decadent dish as a treat for good behavior, right? So this evening was a foray into the enticing world of Gratin de Pommes de Terre à la Dauphinoise. What's that you ask? A simple yet elegant gratiné of potatoes in Heavy Cream, Nutmeg, Garlic and White Pepper. Nope, NO Cheese... Not even Gruyere.

There seems to be a nomenclature issue in the United States, "au Gratin" simply means "Top Crust" which can be achieved by anything from Heavy Cream to Bread Crumbs or Cheese. Somehow, in the U.S., au Gratin has come to mean "Baked with Cheese on top" . Trust me, you can make a heavenly yet sinful Gratiné without any cheese whatsoever.

Come... Let me bring you over to the dark side... Muah ha ha ha!

Pommes de Terre au Gratin Dauphinois

1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
2 lbs Russet Potatoes (although I have heard that Yukon's work well also)
3 TB European Butter; Divided (Yeah, your gonna want the GOOD stuff for this one)
2 Cloves of Garlic; divided
Kosher Salt or Fleur de Sel
White Pepper; finely ground
Freshly grated Nutmeg
optional - an additional 1/2 cup Heavy Cream (this will depend on your dish size)

First, you need to place 1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream in a Large bowl.

Peel (DO NOT rinse) and slice the Potatoes into 1/8 inch slices (this is important for them to cook properly, and you are better off doing it by hand because most mandolins and food processors cut to either 1/16th or 1/4 inch thickness)

As you finish with each potato, toss the slices into the bowl of Heavy Cream and toss to coat. (this will prevent them from browning and allow the starch from the cut sides to move into the cream)

When you are finished slicing the potatoes, begin preheating the oven to 325 degrees and grab an au Gratin pan or a baking dish (make sure that it is deep enough, you only want the potato layers to reach the 3/4 mark, this leaves room for the cream to bubble a little without making a mess)

Cut 1 of the cloves of garlic in 1/2 and rub the inside of the pan.

Rub the pan down with 1 TB of the Cultures Butter.

Mince the remaining 1 1/2 cloves and sprinkle into the bottom of the pan.

Toss the Potato slices 1 more time to ensure they are well coated before layering.

Begin layering in a circle around the edge of the pan, slightly overlapping the previous potato slice. Once the outer ring is complete, simply fill in the middle with more overlapped slices.

Sprinkle the layer with Kosher Salt, White Pepper and freshly grated Nutmeg.

Repeat the last 2 steps, two more times, but layer the potato slices in the opposite direction giving you 3 layers of potatoes. (No more than 3 layers or it will take them way too long to cook)

Carefully pour the starchy cream from the bowl over the potatoes.

The level may not be quite high enough to just barely cover the potatoes, so you may have to add another 1/2 cup of heavy cream (I usually have to)

Dot the top layer with 2 TB Cultured Butter.

Bake for at least 1 hour, then check to see if the potatoes are tender, using a knife; If not bake for an additional 15-30 minutes (Low and slow is the key to keeping the resulting cream sauce from separating)

Serve with ....

Well, I guess it really doesn't matter what you serve them with, cause they are just plain awesome with everything!

Mangia!!
~~