Pommes Anna Recipes

POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• Heat large knob of butter with a healthy drizzle of olive oil over medium low heat until butter melts and just starts to foam. Shut off heat under pan.
• Using a sharp and stable Japanese mandolin - or the real French metal one if you're lucky enough to have one - slice the potatoes into very thin but not paper-thin slices.
• Arrange the slices tightly, careful shingling around the pan in concentric circles starting at the outer edge of the pan and working your way into the center. Season the first layer with a little salt. Repeat with each potato until you achieve three tight and gorgeous layers.
• Turn the heat back on under the pan at medium. Drizzle the potatoes with a generous pour of olive oil and dot a few more pats of butter around the pan of potatoes. Season with salt. As the pan starts to sizzle, you will see the fat bubbling up and spitting a bit. Put a lid on the pan and seal tightly for a minute or two, giving the potatoes a little steam bath, helping to soften and cook the flesh. Remove the lid and swirl the pan with a little muscle to see if the potatoes are binding together as their starch begins to heat up. If they slip loosely all around the pan, tuck the slices back into the tight circle using a heat-proof rubber spatula and allow to sizzle and cook longer uncovered. Bump up the flame a little if the cooking sounds and looks listless - you want to hear sizzle. When you start to smell the potatoes turning golden and crisp - like the smell of toast - swirl the pan again to confirm that the potato layers have formed a cake, and then flip the pommes Anna and cook on the other side also until golden and crispy. Slide onto serving plate or cutting board, season with salt, and cut into wedges.

POMMES ANNA WITH GRUYERE

Steps:

• Combine salt, pepper, and thyme in a bowl.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onions until soft and golden brown, about 8 minutes. Move to a bowl.
• Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet; remove from heat.
• Arrange 1/3 of potato slices in the skillet in a slightly overlapping layer. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt mixture. Top with 1/2 of the onions and 1/2 of the Gruyere cheese. Repeat layers, ending with potatoes; sprinkle with remaining salt mixture.
• Cover and cook over medium-low heat, reducing heat to low if necessary, until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking, about 5 minutes. Run a spatula around edges to loosen; let cool, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Invert potatoes carefully onto a serving dish.

POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• Slice potatoes in 1/8-inch thick rounds and soak in ice water for at least 30 minutes. Drain slices and pat dry with paper towels.
• Combine butter and garlic.
• In a deep 10-inch greased pie plate or casserole, arrange 1/3 of the potato slices in slightly overlapping fashion, beginning with the outside edges and continuing the circle design to center of dish.
• Layer 1/3 of onion slices, broken into rings, on top of the potatoes, then 1/3 of butter mixture, salt, pepper, paprika and cheese. Repeat this process 2 more times, ending with cheese on top.
• Bake, covered at 400 degrees for 1 hour. If cheese is not brown on top, place under broiler for 4-5 minutes. Cut in wedges to serve.

POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
• Peel and thinly slice the potatoes using a food processor or mandolin slicer.
• Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch glass pie plate or skillet with butter. Arrange the potatoes to cover the bottom of the dish, overlapping the slices. Brush the layer with butter and season lightly. Continue layering the potato slices, brush each layer and seasoning lightly until all the potatoes have been used. Place a piece of parchment over the dish and weight it with a heavy lid or pan.
• Bake the Pommes Anna for 20 minutes, then remove the weight and parchment and continue to bake until the potatoes are a rich golden brown and the potatoes yield when piece with a knife, about 50 minutes total. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a platter or cutting board to serve, cut into wedges.
• Pommes Anna can be prepared up to a day in advance and reheated in a 325ºF oven.

POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• Brush the bottom of a 9-inch heavy oven-proof non-stick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Peel 1 potato, slice it thin, using a food processor fitted with the slicing blade, or a mandoline or similar slicing device, and pat the slices dry quickly. Arrange the slices, overlapping them slightly, in layers in the skillet, brushing each layer with some of the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and seasoning it with salt and pepper. Peel, slice, pat dry, and arrange the remaining potatoes, 1 at a time, in the same manner.
• Cover the layered potatoes with foil, weight them with an ovenproof saucepan, and cook them over moderate heat for 5 minutes from the time the butter sizzles. Transfer the skillet with the pan weight to the middle of a preheated 425°F. oven and bake the potatoes for 30 minutes. Remove the weight and the foil and bake the potatoes, for 10 minutes more, or until they are tender. The potatoes may be made 2 hours in advance and kept, covered loosely, at room temperature. Reheat the potatoes, covered with the foil, in a preheated 375°F. oven for 15 minutes.

POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• Peel the potatoes and, using a food processor fitted with the slicing blade or a mandoline, slice them very thin, transferring them as they are sliced to a large bowl of cold water. Drain the slices and pat them dry between paper towels. Generously brush the bottom and side of a 9-inch heavy ovenproof skillet, preferably non-stick, with some of the butter and in the skillet arrange the slices, overlapping them slightly, in layers, brushing each layer with some of the remaining butter and seasoning it with salt and pepper. Cover the layered potato slices with a buttered round foil, tamp down the assembled potato cake firmly, and bake it in the middle of a preheated 425°F. oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake the potato cake for 25 to 30 minutes more, or until the slices are tender and golden. Invert the potato cake onto a cutting board and cut it into 8 wedges.