Pommesduchesse Recipes

POMMES DAUPHINE

Steps:

• Combine the potatoes and coarse sea salt in a large saucepan, and add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender all the way through when tested with a knife. Drain and let stand until just cool enough to handle. Peel the potatoes and pass them through a food mill; this will yield about 2 cups of potatoes.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a medium baking dish with parchment paper. Spread the potatoes in the dish and bake for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through, to evaporate some of their moisture.
• Prepare the pâte-à-choux: combine the butter, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Return to low heat and stir for 1 minute, until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Stir for 3 more minutes to evaporate some of the moisture.
• Transfer to a medium mixing bowl and let cool for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat 1 egg lightly with a fork. Set aside. Add the second egg to the potato mixture and stir with a spatula until well blended. Stir in the beaten egg, tablespoon by tablespoon, just enough to make the pâte-à-choux smooth, shiny and elastic; the entire egg may not be needed.
• Add the potatoes to the pâte-à-choux, season with pepper and beat with a spatula to combine. (To store for up to 8 hours, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface, cover and refrigerate.)
• Heat 4 inches of oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan until a candy thermometer registers 320 to 340 degrees. Line a medium baking dish with a double layer of paper towels. The first pomme dauphine will be a test of the seasoning and the oil temperature. Using 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture, shape a 1-inch ball and drop it into the oil. It should fall to the bottom and bob up after a few seconds. (If it doesn't, the oil isn't hot enough.)
• Fry until puffy, golden and crisp, about 3 minutes, flipping it from time to time with a mesh skimmer. Remove from the oil with the skimmer, transfer to the prepared dish and season with a pinch of salt. Shake the dish lightly so the paper towels absorb excess oil. Let cool for a minute, taste and adjust the seasoning of the potato mixture accordingly.
• Repeat with the remaining potato mixture, frying the pommes in batches of 3 or 4 and stirring them gently with a skimmer so they will not stick to each other. Keep warm in a 300-degree oven until all the batter is used. Serve immediately.

POMMES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Working 1 potato at a time, slice the potatoes very thin on a mandoline. (Work quickly to prevent discoloring, and don't put the potatoes in water, as this will wash off the starch.) Coat an 8-inch nonstick saute pan with olive oil, then layer the potato slices, starting in the center of the pan and making concentric circles. (Remember that eventually the bottom will become the top, so it is important for the first circles of potato to look pretty.) Brush each potato layer with olive oil, and sprinkle every second or third layer liberally with grated Parmigiano and salt. After each layer, press the potatoes so they are very compact.
• Place the pan over medium heat, and cook until the olive oil begins to sizzle and the potatoes begin to brown on the bottom. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake about 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Carefully and completely drain the excess oil out of the side of the pan (drips may cause burns). Flip the pan so the potato cake is turned out onto the bottom of the lid, then slide the potato cake off the lid and back into the pan (so the brown side is now facing up and the top becomes the bottom).
• Return the cake to the oven and bake until fork-tender, another 10 to 15 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

POMMES DUCHESSE

Steps:

• Peel the potatoes and boil them in slightly salted water until soft. Then drain and press them.
• Mix in the egg,salt and the butter.
• Fill into a plastic storage bag wtih one corner cut off (or use a fancy pastry bag) and pipe onto a lined greased baking tray. Make any shape you want. I usually make 'S' shapes or circles.
• Mix egg yolk and milk and brush onto your potatoes.
• Bake at 450° oven for 10-12 minutes.

DUCHESS POTATOES

Steps:

• Cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water for 15 mins until really tender when pressed into the side of the pan. Drain well and leave to steam-dry in the pan for 2 mins. Mash the potatoes until very smooth - use a ricer if you have one, or use a masher, then press the potatoes through a metal sieve to ensure they're completely lump-free.
• Mix the egg yolk, butter and cheese in a large bowl, then add the mash, nutmeg and some seasoning. Mix well with a spatula until the butter has melted and is well incorporated. It will come away from the sides of the bowl, similar to choux pastry.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Spoon the mash into a piping bag with a wide star nozzle. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and brush over a little vegetable oil. Pipe 20 walnut-sized peaked mounds onto the prepared tray, as if you were icing a cupcake. Beat the egg white with a pinch of salt and brush the potato mounds gently, to keep the fluting.
• Bake the potatoes for 15-20 mins until golden-brown and crisp.

POMMES DUCHESSE GRATIN

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Prick each potato a few times, then bake in a shallow baking pan until tender, about 1 hour.
• When potatoes are just cool enough to handle, halve and scoop out flesh. Force flesh through ricer or food mill into a bowl.
• Heat cream with butter and garlic in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat until hot, then stir into potatoes. Beat in eggs 1 at a time with a fork until blended, then stir in salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Spoon mixture into a buttered 2-quart (10-inch) round or oval shallow gratin or casserole dish. Bake until top is puffed and golden, 30 to 40 minutes.

POMMES DUCHESSE

Steps:

• In a large pot, combine the potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt and enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer until fork tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and then press through a ricer or food mill back into the pot they were cooked in. Place over low heat for a few minutes to dry the potatoes.
• Heat the cream and 1/2 stick of the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat until the butter melts and the cream is warm but not hot. Stir the mixture into the potatoes. Mix in the egg yolks and season with salt and pepper. Add cheese and nutmeg if desired.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a medium baking dish with butter.
• Melt the remaining 1/2 stick butter in a small pot over low heat.
• Fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip with the mashed potatoes. Into the prepared baking dish, pipe the potatoes in a circular motion, about 3 inches in diameter, starting from the outside and filling in a circle. Finish by piping upwards for a nice swirl on top. Repeat to fill the entire baking dish. Brush each circle with the melted butter. Bake in the oven until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.