Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

I received a new cookbook over the Labor Day weekend from family members.  They know my love for French cooking.  I knew immediately what recipe I would try first.  One of the foods that the French do so well is the potato.  From pommes frites to  Gratin Dauphinois, the humble potato is showcased at its best.

I made a variation of Potatoes a la Boulangere.  At one time, it was the practice in France to leave a roast with the town boulangere (baker) on Sundays.  He would roast the meat in his bread oven while the town’s people were at church.  Each family would pick up their roast after services.  It was traditional to place large pans of potatoes under the meats to catch the drippings and pick up the flavors of the roasts.

The variation, Potatoes Savoyarde, comes from the Savoy, high in the French Alps.  The addition of ham or bacon and Gruyere or Emmentaler cheese makes the dish hearty enough to be a main course.

The book French Classics Made Easy by Richard Grausman is one of those cookbooks that you will use over and over again.  Traditional dishes like Beef Burgundy and Cassoulet are made easy while still retaining the well loved flavors.  I absolutely loved the potatoes savoyarde.  They were easy to make and full of flavor.  Unfortunately I dined alone so I halved the recipe.  David is on his motorcycle on his way to Vermont.  I will be joining him in a few days.  Update:  I am now in beautiful Vermont and am looking forward to sharing some scenic images with you soon.

I enjoyed my potatoes with leftover grilled chicken and snow peas.  Thanks Dave and Darla for a thoughtful gift.

POTATOES SAVOYARDE

1 tablespoon butter
2 onions, chopped
4 pounds large Yukon Gold potatoes (about 8), peeled and cut into 1/8-inch slices
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups chicken or beef stock
3 ounces diced ham or cooked bacon
2/3 cup grated Gruyere or Emmentaler cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and saute until lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

Layer the potatoes and onions in an ovenproof casserole or baking dish and season with salt and pepper.  Mix in the cooked bacon.

In a saucepan, brig the stock to a boil and pour it over the potatoes.  Top with grated cheese.  Bake the casserole in the oven until the potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes.  Adjust the oven temperature if necessary so that the stock boils gently.

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Julia Child would have been 100 years old this month.  In honor of the woman who made a nation “be brave in the kitchen”, I could not resist becoming a part of PBS’s tribute to her.  #CookForJulia  has asked us to cook one of her recipes for the celebration.  I have made so many of her recipes from my collection of her cookbooks; everything from souffles to her signature boeuf bourguignon.   So this time I decided to try something I had never made before.

The Way to Cook was published in 1989, long after the success of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  It was a cookbook that saw a lot of use in my kitchen.  The concept was simple.  Learn to cook a master recipe and then you can easily tackle any of its variations.  The potato section is a treasure trove of Julia’s favorite methods of cooking them.

The grated potato galettes have an interesting background.  Julia first had them at La Tulipe in New York City.  She loved their crisp texture.  When she asked how they were made, the restaurant’s sous- chef obliged with the details.  The sous-chef was Sara Moulton.  Two great cooks can’t be wrong.

The key to these crispy, buttery potatoes is to steam them just until they are almost done.  Under cooking the potatoes will allow the potato pieces to stick together without additional ingredients.   Then you must refrigerate them until they are cold.  This will make grating them easier.

The underdone potatoes were perfect for grating.

My favorite part of this recipe was the fact that the grated potatoes could be left in a bowl until I was ready to fry them.  I love it when I can prepare dishes ahead of time up to a point.  Because they are almost cooked, they will not turn brown.

I chose to saute my potato galettes on my griddle, but Julia suggests cooking them in batches in a skillet.  Next time I will do it that way because they would absorb more of the buttery goodness from the additional butter needed for each batch.

Join me in cooking for Julia this month.  These tasty potato galettes were worth it.

GRATED POTATO GALETTES

2 to 3 large baking potatoes about 12 ounces each
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup or so of clarified butter or olive oil

Cooking the potatoes – several hours or a day in advance:
Scrub the potatoes under hot running water, then steam them for 12 to 15 minutes (mine took 25 minutes), until the potatoes are almost but not quite cooked.  In other words, they should not be floury – after 12 minutes, pierce one with a sharp small knife, which should just penetrate.  Cut one of the potatoes in half crosswise; if there is a raw central core, steam 2 or 3 minutes more.  (If the central core is not cooked through it can discolor!)  Let cool uncovered; the potatoes must be thoroughly cold before you grate them.

Peel the cold potatoes and rub through the large holes of the grater onto a baking sheet or tray.  Toss lightly with a sprinkling of salt and pepper, leaving them loosely massed; set aside until you are ready to continue.

Film a frying pan with 1/8 inch of clarified butter or oil, and, when hot, spread in 1/2 to 2/3 cup of grated potato (the amount depends on how thick a galette you want).  Saute over moderate heat for 4 to 5 minutes, pressing the the potatoes together lightly with a spatula, until the bottom has crusted and browned.  Flip over, and saute to brown the other side a few minutes more.  Transfer to a baking sheet, and keep warm while finishing the rest.  Makes 6 to 8 galettes with 2 potatoes.

Ahead of time note:
The galettes may be sauteed somewhat ahead.  Set aside uncovered, at room temperature.  Reheat briefly in a 425 degree oven.

Another Presentation:
Make a large galette in a 10 or 12 inch pan, and if you don’t have the courage to flip, brown the top under the broiler.  After a light browning on the top, you could then sprinkle it with grated Swiss cheese, and brown again.

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I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about these hamburgers before.  There is nothing special about them.  They are easy.  They are based on a recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.  I first had them years ago at a friend’s house.  She was working full time as a teacher and had two kids under three.  Preparing company meals was not a high priority.  But that did not stop Janice from inviting us to dinner and serving a meal that was tres chic.  With the French hamburgers she served rice pilaf, petite peas (from a frozen box), and bakery croissants.  We drank a very good jug wine.  We felt festive and pampered.

I made the French hamburgers for us last week for dinner.  I was getting ready for company for bike week and wanted an easy meal.  But this time I used a good red wine, choppped shallots instead of onions and a good quality ground round.  I could have simply made Uncle Ben’s rice (the wine sauce is good on the rice), but I had just seen a recipe on Pinterest for Muffin Tin Onion Gruyere Potato Stacks and wanted to try them.  Thinly sliced potatoes, onions and Gruyere are stacked in muffin tin cups and baked.  They are so delicious.

With the meal I served a simple succotash from a freezer bag.  Sometimes simplicity is the key to a great meal.

The only thing missing was the croissant.

Here are some pictures taken during bike week.  The first has nothing to do with bike week.

Our friends brought us berets to take with us on our trip to France in June.

We enjoyed some great riding and people watching during bike week.  But frankly I think I will have more fun in Paris.  Enjoy this (loosely) inspired meal from France.

FRENCH HAMBURGERS

1 pound ground beef round
1 onion chopped, or three chopped shallots
Salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
1 cup red wine

Form ground round into three patties.  Heat an iron skillet over medium-high heat.  When hot add hamburger patties, season, and cook until browned on both sides.  Remove from pan and let rest on a plate.  Reduce heat in skillet and add onion or shallots to pan.  Cook until onions are softened.  Add wine and cook for about 5 minutes to reduce slightly.  Return hamburgers to pan and cook to desired doneness.  Serve topped with wine and onion sauce.

Serves 2.

MUFFIN TIN ONION GRUYERE POTATO STACKS (From Stonegable’s Kitchen)

5 Baking Potatoes
2 onions, chopped
6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups grated cheese, Gruyere or cheddar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heavy cream or half and half
Cooking spray
Thyme sprigs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Thinly slice raw potatoes.  You can use a mandolin or slice them by hand 1/8th inch thick.  Set aside.  Melt about 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet and saute onion over a low heat until traslucent and slightly golden.  Add 2 more tablespoons butter to pan and let melt.  Set aside.

Spray all twelve muffin cups of a regular size muffin pan.

Add 1 slice of potato to the bottom of each muffin cup. Salt and pepper.  Add 1 more slice of potato to each.  Top each potato evenly with 1/2 of onion butter mixture.  Add 2 more potato slices to each muffin cup.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the grated cheese evenly over potatoes.  Add 1 more potato slice to each and salt and pepper.  Add another potato slice and evenly add the remaining onion and butter mixture.  Add an additional 1 to 2 potato slices and top evely with remaining cheese.

Pour 1 tablespoon cream over each potato stack.

Bake for 35 minutes until potaotes are tender.  Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Run a sharp knife around the edges of each muffin cup and pop each stack out with a fork.

Garnish with thyme.

Printable recipe French Hamburgers

Printable recipe Muffin Tin Potatoes

Sometimes it is hard to figure out what to have for dinner.  On those occasions you can either check out your cookbooks or food magazines, or go to your internet friends.  I feel like I know lots of creative cooks in my circle of internet friends.  We may have never met, but I know what you are like, how you think, what you find funny and what you like to eat.  We reveal much about ourselves through our blogs.  So far, I have not been wrong.  I have met several bloggers after following them for a while and they were just as I surmised.

Katie of Thyme for Cooking is one of my friends.  Hopefully I am not being presumptuous.  Katie lives in the South of France and she and her husband are restoring their farmhouse.  Katie is funny, straightforward, hard working and an accomplished cook.  She recently made this potato gratin for dinner and it sounded just right to me.  I had just purchased a hunk of Gruyere cheese and knew this would be the perfect use for it.   I was right.  The potato gratin has sauteed shallots to which a bit of brown sugar is added to help caramelize them.  They add a hint of sweetness to the casserole.  So thank you Katie for a great, easy recipe.  You can view it on her website.

So what to have with the potatoes?  I had pork chops.  I found the perfect recipe on The Pioneer Woman’s website.  Now, I probably will never have the opportunity to meet Ree Drummond, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like I know her.  She is funny too and she has shared so much of her life with all of us on her blog that I’m sure she understands why every one of us wants to meet Marlboro Man.  My picture does not look half as good as hers (Have you seen the size of her camera?).  But the chops were outstanding.  They were browned briefly and then a pan sauce was made with red wine, beef broth, whole garlic cloves and balsamic vinegar.  They were succulent and rich.

So thank you friends for a great dinner.

I am not retiring my cookbooks, but a little help from friends sometimes comes in handy at dinner time.

One of the first cookbooks I ever owned was called Cooking for Two.  It was a wedding present and I remember reading it from cover to cover in the car on our honeymoon trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  I guess the cooking bug had caught me from the very beginning.

While shopping the other day I saw the magazine Cook’s Country put out by the same people who bring you Cook’s Illustrated.   Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes for Two was one of the recipes listed on the cover.  It sounded just perfect with the meatloaf I had planned for dinner.

Scalloped potatoes usually take a long time to cook.  This recipe cooks in roughly 30 minutes, so it is a time saver as well as being just right for two.  I learned a few things also.  By adding cornstarch to the shredded cheeses you eliminate the grease that is released when cheese melts.  The cornstarch absorbs it.  Also the cornstarch prevents the Parmesan cheese from clumping together.  Do not use preshredded cheese.  It contains added starch that prevents caking.  “By adding conrstarch yourself, you can control the dish’s texture.”

Just look at that cheesy goodness.  This potato dish is a keeper.

CHEESY SCALLOPED POTATOES FOR TWO

2 ounces mild cheddar cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 medium or 1 large russet potato, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.  Toss cheddar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch together in bowl until well combined.  Toss Parmesan and remaining 1/2 teaspoon conrstarch together in second bowl until well combined.

Heat oil in 8-inch nonstick, ovensafe skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Add onion and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add broth, cream, potatoes, salt, and pepper and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are nearly tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

Off heat, stir in cheddar mixture and press potatoes into even layer.  Sprinkle Parmesan mixture ovenly over top and bake until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.  Let potatoes cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Serve.

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