The Essential James Beard Cookbook (53 page)

Continue to make layers of potatoes, seasoning each layer and spooning butter over it, until the skillet is filled. Spoon another tablespoon or two of butter over the top.

Put the skillet on the center rack of the oven and a baking sheet on the rack below it to catch any butter that might bubble over. Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are crisp and brown around the edges and tender when prodded with a fork or toothpick.

Remove the skillet from the oven. Run a knife around the edge of the potatoes to loosen them. Put a large flat serving platter, big enough to hold the potato cake, on top of the pan and quickly invert it so the cake unmolds itself onto the platter. To serve, cut into wedges.

Twice-Baked Potato Skins

Editor: Beard was very fond of these, and popularized them before they were a staple on bar menus.

Bake potatoes and remove all the pulp and reserve to use in another dish. With scissors cut the skins in strips about an inch wide. Put on a baking sheet; brush generously with melted butter; season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a little Tabasco; and put in a 475°F oven or under the broiler until they get brown and quite crisp. Serve with drinks, as an appetizer. These are better than any potato chips.

BAKED POTATOES

FOR EACH SERVING

There is something very satisfying about a perfectly baked potato. Its delicious floury lightness and the earthy flavor of the crisp, chewy skin, intensified by the baking process, needs no dressing up. I prefer to savor that wonderful earthiness with just freshly ground black pepper and a touch of salt—no butter, no sour cream, no chives. Well, maybe a little bit of butter with the skin, but more often just pepper and salt.

The Idaho is surely the finest baking potato. It is said to be grown in a particular soil that has great lava content and that this greatly resembles soil in Peru, where the same type of potato abounds.

Allow
1 baking potato
per person, or, if they are extra large, ½ potato will be ample. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Scrub the potatoes well. (If desired, for a softer skin, rub the potatoes with
oil or butter,
and make a thin slit in each potato.) Place them on a rack in the oven. Bake for approximately an hour, or until the potatoes are soft to the touch. Split at once and serve with
freshly ground black pepper and salt.
They are perfect this way, but you may want to add
butter, sour cream, chives, cooked bacon crumbs, chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, or paprika.

STUFFED BAKED POTATOES

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Editor: These are hearty enough to be a vegetarian main course for a lunch or light supper.

6
Baked Potatoes
, leave the oven turned on

¾ cup heavy cream

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

¾ cup shredded Swiss, Gruyère, or Cheddar cheese

Cut about ¾ inch off the long side of each baked potato with a sharp knife. Scoop the contents into a bowl or saucepan. Beat in the cream, butter, salt, pepper, and paprika. Add ½ cup of the cheese and beat well. Return the potato mixture to the shells and top with the remaining cheese. Put on a baking sheet. Return to the 375°F oven to melt cheese and reheat potatoes, about 20 minutes.

PERFECT FRENCH FRIES

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

For making French fries, some like the mealy Idaho potato, others the waxier boiling potato. Either one will work, but you might, to amuse yourself, fry different types of potato, such as the long white California, the Idaho, and the Maine and decide which you like best.

Editor: Most cooks prefer large brown-skinned baking potatoes, such as Russets or Burbanks, for French fries.

4 medium-to-large Idaho, Maine, or California potatoes

Peanut oil or rendered beef fat, for deep-frying

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Potatoes are best if peeled and cut just before you fry them. If you can’t do that, put the cut potatoes into a bowl of cold water, take them out just before frying, spread them out on a double layer of paper towels or a terry towel, and dry thoroughly.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into long strips from ¼ to ½ inch wide and thick. Have ready a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Heat the fat in a deep fryer to 325°F and, if you are using a basket, heat the basket in the fat. See that the potatoes are completely dry; lift out the basket; toss a handful of the potatoes into it and lower them slowly into the hot fat. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until they get rather flabby-looking. They should not brown. During the cooking, lift the basket and shake the potatoes around once or twice to prevent them from sticking together.

Transfer the potatoes, as they are cooked, to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and leave at room temperature from 1 to 1½ hours, until you are ready to do your second frying. Then reheat the fat and basket to 375° or 380°F; lower the partially fried potatoes back into the hot fat, a handful at a time; and fry for 2 or 3 minutes, or until they are as brown as you prefer. Be sure to bring the fat back to the correct temperature after each batch. Keep warm in a 250°F oven, on paper towel–lined baking sheets.

Season your French fries with salt and pepper just before serving.

POTATO GALETTE

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Peel and slice thinly
4 Idaho (baking) potatoes
. Melt 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. [
Editor: A nonstick pan works best here.
] Arrange the potato slices in rosette fashion in the pan. Start with a large slice in center and overlap other slices.
Salt and pepper
each layer and dot with
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes.
Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, occasionally shaking the pan lightly, to brown the potatoes, about 3 minutes. Invert onto a hot platter.

NOTE:
You may also invert potatoes onto a plate, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan, slide the potatoes back into the pan, and brown other side, about 5 minutes more

PURÉED POTATOES

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Mashed or whipped potatoes, more elegantly known as
purée de pommes de terre
, ideally should be light, fluffy, and creamy and they must be made at the last minute so they won’t sit and become soggy. Opinions differ as to whether the potatoes should be cooked in their jackets or not. I believe that if they are floury and mealy they should be peeled.

Peel
2 pounds baking potatoes.
Put in a saucepan of salted water to cover, bring to a boil over high heat, and cook until they are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain them, return them to the saucepan, and let them dry over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes. Mash the potatoes with a wire masher or put them through a food mill or potato ricer into a bowl. [
Editor: Never purée mashed potatoes in a food processor—unless they combined with an equal amount of other vegetables, such as celery root.
] Add
½ to ¾ cup boiling milk
and about
5 tablespoons (½ stick plus 1 tablespoon) softened unsalted butter
and whip the potatoes with a whisk or an electric mixer. The potatoes must be smooth, very hot, and rather loose in texture. Do not let them get too thick and pasty or they will lose their delicacy. Season them with
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
to taste and transfer them to a heated serving dish. Add a
dot of butter
and serve them very hot. To keep the potatoes hot, put them in a well-buttered pan set over hot water and cover them with buttered waxed paper.

ROESTI POTATOES

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Editor: This is another irresistible variation on the potato cake theme.

Parboil
6 whole baking potatoes
in a saucepan of lightly salted water until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Peel and grate on the large holes of a box grater. Melt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes and cook well until they form a crust, about 10 minutes. Press down on the cake with a metal turning spatula. Flip the potato cake and cook on other side. Season with
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
to taste and add more butter, if needed. When crisp and beautifully brown, about 10 minutes longer, slide out onto a hot plate. These may be made in small cakes and served individually.

SAUTÉED POTATOES

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

This version of sautéed potatoes is made with potatoes boiled in their skins, which hold them together.

2 to 2½ pounds baking potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Boil the potatoes in their skins in a large saucepan of lightly salted water to cover until they are just tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, slice them into rounds about ¼ inch thick.

Heat the butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foaming. Add the potatoes and sauté them until they begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Turn them carefully with a spatula and cook until browned on the other side, about 6 minutes more. Season them with salt and a few grinds of pepper, carefully transfer to a heated serving dish, and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

VARIATION

LYONNAISE POTATOES:
Make the Sautéed Potatoes and set aside. Melt 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter in a skillet, add 4 yellow onions, sliced, and sauté over medium heat, turning them frequently, for 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and salt to taste, cover, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes more, or until soft. Add the potatoes to the onions and toss together lightly until well blended and the potatoes are reheated, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a heated serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

HOT RATATOUILLE WITH GRATED CHEESE

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

This great dish of Provence may be varied in so many ways. [
Editor: For example, it is often served chilled, although in this recipe, it is hot.
] Here, we add mushrooms in quantity and cheese.

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

¹
⁄
₃
cup olive oil

2 eggplants, trimmed and cut into ¾-inch dice

1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin rounds

6 very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced, or 2½ cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

¼ cup fresh chopped basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 pound white mushrooms, sliced

Grated Parmesan cheese

Sauté the garlic and onions in the oil in a heavy-bottomed large saucepan over medium heat until soft. Add the eggplant and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes, tossing well and shaking the pan. Add the tomatoes, basil, and salt, and simmer 30 minutes, covered for half that time. Add the mushrooms, correct the seasoning, and continue cooking until the mushrooms are just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, and serve.

BRAISED SAUERKRAUT

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Sauerkraut is often overlooked as an accompaniment to meat and poultry, yet its tart, fermented flavor is a perfect balance for any form of pork—from roasts and barbecued spareribs to pigs’ knuckles and sausages—or to boiled beef, rich and fatty goose and duck, turkey, and many game birds.