I’ve been lax in delivering my posts recently because I’ve been tending to a very sick friend who is in the ICU at Belleview Hospital. Rob is intensely brave and mightily determined, and though his body is weak, his will is tough as nails. He hasn’t had solid food in two weeks which is one of the many discomforts, no, frankly agonies he’s had to endure. Rob is someone who manages to make us laugh till it hurts despite the fact that he’s on a respirator, and wouldn’t approve of a downer discussion here, so in his honor I would like to use this space to pay homage to his favorite food, the one I am most looking forward to preparing and feeding him just as soon as he can eat: potatoes. Here is where my Robbie-potato-love takes me…
Potatoes baked in their skins on a bed of rock salt (that when sliced open straight from the oven give you a mini potato-steam facial) then slathered in butter, sour cream lots of salt and freshly cracked black pepper; silky scalloped potatoes bathed in their starchy reduced cream coating and topped with a golden gratin that has rested just enough to be both crispy and oozy; potatoes boiled, sliced, and dressed in an herb shallot vinaigrette while still warm so the dressing will get sucked up into the slices and infuse them with tangy goodness for the remainder of their short existence. One of Rob’s favorites is “smothered” potatoes that are cooked in bacon, caramelized onions, and chicken stock, and so called (I think) because you’d smother your own Grandma for the last bite.
The French have a thousand and one ways to enjoy potatoes, and in culinary school we devoted several days to the splendors of their aptly-named pommes de terre, or “apple of the earth.” There are the delicate, deco-looking spirals of pommes Anna, or the more country style pommes darphin, which are just fancy hash brown pancakes served cut in wedges for presentation. Both are so easy to make, but like many a deceptively simple tests of a great chef, so difficult to get just right. The potatoes we had the most practice making were the thrice-cooked rissole: blanched, sautéed in oil, then finished with a bit of butter and roasted so that they become crispy pillows of fluffy potatoness. My classmate Jeremy scored high on his midterm practical for his rissole, and later admitted that he literally deep fried them in butter. Not surprising, one of his judges called them the best he’d ever tasted. Wish I’d thought of that.
Some of the best potatoes aren’t fancy-bourgee at all and require little more than a pot of water. One of the best meals of my life consisted of baby potatoes freshly dug up from a Danish garden (and if you’ve ever done this, you’ll recognize the thrill of turning over a shovel full of dirt and letting the potatoes roll out like plum little mud pie-making toddlers that need a good bath). They were steamed till just the right creamy lusciousness and devoured with good Danish butter, sea salt, pepper, and a little fresh dill, but very little so as not to distract from the flavor of the potatoes, which was exquisite.
Another favorite potato preparation of mine comes from Sally Schneider’s A New Way to Cook. Published in 2001, the book focuses on creative ways to reduce fat and calorie content without sacrificing flavor. Her “Best Part of a Potato Gratin” recipe uses white wine and stock instead of cream, and involves spreading a flavorful but less fatty Manchego out over a sheet tray of potatoes (instead of the traditional casserole dish) for a higher gratin to potato ratio. The book is full of smart ideas and tips for people who love good food but want to eat healthier, such as adding just a little bit of flavorful fat at the end of cooking a dish so that it sits on your tongue where a little goes a long way, rather than getting buried in the cooking. Almost a decade into owning it, A New Way to Cook still makes my list of top ten most used/recommended cookbooks.
Rob is 5th generation Irish-American and since I can’t cook him anything yet, I thought I’d bring and read him the chapter about potatoes in Michael Pollan’s engaging book The Botany of Desire. Rob loves history, and I thought he’d enjoy the history of the potato through Pollan’s eyes. The potato, indigenous to North America made its way to Europe in the 17th century and was rejected by most Europeans who mistrusted a nightshade plant that has no mention in the Bible (it was said to cause leprosy and immorality). Except, that is, for poor, hungry Ireland, whose climate and soil were perfectly suited to the tuber. Like opium in China and tulips in Holland (another subject in Pollan’s book), the history of Ireland is inextricably linked with that of the humble potato. The Botany of Desire is great reading and if I can’t feed his belly quite yet, at least I can nourish my friend’s fertile mind.
Hang in there, darling. So many good things to come.
What's your favorite way to prepare/eat potatoes?
Although Carolyn Grifel has been cooking, baking, and devouring cookbooks since she was old enough to read, it took her four decades to finally devote herself to professional cooking. She received a degree from The French Culinary Institute in 2009, while working at Epicurious.com. Since graduating she’s been a chef for Sweet Deliverance, as well as the executive chef at the historic TA Ranch in Buffalo, Wyoming. She’s currently a private chef for a family of five in NYC, and the enchanted mother of a 9-year-old named Stella.
