Potatoes Anna Food

POTATOES ANNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using a food processor with a slicing blade or a sharp knife, slice potatoes as thinly as possible, 1/4 inch thick or thinner. (Do not place sliced potatoes in water; the starch is needed to bind the layers.)
• Brush bottom of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with 1 1/2 tablespoons butter. Starting in center of pan, arrange potato slices, slightly overlapping, in circular pattern, covering surface. Brush with another 1 1/2 tablespoons butter; season well with salt and pepper. Repeat for two more layers.
• Place over high heat until butter in pan sizzles, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Transfer to oven; bake until potatoes are fork-tender, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Run a small spatula around edges of potatoes; slide large spatula underneath potatoes to loosen. Carefully invert onto a plate, and cut into wedges.

POTATOES ANNA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425°F. Place potatoes in large bowl of cold water. Grease bottom and sides of 10-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Spray 12x12-inch piece of foil with cooking spray.
• In 1-quart saucepan, heat remaining 4 tablespoons butter, the thyme and garlic over medium heat 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly until butter is melted but garlic has not browned. Remove from heat; set aside. In custard cup, combine salt and pepper.
• Drain potato slices; pat dry between paper towels. Starting in center of pan, arrange 1/4 of potato slices, slightly overlapping in circular pattern, covering bottom of pan. Brush with 1/4 of butter mixture; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt mixture. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese.
• Repeat layers two more times, ending with cheese. Top with one more layer of potatoes, brush with remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining salt mixture. Press top of potatoes firmly with metal spatula. Cook uncovered over medium-high heat 5 minutes, gently shaking pan occasionally to prevent potatoes from sticking. Cover with foil, sprayed side down.
• Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil; bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown. Remove from oven. Run small spatula around edge of potatoes; gently shake pan to loosen potatoes from bottom of pan. Carefully invert potatoes onto serving plate To serve, cut into wedges.

POTATOES ANNA

Steps:

• Peel potatoes and slice as thin as a thick potato chip.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Place potatoes in an overlapping layer in the pan. Sprinkle pepper over potato layer and add another tablespoon of butter. Continue to place additional layers of potatoes, pepper, and butter, finishing with potatoes.
• Cover and cook over medium-high heat until golden and tender, 15 to 18 minutes.
• Use a spatula to loosen potatoes; place a plate over the top of the frying pan and flip the pan and plate over and remove the pan.

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.

POTATOES ANNA

Steps:

• Arrange& overlap potato slices in a greased 8 inch pie plate.
• Melt butter in a skillet& stir in salt; drizzle over potatoes.
• Cover plate tightly with foil& bake in preheated 425 oven for 20 minutes.
• Uncover& bake an additional 55 minutes or until potatoes are very tender& crusty; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes.
• Using a metal spatula, carefully loosen the potatoes from the pie plate& place an inverted serving plate over the potatoes; Holding both plates, invert& unmold, then 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:

• 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.

POTATOES ANNA

Steps:

• Heat a greased 10-inch cast-iron skillet in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven 8 minutes or until hot. Arrange one-third of potato slices in skillet, and drizzle with one-third of butter; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Repeat layering procedure twice with remaining ingredients.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour; increase heat to 500 degrees, and bake 5 to 10 minutes more or until browned. Invert onto a serving plate; garnish, if desired.

MINI POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Brush 12 muffin cups generously with butter. Place 1 thyme sprig in center of each muffin cup.
• Add chopped thyme and garlic to remaining butter in saucepan and stir over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Using a mandoline, slice potatoes crosswise into very thin rounds (1/16"-ish). Place in a large bowl. Pour herb butter over potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Toss well to coat.
• Divide potato slices among muffin cups, layering overlapping slices to create a circular pattern. When the muffin cup is filled to the rim, press down lightly with a fork to compact. Drizzle any remaining butter in bowl over potatoes.
• Cover muffin tins tightly with aluminum foil. Place muffin tin(on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven until potatoes can be easily pierced with a knife, about 35 minutes. Remove foil.
• Prepare another baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. Invert muffin tins onto prepared sheet, banging it a bit to loosen potatoes. If any potatoes/thyme has stuck to the muffin tins, gently use a butter knife to loosen and place on potato stacks. [IF MAKING AHEAD, STOP HERAllow potatoes to cool a bit, then cover baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Proceed with rest of recipe when ready.]
• Increase oven temperature to 425° [If you made ahead, remove baking sheet with potatoes, remove plastic wrap and preheat oven to 425° F., allowing potatoes to sit at room temperature while oven heats]. Place into 425° oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully using a spatula, flip potato stacks over (thyme side dowand bake for another 8-10 minutes, until under-side is nice and golden. Remove from oven and flip thyme-side-up to serve. [If you made ahead and your potatoes were cold/room temperature when they went in to the oven, you may need a few minutes longer on each side.]

POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• preheat oven to 230c (450f) on bake, not fan
• slice potatoes very thin, a mandolin makes very short work of slicing and also gives uniform slices, otherwise cut potatoes as thin as possible
• place slices in a clean tea towel and blot any excess moisture from them
• add garlic to butter and mix
• add 2 tablespoons of the melted butter in the bottom of a 22cm (8 1/2 inch) cast iron or a heavy based frypan
• brush sides and base with butter
• heat frypan over low-medium heat and when hot start to place potato slices overlapping around the outside edge of the base and work your way to the centre -see video above for technique, and notes below for a handy tip
• sprinkle lightly with parmesan, thyme and butter and season with salt and pepper lightly
• alternate potato slice layers from clockwise to counterclockwise on each layer - this step helps to stabilize each cut slice from falling apart
• keep building layers until you have used all of the potato slices
• brush top with butter (you may still have a little butter left in the pan)
• use a plate or saucepan lid that's slightly smaller than the frypan, to push potatoes down
• cover pan with tin foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven
• cook for 20 minutes
• remove pan from oven and remove and discard the foil, again use the plate or lid to gently press the potatoes again
• return pan to oven uncovered and bake for a further 30-35 minutes or until potato is golden brown
• remove from oven and gently pour off any excess butter
• run a spatula around the outside of the pan to loosen any sticky bits
• place serving plate over the frypan and quickly invert the plate to remove from the frypan
• serve and enjoy!

POMMES JULIA

Steps:

• Wash, peel and slice potatoes 1/4" thick and drop into cold water to prevent browning. When ready, drain and pat potatoes dry with paper towels.
• In a 9 or 10" heavy bottomed cast iron or non-stick skillet, pour about 1/4" butter. Over a medium heat, arrange potato slices in a circle, sprinkle with some herbs, and a little salt and pepper.
• Add more butter and continue layering potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper, finishing with a layer of potatoes.
• Drizzle top with any remaining butter.
• Cook over medium heat until bottom begins to get brown and crusty.
• Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 30-40 minutes depending on depth of pan and thickness of potatoes.
• When done, invert onto a serving plate and cut into wedges.
• Sprinkle with more fresh herbs.
• *To clarify butter, heat over a low heat until butter is melted. Spoon off and discard white foam. What remains is clarified butter. It has a higher smoking point than regular butter.

POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
• Heat a medium nonstick or well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium to medium-low heat. With a sharp knife or box grater, slice the potatoes as thinly as possible. Pat the potato slices dry on a kitchen towel. Start to arrange 1 layer of overlapping potato slices over the bottom of the pan in concentric circles. Pour the clear liquid of the butter over the sliced potatoes, leaving the milky solids on the bottom of the saucepan. Repeat 2 more times, making 3 layers. Drizzle each layer with a bit of the butter and season the layers, alternating salt, pepper, and then nutmeg. Cook on low heat until potatoes are golden on the bottom and crisp around the outside, about 25 to 30 minutes. Shake the pan back and forth several times while cooking to keep from sticking.
• Pour off any excess butter into a small bowl and reserve. Place a flat pan lid, the diameter of the skillet, over the potatoes. Holding the lid firmly in place, gently flip over. Add the reserved butter to the pan and slide the potatoes back in. Put the skillet in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Shake the pan back and forth several times while cooking to keep the potatoes from sticking. The bottom should be browned and crisp and the potatoes cooked through. Pour off any fat remaining in the pan and slide the potato cake onto a serving dish. Slice into wedges, sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

POTATOES ANNA

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C. Line an 8-inch/20 cm baking tin with parchment, and brush with butter.
• Peel and thinly slice the potatoes, then toss in a bowl with the cream to saturate. Pulling the potatoes from the cream, build layers of them in the baking tin, seasoning and scattering over the herbs as you go. Brush another sheet of parchment with butter and place it butter-side down on the potatoes. Set another heavy dish on top to weigh down the potatoes. Bake until tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Let cool before turning out and cutting into squares or wedges to serve.

HOW TO MAKE POMMES ANNA

Steps:

• Crisp frites, creamy gratins - the French do beautiful things with potatoes. And of all the magnificent potato dishes they make, pommes Anna is a classic, one that deserves more acclaim beyond France. A buttery cake composed of paper-thin slices of potato, pommes Anna is similar to potato gratin in the way it is layered and baked. But unlike a gratin, which is lightly browned on top and creamy soft all the way through, pommes Anna emerges from the oven with a tender, slippery interior and a crunchy golden crust. It is a gorgeous contrast in textures. To make it, the potatoes are trimmed into cylinders (to ensure a neat and attractive shape), sliced and then layered into a skillet sizzling with clarified butter. The potatoes are first cooked on top of the stove, to sear and brown them on the bottom, then moved to the oven to bake until the slices in the center turn soft. After baking, the pan is inverted onto a platter and presented as a stunning, burnished cake of crunchy potato petals. You can dress up the basic recipe with an array of aromatics, cheeses and other vegetables. (Here, we've added an optional touch of garlic for a sweetly pungent contrast to the mild potatoes.) But pommes Anna doesn't need it. The simple flavor of potato and butter is always a comfort, but the interplay of crisp and soft in this dish elevates it to another plane.
• Pommes Anna was created in the mid-19th century by the chef Adolphe Dugléré at Café Anglais in Paris. It was most likely named after Anna Deslions, one of the café's grandes cocottes, who is said to have entertained an international coterie of princes and other dignitaries in a private salon above the dining room. It's telling that the dish was named for a glamorous courtesan. At that time, the potato still had a somewhat shady reputation among the French, having been considered poisonous for centuries after its introduction to Europe. It seemed delectable, yet just a little bit dangerous. Potatoes arrived in France in the 16th century via the Spanish, who encountered them in what is now Colombia. The combination of the Northern French climate and the varieties of potato that were imported produced sad, watery tubers, thought to be toxic and unfit for human consumption. As late as 1748, potatoes were outlawed as crops in Paris. Because of their resemblance to the twisted limbs of lepers, the tubers were believed to cause the disease. This began to change in the late 18th century through the efforts of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, a French army officer who developed a taste for potatoes in a Prussian jail in Hamburg, where he was held captive after the Seven Years War. Once he returned to France, Parmentier persuaded King Louis XVI to embrace the potato, both as a delicacy for the court when dressed up with cream and butter, and as cheap, reliable food for the poor when made into soups and gruels. This is why his name is linked to several French potato dishes, including hachis Parmentier, a baked dish of minced meat and mashed potatoes, and potage Parmentier, a puréed leek and potato soup. Over the next centuries, potato preparations flourished, and potatoes soon became a necessary accompaniment to roasts, stews and sautéed dishes across the French repertoire de cuisine. Today, pommes Anna is considered to be among the finest of all French potato dishes, one skillful cooks take pride in making. Above, "Harvesting Potatoes During the Flood of the Rhine in 1852" by Gustave Brion (1824-1877).
• Mandoline This very sharp slicing tool allows you to cut potatoes thinly and evenly. There's no need to buy a pricey, stainless-steel model; an inexpensive plastic mandoline is fine and can go in the dishwasher. A sharp chef's knife will get the job done, but a mandoline is made for this task. Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has a guide to the best mandolines.Skillets Traditionally, pommes Anna is cooked in a copper pan made specifically for that purpose. A skillet, either well-seasoned cast iron or heavy-duty nonstick, works just as well (or perhaps even better). Use one with a tightfitting cover. You'll also need a slightly smaller skillet or a saucepan for pressing down the potatoes, which helps compress the cake and cook it evenly.Rimmed baking sheet It's a good idea to place the skillet on a baking sheet before transferring it to the oven; it promotes even browning of the potatoes and catches any sizzling butter overflow.Offset spatula A small metal offset spatula, which has a long, thin, blunt blade (it is often used for frosting cakes), will help you remove the potatoes from the pan easily and in one piece. If you don't have one, use the smallest spatula you have, or a butter knife.
• This recipe brings out the best in the humble potato, with a crisp exterior and satiny slices within, all of them bathed in clarified butter (a recipe is below). The garlic isn't traditional, but adds pungent sweetness. Serve it alongside roasted meat, or top it with eggs for an unusual meatless main course.
• Clear, golden clarified butter can withstand heat without burning for a longer period and at a higher temperature, making it ideal for pan-frying. The process is simple and takes just a few minutes.
• What sets pommes Anna apart from other fried potato recipes is the refinement of its technique. All the tiny details, from the potatoes themselves to the way you slice them, may seem like a lot to absorb, but understanding them is essential to success. • For the potatoes, you can use either waxy boiling potatoes or starchy baking potatoes, depending on the texture you're after. Or, if you'd like, you can use a combination of the two. Julia Child recommends waxy, low-starch boiling potatoes, such as round white potatoes, red potatoes or Yukon golds. When you use these, the potato slices remain in distinct coins as opposed to merging into a uniform cake. These slippery potato pieces make it harder to cut through the cake neatly after unmolding. It can easily fall apart. But the buttery flavor and satiny texture of the waxy potatoes are marvelous, making up for the precarious presentation. Russet baking potatoes make for a more compact cake; the starchy potato slices glue themselves into a uniform disk, one that slices into neat wedges. Texturally, the cake will have a crisp exterior with a mashed-potato-like heart. Because of their oblong shape, Russets are easier to work with than round potatoes, and you'll have less waste. • Use good butter: European-style butter with a high fat content (at least 82 percent) works best here because it contains less moisture than regular butter. • You can make pommes Anna with regular butter, but it really is worth the few extra minutes it takes to make clarified butter first. It can take the heat for longer and at higher temperatures than butter that has not been clarified, so it will be less likely to burn. • If you don't want to clarify your butter, use a combination of oil and regular butter instead. You will end up with a more neutral and less buttery flavor, but the recipe will still work. (If you decide not to clarify, then it is especially important to use that high-fat, European-style butter.) Or you could use ghee, which is basically clarified butter in which the milk solids have been allowed to brown before being removed. It has a lightly caramelized, nutty flavor.• You need to trim the potatoes so they are about uniform in size, but don't obsess over it. Using a paring or chef's knife, remove the ends from each potato, then trim the sides so you end up with cylinders. It may seem like a lot of waste, especially if you are using round boiling potatoes, as opposed to oblong baking potatoes. But you can use the trimmings in mashed potatoes or soups. • If you'd like, skip all the trimming and merely peel the potatoes. You won't get as nice a presentation when you unmold the cake, but if that doesn't bother you, you will save yourself a lot of work. • The beauty of a mandoline is that it gives you very thin and even slices of potato, and does so very quickly. (In this recipe, you are aiming for pieces that are 1/8-inch thick.) Take extreme care when using a mandoline. The blade is sharp, and your hand is moving quickly; it is easy to slice your finger. It's best to use the protective hand guard or gloves (the mesh gloves meant for shucking oysters work well). • Once you have sliced the potatoes, it is essential to dry them so they don't stick to the pan. To do so, place the slices between paper towels on a counter and press slightly. Let them sit in the open air and dry, about 5 to 10 minutes. (One way to save time is to let them sit out while you clarify the butter.) • Never rinse the potato slices. It removes their starch, which is what helps them bind together into a cake.• Before you begin layering the potatoes into the hot skillet, take a moment to place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat it. Later, you can place the skillet with the potatoes directly on the sheet, which will distribute the heat more evenly and catch any stray splashes of butter. • Do not worry about forming a perfect circle of overlapping potatoes; it will look stunning even if a potato or two is not exactly aligned. • Take care when adding the sliced potatoes to the hot butter. It can splatter and burn you. As long as you keep the pan at medium heat and add the slices quickly, you should be fine. • For a compact cake with uniform thickness, use a second skillet or large saucepan to press down on the potatoes. Choose one that is large enough to cover most of the potatoes, and butter the bottom of the pan. Press down on the potatoes twice: once before the pan is transferred to the oven, and again after 20 minutes of baking. • Remember what you're looking for: a brown, crisp bottom in the pan. (The cake is flipped out of the pan, so the bottom will become the top.) Be careful that the bottom does not get too dark; you can peek, lifting up the cake slightly with an offset spatula or butter knife. You also want all of the potatoes to be cooked through, but to maintain a bit of texture (they should not be completely mushy or too soft to the touch). The top does not need to be golden as long as the potatoes are cooked through.• Unmold the potatoes by running a spatula around the pan rim. Try to get the spatula under the potatoes, too, making sure they are not stuck to the bottom of the pan. Once you feel confident the potatoes can unmold, quickly turn the baking dish over onto a large serving platter. Or, if it makes you feel more comfortable, you can put a serving platter on top of the pan, and flip the pan over so the potato cake falls onto the platter. (Use oven mitts; the pan will be hot.) If some potato slices stick, remove them with the spatula and place them on top of the cake. • If the dish looks like a disaster, follow Julia Child's advice: Cover the cake with grated Gruyère, Parmesan or Cheddar cheese, dot with another spoonful of butter, then brown for a few seconds under the broiler. The cheese will mask any imperfections. • You can make pommes Anna up to 4 hours ahead. After draining the excess butter from the pan and unmolding the cake, flip it back in the pan and cover it. Then gently place over a very low flame to crisp up again and reheat before serving.
• Served plain, without embellishment, pommes Anna is a stunning dish. But after mastering its most basic form, you can take liberties with the recipe, adding cheeses, herbs and spices, and other vegetables.Adding cheese gives you a more intensely flavored dish with a melting, gooey center. And if you're using low-starch potatoes like all-purpose white or Yukon gold, the cheese acts as an adhesive, helping to glue the cake together. Add 6 ounces Gruyère, Cheddar or Emmental cheese, grated, along with (or instead of) the garlic. Make sure the cheese doesn't touch the bottom or sides of the pan or it can burn. You can also experiment with crumbled feta, blue cheese or goat cheese.Potatoes aren't the only vegetable that you can prepare in this fashion - other root vegetables and squashes will also work. Be sure to choose vegetables with a low moisture content so you get a crisp, browned exterior. Try sweet potatoes, turnips, winter squash, beets or rutabaga instead of (or in combination with) regular potatoes.For a bolder take on pommes Anna, substitute a thinly sliced shallot for the garlic, or add it along with the garlic. Ditto a sliced chile. You could also add a few tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs, such as tarragon, thyme, rosemary, sage or chives, or a dusting of nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin, fennel or other spices. Sprinkle herbs and spices on top of each layer of potatoes along with the salt and pepper.
• Photography Food styling: Alison Attenborough. Prop styling: Beverley Hyde. Additional photography: Karsten Moran for The New York Times. Additional styling: Jade Zimmerman. Video Food styling: Chris Barsch and Jade Zimmerman. Art direction: Alex Brannian. Prop styling: Catherine Pearson. Director of photography: James Herron. Camera operators: Tim Wu and Zack Sainz. Editing: Will Lloyd and Adam Saewitz. Additional editing: Meg Felling.
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