Potatoes fondantes. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
I could go on, but then you would miss these grand potatoes, the perfect side dish for a roast chicken or nice medium-rare steak. Go simple on the main dish and let these potatoes steal the spotlight.
Melt butter and olive oil in skillet, toss in potatoes. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Add broth, then cook until potatoes are steamed. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Super-buttery and roasty toasty on the outside, tender & flavorful inside. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Jacques Pepin's Potatoes Fondantes
New potatoes can be hard to find and sometimes pricey. This recipe can be made with medium-sized Yukon Golds that are peeled and cut into 1-inch dice. Not quite as good as the new potatoes, but still worth the work.
2 pounds new potatoes or 5 to 6 medium-size Yukon Gold potatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Rinse and dry the potatoes. Place a 10-inch skillet over medium heat and add olive oil and butter.
2. When butter is melted and fat is sizzling, add potatoes and thyme. Pour broth into pan until it reaches halfway up the potatoes. If more liquid is needed, add water or additional broth. Bring to a boil, cover and lower the heat, leaving lid slightly ajar.
3. After about 20 minutes, check on potatoes. Remove thyme sprigs.They should be tender. Use a weight such as a measuring cup or (my choice) meat pounder to gently smash each potato. (if not using new potatoes, you can skip this step and go right to the browning).
4. Turn the heat to medium high and pan-roast the potatoes until they are brown and crispy on each side. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Text and images copyright 2013, Lucy Mercer.
Oh YUM!!
ReplyDeleteI know, right?
ReplyDeleteLucy I'm confused..the potatoes in the picture don't look like "new potatoes" (thought they were always red). Also why do you need to skip the "bopping" step if not using the new potatoes?
ReplyDeleteTerry
Thanks for reading, Terry! New potatoes can be red or yellow, they're just younger versions of regular, everyday potatoes. I used the yellow-skinned Yukon golds here. Sorry to mislead with the instructions for full-sized potatoes. If you use regular potatoes, there's no need to smash, just cook them through until the liquid evaporates, then brown in the remaining butter.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried potatoes like this, think I need to fix that :)
ReplyDelete