Have any of you made Pommes Anna before? I have a "Gourmet" rec, but...

J

julie-r-wa

Well-known member
...am a little hesitant to try, as I know Pommes Anna is pretty time consuming. Also, from what I understand, the traditional method of making it is in a round pan (overlayed in a spiral) rather than a square or rectangular pan. I have a special pan to do it in that's round and two sided for even cooking, but...

...I guess I'm just being a whimp. *wry smile*

Just wondering if any of you have experience making them.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/11973

 
Julie? Hesitant? Intrepid Julie, one of my heroes from Gail's? Ha! I say...

we will do "not nice things" to the fools who made you hesitate for even a nanosecond. (say all that with a slightly Russian accent. I just saw Eastern Promises...well, I say "watched" but I mostly hid my eyes with my hands and peeked through the slits until the gory parts were over...and over...and over.)

So...if you've got a good thin slicer (which I'd bet one of my spare kidneys that you do) then the job is 90% done. Presentation, baby, that's the deal with Pommes Anna. Layer it, bake it, flip it and perfectly overlapped potato slices look back at you, golden from all that butter.

Pan size or shape? Doesn't matter. Taking time for perfect layering? Doesn't matter EXCEPT for the first layer that will show on top when flipped. Everything else will be buried underneath once you flip it.

That said, you could overlap the potato slices using the Fibonacci sequence and see if your guests notice.

Mal: "If anyone gets nosy, just...you know... shoot 'em. "

Zoe: "Shoot 'em?"

Mal: "Politely."

 
I've made them, didn't do it that fancy, since it was just for the two of us. I just make the first

layer pretty, then dump the rest, smoothing them down. The recipe I've used is from an old Good Housekeeping, I think, and didn't call for the weight. I did use a cast iron skillet and they came out fine. Actually really easy, probably because I was too lazy to do all that layering.

 
*grin* You're MY hero, Marilyn! YOU CAN QUOTE FIREFLY! smileys/smile.gif Thanks for the words of encouragement &...

...the tips! I really appreciate it. smileys/smile.gif

As for folks who haven't heard of "Firefly" and "Serenity"... if you have Netflix, put it high on your queue list. If you don't, borrow a copy or purchase one. It's *well* worth it. smileys/smile.gif

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AQS0F/cerejulislist

 
Additional twist on Pommes Anna

While living in Belgium I took some classes and this is the recipe that we used.

8 large firm potatoes
4 oz +/- butter
salt, pepper, nutmeg
Smoked bacon-thin sliced if desired

Clarify the butter
Peel potatoes and wash in cold water. Slice thin
Generously butter 8 ramekins (if you are using bacon omit the buttering of ramekins) If you are using bacon - lay 2 slices of bacon per ramekin in crossed slices in the bottom. overlapping the sides

season potatoes with salt, pepper and nutmeg then place alternately in ramekins - layer of potatoes, layer of melted butter. When full fold the remaining bacon strips on the top.

Cook the ramekins in a bain marie for 30 minutes at 425.

Flip over at serving time onto plate

 
I make them regularly. And my hips are starting to look like it. I do concentric circles. The

first time I did it, I used the spiral technique but decided that for the trouble, continuous concentric was just fine. For the 2 of us, I use a round teflon pan with straight sides. I do about 4 layers, sometimes 5, but when the bottom is golden and crispy, and I flop it over, it is pretty enough without the spirals.

And by the way, if you have a good mandoline, I think it will actually be very easy.

Just looked at the recipe you linked. I don't think you have to do all that. My recipe is from a very French book and it's just layering the potatoes, buttering each layer, and then baking.

 
One more variation: REC: Sweet Potatoes Anna. Only SP recipe I'll make for Thanksgiving. . .

I'm not really a fan of the sweet potato unless it's in a biscuit or a pie however, this recipe does the trick of making them palatable, even to moi. This came out of a Cooking Light, years ago. Enjoy!

Sweet Potatoes Anna

1 Tbsp VEGETABLE OIL
1 Tbsp melted UNSALTED BUTTER
3 medium SWEET POTATOES (1-1½ lbs)
1 tsp peeled & minced GINGER ROOT
1½ Tbsp BROWN SUGAR
¾ tsp SALT

Combine oil & butter in a small bowl. Line a 9" pie plate with foil and lightly brush with oil-butter mix.

Peel sweet potatoes and slice them thinly with a food processor or by hand. Place the potato slices in a bowl and toss with ginger, brown sugar, salt and a scant Tbsp of oil-butter mix.

Arrange the slices in slightly overlapping concentric circles around the bottom of the pie plate, adding another row around the sides.

Brush the top lightly with oil-butter mix. Layer the remaining slices and drizzle remaining oil mix over the top.

Place rack on bottom rung of oven and preheat to 400°. Cover potatoes with foil and weight with a flat heavy lid or pan. Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake another 30-35 minutes more until top is brown.

Invert onto a platter, garnish with something green and serve.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top