Potatoes Boulangère

I got yet another pound of potatoes in my Boston Organics delivery and was trying to figure out a new way to eat it.  I love potatoes, but I was a little tired of having them crashed or dominoed.  Then while watching the season 1 premiere of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, inspiration struck.  He made something called potatoes boulangère, which look like scalloped potatoes but without all the cheese or cream.  I had never heard of it before, and I didn't even know how to spell it, so I had to look up the episode to figure it out.

Basically, you layer thinly sliced potatoes with onions and then braise the whole thing in the oven with some stock.  It's amazingly simple, but if you take the time of arrange the layers, can look very elegant.  I chose to follow the recipe from the James Beard Foundation which has you sweat the onions first until golden, adding a some depth to the flavor.  I also sprinkled in some chopped rosemary and thyme, adding another dimension of flavor.

The addition of the stock and the braising method of cooking is what sets this dish apart from a potato galette.  The stock you add is absorbed by the potatoes and onions and really infuses it all with a nice shot of umami.  By braising it in the oven, you get a nice gradient of texture, from the crispy browned edges to the soft, melt-in-your-mouth layers in the middle.  It's so good I have to admit I ate half the dish in one sitting.

Potatoes Boulangère (adapted from the James Beard Foundation)
makes 2 servings

2 medium-large potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary and/or thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup of chicken, beef, or vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Thinly slice the onion.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and the oil in a skillet and add onions. Cook until golden and soft (not brown), shaking the pan occasionally. Drain, saving the liquid.

Using a mandoline, slice the potatoes into paper-thin slices.  (I left the skin on this time, but you can also peel the skin off beforehand.)

Liberally butter a 1-quart baking dish (I used a pie pan).

Put in a layer of potatoes, followed by a layer of onions. Season with the chopped herbs, salt, and pepper.

Continue to make layers of potatoes and onions, seasoning the layers, and end with a top layer of potatoes.

Season with more chopped herbs, salt, and pepper and dot with remaining butter.

Pour on the liquid from the onions and the stock.

Bake about 30 or 40 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed and the potatoes test tender with a fork.

Honestly, you could just fill in all the bottom layers haphazardly and just make the top layer look all pretty, and you'd get the same effect!

Three years ago:  Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce

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Caramelized Onion and Swiss Chard Quiche

This quiche is good.  How good?  Good enough to rouse me out of a 2+ year hiatus to post about it.  That's how good.  It's loosely based on this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but I had yellow onions instead of leeks, so I decided to caramelize them first, using the dry pan method which has been working pretty well for me.

So what makes this dish so good?  Maybe it's the thyme, which I think is my new favorite herb.  I remember the first time I tasted Stove Top stuffing and wondering what that new, wonderful flavor was.  Growing up in a Taiwanese home, the only herbs I was used to tasting were scallion and cilantro.  But after almost 20 years of wondering, I think I can now identify that herb as thyme!  Now if only I could figure out what goes into the Long John Silver's batter.

Another new fresh ingredient I've discovered is nutmeg.  I used to just use the stuff that came out of a spice bottle and never really understood what the big deal was.  Then one day I saw some whole nutmeg at the bulk spice rack at Harvest and decided to pick up a couple since I had a Microplane I could use to shave it with.  Well let me tell you, fresh nutmeg is a completely different species from the dried stuff!  I am definitely a fresh nutmeg convert now.  Just remember, a little goes a long way, so don't over do it.

 

Caramelized Onion and Swiss Chard Quiche

1 prepared whole wheat pie crust, thawed but chilled (regular pie crust would work, too)
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, stems removed
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, ribs removed, leaves chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 cup half and half
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of fresh ground nutmeg

Heat a large non-stick pan to medium high and add chopped onions. Cook until browned but not burnt, about 6 minutes.

 

Add a tablespoon of butter, the fresh thyme, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium and continue to stir while cooking.  Add the remaining tablespoon of butter when the onions become dry and start sticking to the pan, about another 5 minutes.

 
Once the onions are evenly caramelized, about another 5 minutes, add the chard and sauté until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

 
Preheat to 425°F.  In a medium bowl, whisk the half and half and next 4 ingredients.

 

Mix in cooled onion and chard mixture.  Pour filling into crust.  Place pie on a baking sheet to make it easier to transport and in case the filling overflows in the oven.

 

Bake quiche for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350°F and bake until filling is puffed and just set in center, about 10-12 minutes longer.  Transfer to rack and cool 10 minutes.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

 
You'll probably notice that there was no cheese in this quiche recipe.  Believe me, it doesn't need it.  But if you really want, you could probably throw in a handful of shredded cheddar or Gruyère.

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French Red Onion Soup

My first encounter with French onion soup came after my family had moved to Ohio when I was 13. We were staying at a hotel until we could find more permanent housing, and as a treat, my parents chose to eat at the hotel restaurant for dinner. Back then, going to McDonald's was still a special thing for me, so this was probably the first sit-down meal I had where a waiter served me and everything. My mom ordered the French onion soup, and when she let me try some, it was love at first bite. The melty, salty cheese and not yet soggy bread crouton floating on top of the beef broth and sweet onions was the undoing of me. If such a thing existed in this world, then I was all the more glad to be living in it.

Fast forward to my undergrad days at Cornell. At the Ivy Room, one of the a la carte dining halls, they served French onion soup every day. Of course, being on meal plan, it didn't really make sense for me to be eating there because I could have been getting all-you-can-eat at Oakenshields next door, but that didn't stop me from going to the Ivy and getting my favorite soup at least once a week. Unfortunately, by my junior year, they had stopped serving it there, although they had started making paninis, which is how I had my first Cubano, but that's another story for another day.

I've never made French onion soup myself because the usual recipes call for beef broth, baguette bread, and cheese, which are 3 ingredients I don't usually have in my fridge or pantry. But then I ended up with 2 red onions from Boston Organics which I didn't know what to do with and in the same week, came across this recipe for French red onion soup from the September 2008 issue of Gourmet, which uses chicken broth instead of beef broth. I already had all the ingredients except for the baguette and Gruyere, but I figured just this one time I could shell out for them, and boy, am I glad I did.

French Red Onion Soup (based on this recipe)
makes 4 servings

2 cups homemade chicken stock
2 cups water
2 whole star anise
6 black peppercorns
2 lbs. red onions, cut into 1/2-inch wedges3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 (1-inch-thick) slices of baguette
2 cups coarsely grated Manchego or Gruyère (6 to 7 oz)

Bring broth, water, spices, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook onions in oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until deep golden, about 15 minutes. Add wine and boil, uncovered, until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 1 minute. Strain broth through a sieve into onion mixture and briskly simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Season with salt.

Preheat broiler.

Ladle soup into 4 ovenproof bowls set in a 4-sided sheet pan. Place baguette slices on top and sprinkle each with 1/2 cup cheese. Broil about 6 inches from heat until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 2 minutes.

I wish I had oven-proof bowls that were closer in diameter to the size of the baguette slice for aesthetic purposes. For gastromic purposes, it didn't really matter as the cheese that melted on top of the soup stayed nice and melty while the cheese on top of the bread protected it from getting too soggy. This particular recipe had a bit more onions in the soup than I prefer, but the taste of the soup itself was sublime. I couldn't even tell that it came from a chicken stock and not a beef broth, that's how much depth and body the caramelized onions, spices, and reduced red wine gave the soup.

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