Pommes Anna

[handmc]

So I have read about them. How the heck do you make them?

[Carolyn Tillie]

First, do you have the special, straight-sided pan? Thick-walled, flat bottom, and necessary.

I very THINLY slice my potato of choice on a mandoline into rounds. Wash and dry (they must be dry). Clarify tons and tons of butter. Dip each slice into the clarified butter and start laying flat, in concentric circles, slightly overlapping. Fill the dish with rows of potatoes and inbetween each row, brush more butter.

Cover the dish and start on the stove top. When you feel it getting a bit warm, put into a hot oven for 15 or 20 minutes. Take out and flip cake over. return to oven until brown on other side. Remove from oven and drain any excess butter.

Serve. It should be beautiful and golden brown (so taking care to lay out the slices evenly is mandatory).

Obviously, the amount of time needed in the oven and the temperature varies. I tend to cook it in a very hot oven -- around 400 degress. Part of the difficulty is finding the pan that is absolutely flat. Even a slight curve and the potatoes can curl up on themselves.

Let us know how you do!

[jackal10]

So I have read about them. How the heck do you make them?

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Illustrated recipe, and much, much, else in the eGCI Great Potato Primer

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=31701

[mklynch]

Don't forget salt and pepper!

I've used my french steel saute pan and it's worked fine. I wash and peel the potatoes but don't wash the slices. I don't dip each slice, just layer and then brush on the butter. I'm sure there are about a hundred different ways people make them, just like everything else.

[Jinmyo]

I use a silpat in the oven.

I often use a ring mold to cut out circles and stack them with fillings in between.

[Busboy]

I just make them in a cast iron Dutch oven; my daughter helped me make them on Thanksgiving. We don't wash or dry, but that's not a bad idea. The best batch I ever made involved baking the potato slices briefly before buttering and stacking them, the layers separated more exquisitely, but it's ridiculously time consumeing.

Acrually, the best batch I ever made was when I slided a layer of black truffles in the middle of the potatoes and then served them with lamb chops in a truffled stock reduction. But that's not exactly an everyday recipe.

[rosebud]

Busboy,

I've tried to find the recipe used on "America's Test Kitchen", but everytime I try look at that website, I get disconnected.

I saw one of their episodes a few months ago about cooking a classic Christmas dinner: roast rib roast, green beans, and potatoes Anna.

One great trick is to use a non-stick, oven-proof pan, which I didn't have until I saw the thread by Fat Guy about the Calphalon Commerical Non Stick stuff on sale at Amazon.com. Now, I have the perfect pan for this.

Julia Child has a classic recipe (Natch!) in MAFC Vol. II. But the Cook's Illustrated people had some interesting tricks on their TV show.

If you have ever had the "Potatoes Anna" at Cashion's Eat Place, you should know that what they serve doesn't bear much relationship to the real thing. Their's is more of a plain potato galette.

Hope this will help you get started.

[Really Nice!]

So I have read about them. How the heck do you make them?

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What have you read?