Julia Child is Genius

Julia Child's Potato Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds boiling potatoes, thinly sliced (food processor works well)
• 2 sticks butter, melted
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Clarify the butter (melt and let the white pieces move to the top). Using a basting bulb, squeeze the end of it in the clear butter -- use only this -- otherwise the potatoes will stick.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet or other very heavy pan, put in 1/4 cup clarified butter, arrange potato slices around the pan, covering the bottom in a design. Salt and pepper the potato layers, pouring on a bit more butter, then salt/pepper and arrange two other layers. Continue layering the potatoes, butter, salt/pepper, until the potatoes are all used. Take a smaller pan with a flat bottom and press down to compress the potatoes into a cake.

Put in the oven for 20 minutes. (As a safety precaution, put something under the potatoes to catch any butter that may spatter.) Remove from the oven and press down on the potatoes again. Return to the oven for 25 more minutes. Remove to compess the layers again. You can return for 5 more minutes or, if you need to bake something in the oven, finish the potatoes over the burner on low, until the main dish is cooked. Invert onto plate and cut into wedges.
(From Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two, Julia Child)

Jeff and I took on an entire menu from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (MAoFC) this past weekend. It was AMBITIOUS….as an understatement of the year. I’m posting what recipes I can find online, because I simply cannot type 12 pages of how to make French Bread….but trust me pick up copies of MAoFC..1 & 2….it’s a bible, and highly worth it!

So you’ve decided you’d like to be Polish

Pierogi

Make a pot of mashed potatoes (peeled and using about 8 medium sized) and add 2 cups of cheddar cheese. (preference is sharp.)

Make your dough:
1 egg
¾ C water
1 tsp salt
3 ½ - 4 C flour

Mix (I use a kitchenaid with a dough hook). Roll out THIN (a pasta maker works wonders here. Make long strips of dough, 5 inches high. Emulating how you would fill ravioli, go down each and add a nice spoonful of mashed potato. Cut and fold each pierogi, sealing edges with a fork. Boil in a hot pot of water a few at a time until they float.

In a frying pan, melt 2 sticks of butter (margarine is okay) with a diced yellow or white onion. Add 16 oz of cottage cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over boiled pierogi.

This is THE Polish-Czech dish of my growing up. I love my Halupki and cabbage and sauerkraut. But nothing marks my unique cooking upbringing more than this dish. It takes time. It’s completely undiet friendly. But my dad taught me how to make this, we made it together, this IS one of my favorite memories. Enjoy.

A Lil Bit of Irish

Colcannon

1 medium cabbage, quartered and cored
2 pounds of potatoes, cleaned, skins on
2 leeks, diced
1 cup of whole milk
1/2 tsp mace
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 stick of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil cabbage in water for about 15 minutes. Drain and set cabbage aside. In a new pot of water, boil the potatoes until tender and drain off water.

In a sauce pan, sauté leeks in milk, bring to an almost boil and then simmer until tender.

Add mace, salt and pepper, garlic and butter to the potatoes and mash well (use a hand masher), no add the leeks and milk to the mix. Stir tenderly, you don't want to break this into a mush. Add cabbage, continue to stir until it's smooth with nice toothy bits of cabbage.

Transfer this to a 10x13 Pyrex dish, put under the broiler. Score a cool design in the top with a fork (serves no purpose other than the "ooh ahh!" factor) and broil until browned on top.

This dish is FANTASTIC. If you are tired of mashed potatoes, or even mac and cheese (gasp!) this could be your next comfort food. It goes fantastically during the holidays with a rib roast just as much as you can do meatloaf on Thursday. Enjoy!

Potaytoh..Potahtoh

Hashbrown Casserole

1 bag of cubed frozen hashbrowns, defrosted
1 1/2 C. Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 C chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 C of bread crumbs
1 stick of Butter

Cook hashbrowns and onion in a little butter. Mix with cheese and soup. Pour into greasted 10x13 Pyrex dish. Melt remaining butter and mix with bread crumbs, sprinkle on top. Cook for 30 minutes @ 350 degrees.

This dish is fantastic at the table with everything mixed in. Consider it your base for making everything taste good. It's not a spicy or overly seasoned dish, but it adds that bit of warmth to the plate. Outside of the turkey arena, I trade out the cubed hashbrowns for the shredded variety (O'Brien style if they're available) and omit the breadcrumbs, slide it along with your eggs at brunch and you're all set!