[0 - 2] - So this video, you're gonna see a lot of potatoes.
[2 - 4] And if that's not what you're interested in,
[4 - 5] I don't know what to tell you.
[6 - 9] Recently on this channel, I made a video
[9 - 12] where I recreated these exceptionally good fries
[12 - 14] from one of my favorite restaurant.
[14 - 15] To make those fries I had to find
[15 - 19] a particular type of potato called the Kennebec potato.
[19 - 22] And I could only find it through a produce wholesaler
[22 - 25] which meant the minimum quantity I could buy it in
[25 - 27] was a 50 pound box.
[27 - 28] So I've had all these potatoes
[28 - 30] that I've had to find something to do with.
[30 - 32] I've given some away to friends.
[32 - 33] I've used some in normal cooking.
[33 - 37] I was left with about half the box, 25 pounds.
[37 - 40] So I thought, okay, this is actually a great opportunity
[40 - 43] to try a bunch of potato recipes
[43 - 45] that I had always wanted to try,
[45 - 46] but never got around to doing.
[46 - 48] So that's what I'm going to do today,
[48 - 52] Show you how I used 25 pounds of potatoes.
[52 - 53] I made all of these recipes
[53 - 56] and now I'm going to take you through how it went.
[56 - 59] So the first recipe is called Pommes Anna,
[59 - 64] which is essentially like a pie made entirely out of potato.
[64 - 66] Start by peeling my potatoes.
[66 - 69] This recipe uses quite a few potatoes
[69 - 72] so it appealed to me immediately.
[72 - 75] I needed to thinly slice them so I got this mandoline
[75 - 78] and I opted for a wider design
[78 - 80] because some of these potatoes are quite large.
[80 - 83] And there was a matter of dialing in the size
[83 - 85] by adjusting the knob on the back.
[85 - 89] And you want it to be pretty thin, but not so thin
[89 - 92] that it's not gonna have any structure to it.
[92 - 94] So I started by melting a bunch of butter
[94 - 98] and then pouring off most of that butter into a pitcher
[98 - 100] which I'll then add to the layers later on.
[100 - 103] And then you layer the potato slices overlapping
[103 - 105] in concentric circles,
[105 - 108] intermittently adding back some butter.
[108 - 110] I should note that there was a little bit
[110 - 112] of a gap between mandolining the potatoes
[112 - 114] and then me doing the layering
[114 - 118] so some of my potato slices started to warp in a funny way,
[118 - 120] which was not ideal,
[120 - 124] but I ended up taking my other, smaller cast iron skillet
[124 - 126] and smushing down the layers.
[126 - 129] So then we're heating the pan on the stove top
[129 - 131] in order to form a crust.
[131 - 133] Because I have such a large pan.
[133 - 135] I like to move it around
[135 - 138] to make sure that I'm evenly heating the entire pan
[138 - 141] so that there aren't hot spots
[141 - 144] which are going to maybe burn the potatoes.
[144 - 146] And you can start to see steam
[146 - 148] and bubbles coming up around the edges.
[148 - 151] And then it goes in the oven 30 or 40 minutes
[151 - 154] until it's tender all the way through.
[154 - 158] So I got my biggest cutting board, put it on top,
[158 - 160] and then it was the moment of truth.
[162 - 164] this was beautiful.
[164 - 166] The top, very crispy.
[166 - 168] Probably could have taken it a bit further
[168 - 171] and gotten a even more crusty top,
[171 - 173] but this was very good.
[173 - 175] It's a recipe that really appeals to me
[175 - 178] because it's both dead simple,
[178 - 182] but has this element of fussiness that I kind of like.
[182 - 183] You could just roast potatoes
[183 - 185] and get a similar satisfaction,
[185 - 187] but there's something kind of nice about
[187 - 191] communicating the effort that you put into it.
[191 - 193] You know, if you were serving this to guests
[193 - 194] or something like that.
[194 - 197] If you're wondering how I consumed all these potatoes,
[197 - 199] I actually ended up portioning some off,
[199 - 202] packaging it up, and giving it to neighbors,
[202 - 207] and friends, and anybody who would help me eat potatoes.
[207 - 210] So the next recipe I tried is called fondant potatoes.
[210 - 215] Despite the name, it does not have any cake on it.
[215 - 216] So for this recipe I referenced
[216 - 219] the YouTube channel Food Wishes with Chef John
[219 - 221] which I like very much because,
[221 - 224] calm voice explaining recipe.
[224 - 226] The thing with these Kennebecs,
[226 - 228] a lot of the large ones are sort of saucer shaped.
[228 - 231] And what I needed to do was trim these potatoes
[231 - 234] into the shape of compact cylinders
[234 - 235] making sure that they were
[235 - 237] all approximately the same height.
[237 - 239] This generated a lot of potato trimmings
[239 - 241] which I container-ed off
[241 - 243] to then make mashed potatoes later on
[243 - 247] which will come into play a little bit later in this video.
[247 - 250] So in a very hot pan with oil,
[250 - 253] I seared one side of each of these potatoes
[253 - 256] taking time not to do it at too high of a heat
[256 - 259] where it might burn some portions
[259 - 261] before you developed an even crust.
[261 - 263] So once they're all even, you flip them over
[263 - 266] remove the excess grapeseed oil in my case,
[266 - 268] let the pan cool a little bit more
[268 - 270] so that when I add butter in the next step,
[270 - 274] it doesn't immediately scald or burn.
[274 - 276] These potatoes are called fondant potatoes
[276 - 279] because they are now going to be cooked with stock.
[279 - 283] Since this recipe just has one main flavoring component.
[283 - 285] I wanted to get a very nice stock.
[285 - 289] So I got it from this restaurant and butcher
[289 - 291] that I've previously used on this channel called Gwen
[291 - 294] it's I think primarily pork based.
[294 - 298] And you can tell it's just very thick and good looking.
[298 - 299] Then it goes into the oven
[299 - 303] and that goes for 30, 40 minutes,
[303 - 306] basically, until it's tender all the way through
[307 - 309] which is you can see I'm testing here
[309 - 312] with a little cake tester.
[312 - 315] These things were extremely good.
[315 - 316] And spooning some of this roasting liquid
[316 - 318] on to the top of the potatoes,
[318 - 320] I could not believe how good this tasted
[320 - 322] there's starch coming from the potatoes,
[322 - 324] which is also acting, I think
[324 - 326] as a thickening agent, and you end up
[326 - 328] with this tremendous gravy
[329 - 332] it's that custardy inside
[332 - 334] with the stock that's been sucked inside.
[334 - 336] And then you have this contrast
[336 - 338] with the crust on top,
[338 - 341] but this kind of transforms the potato
[341 - 343] into more of a,
[343 - 346] a statement potato.
[346 - 347] I love the fondant potato.
[347 - 350] This was 10 out of 10 potatoes for me.
[350 - 353] The next recipe I tried, it's called Pommes Souffle
[353 - 355] which is not a souffle in the way
[355 - 357] that you think of the category of dishes
[357 - 359] that are souffles or souffles.
[359 - 362] But rather a souffle in the meaning of the word souffle
[362 - 365] which is to puff or inflate something.
[365 - 366] Pomme souffle is really just
[366 - 369] taking thin slices of potato and frying it
[369 - 372] in a particular way so that it will puff.
[372 - 375] So I started by selecting some choice potatoes
[375 - 380] and trimming them into rectangles of even height and shape.
[380 - 381] I then took the mandoline
[381 - 386] and shaved a couple of test slices at different thicknesses.
[387 - 390] This technique turns out quite difficult.
[390 - 392] The first fry is intended to develop
[392 - 396] like a skin on the outside of this potato slice.
[396 - 397] And then on the second fry
[397 - 399] with the higher temperature
[399 - 401] it should rapidly inflate
[401 - 403] with the steam that's created inside.
[403 - 406] The rectangle shape just turned into a potato chip.
[406 - 408] It was a very good potato chip.
[408 - 412] You could see in small areas where it wanted to inflate
[412 - 414] but didn't quite work.
[414 - 417] And so I quickly gave up on the rectangle shape
[417 - 420] and instead tried to use a little pastry tip
[420 - 422] to cut out a circle.
[422 - 427] So the small circle actually did puff into a sphere
[427 - 429] but I thought this was overall too small
[429 - 431] and didn't really work.
[431 - 436] So I found a cookie cutter to get a large coin sized shape.
[437 - 439] I also mandolined them a little bit thicker.
[439 - 442] And then this was a matter of playing with the temperatures
[442 - 444] of the first fry and the second fry
[444 - 448] until I started seeing something happen.
[448 - 451] And ultimately I went through a ton of potatoes
[451 - 453] and a ton of tests,
[453 - 455] and this was kind of a fail for me.
[455 - 459] I ended up getting one that was pretty good, not great
[459 - 462] kind of the size and shape of a macaron.
[462 - 466] I think my issue was that the second fry oil
[466 - 469] because I was trying to control it in this Dutch oven.
[469 - 472] I don't think it was uniformly hot enough
[472 - 475] to get that sort of rapid inflation,
[475 - 477] but ultimately it's really just something
[477 - 479] that's intended to be a garnish.
[479 - 481] Overall a fail for me.
[481 - 483] But I ended up with a bunch of potato chips
[483 - 484] that were quite good.
[484 - 486] So the next recipe I actually came across
[486 - 489] on Jacques Pepin's Instagram page
[489 - 492] and it's called Pommes Mont D'or
[492 - 495] which means golden mountain of potato.
[495 - 496] How fantastic is that?
[496 - 498] Over the course of making these dishes,
[498 - 501] I had a lot of trimmed potato sections
[501 - 503] which I saved to make mashed potatoes
[503 - 506] but to complete this dish, I needed to mash some more.
[506 - 508] So I cubed them, boiled them
[508 - 511] and mashed them with butter, salt, and pepper.
[511 - 513] So I have my leftover mashed potatoes
[513 - 518] into which goes a few eggs, some shredded Gruyere cheese
[518 - 520] put it into a buttered casserole dish
[520 - 523] and top it with some Parmesan cheese.
[523 - 528] This then goes into the oven 400 degrees, 30 ish minutes
[528 - 531] but you can see how much this thing puffs in the oven.
[531 - 535] And you have, truly, this golden mountain of potatoes.
[535 - 537] And this was great.
[537 - 538] I mean, the smell of
[538 - 542] that sort of baked cheese on the outside
[542 - 546] fluffy scoop of potato. Fun fact,
[546 - 549] I thought I was grating Parmesan, but in my rush,
[549 - 551] I ended up grating Pecorino,
[551 - 552] which has a much higher melting point
[553 - 555] which is why the cheese on top
[555 - 558] is melted in some places, not in others.
[558 - 560] I think this would have been even better
[560 - 564] had I made really smooth mashed potatoes.
[564 - 566] Overall it was still very good.
[566 - 570] And it felt like a great way to turn just a potato
[570 - 574] into something a lot more with not that much effort.
[574 - 577] The final dish is called Potato Pave,
[577 - 579] which is from Chef Thomas Keller.
[579 - 581] And you can actually find this recipe
[581 - 584] in his ad hoc at home book.
[584 - 585] And so this one really appealed to me
[585 - 588] because it's combining a lot of the elements
[588 - 590] of the previous dishes.
[590 - 593] We're going to have thin crispy layers
[593 - 597] but also a creamy flavored inside.
[597 - 599] So we're going to be mandolining potato
[599 - 601] and layering it in a loaf tin.
[601 - 602] And so I wanted to make sure
[602 - 605] that the size of the potatoes would be appropriate.
[605 - 607] So you slice a crap ton of potatoes
[607 - 611] and these slices then go into a bowl of cream.
[611 - 613] That's seasoned with salt and pepper
[613 - 617] and then took care to cut parchment for this loaf tin.
[617 - 620] If this doesn't unmold later on, you're really in trouble.
[620 - 624] So next we're layering the potato in the loaf tin, overlapping slightly.
[624 - 626] And as you're layering, you're putting
[626 - 628] these little nubs of butter
[628 - 629] so that you had the presence
[629 - 631] of some fat for when it's cooking in the oven.
[631 - 634] So if you find a video of Thomas Keller making this dish
[634 - 638] the potato slices are these dead even rectangles
[638 - 639] that perfectly fit the tin.
[639 - 641] My potatoes are kind of all over the place.
[641 - 644] I started shifting my potato up to the perimeter
[644 - 648] to evenly cover as best I could.
[648 - 650] Eventually the center is going to be a little higher.
[650 - 653] So I ended up taking some slices, trimming them
[653 - 654] and then putting them around
[654 - 655] the perimeter of the dish
[655 - 658] to get the height more even.
[658 - 661] And then I continued with some big even slices
[661 - 662] to kind of make sure
[662 - 664] that everything was sticking together.
[664 - 667] Eventually you fill up this entire tin with potatoes
[667 - 669] then covered it in parchment,
[669 - 670] and then it goes in the oven
[670 - 673] and then you're just slowly cooking this loaf of potatoes
[673 - 676] until it's tender all the way through.
[676 - 678] And again, I'm using this cake tester
[678 - 679] and with this fine piece of metal
[679 - 683] you can really feel each layer, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop
[683 - 685] and you can see how it's doing
[685 - 687] in the middle versus the size and so forth.
[687 - 690] Once I was satisfied with its tenderness
[690 - 691] it cooled out on a rack for a bit.
[691 - 694] And then it went in my refrigerator overnight.
[694 - 698] The next day you unmold this loaf of potato.
[698 - 700] It's really pretty incredible.
[700 - 703] You just have a brick of potato.
[703 - 706] So to serve this dish, you trim off the ends
[706 - 708] cutting a nice thick slab,
[708 - 712] squaring that off into the rectangles,
[712 - 715] which will ultimately be your pave.
[715 - 719] And so pave is a reference to like a paving stone
[719 - 722] which is what the final dish is meant to resemble.
[722 - 725] It's like little bricks of potato.
[725 - 727] I've had some beef tallow hanging around.
[727 - 730] So I used some of that in the pan
[730 - 733] much like you would cook a protein, like a steak.
[733 - 735] There's a clove of crushed garlic
[735 - 738] and some thyme, as they become golden on one side
[738 - 742] flipping it to the next and repeating until done.
[744 - 746] And there are my paves.
[746 - 748] I also minced some chives
[748 - 752] and these things are mesmerizing.
[752 - 756] You get to make like this little Stonehenge of potatoes
[756 - 757] around your plate.
[757 - 759] And man, these things were great.
[759 - 760] I mean, it tastes like
[760 - 764] a fancy hash brown and all things considered
[764 - 766] even though it's a little bit fussy
[766 - 768] it's a little bit finicky to put together.
[768 - 769] Not that difficult.
[769 - 773] Your active cooking time is really not that much
[773 - 774] but if you want it to make something
[774 - 776] that was a little bit more show stopper-y
[776 - 779] to put on the side of a holiday meal
[779 - 780] or something like that,
[780 - 781] I would totally make these.
[781 - 782] And they tasted so good.
[782 - 786] You got the crispy outside and then it just flakes apart
[786 - 791] and you get like this creamy tender inside. It's tremendous.
[791 - 794] So I used 25 pounds of potatoes.
[794 - 796] Actually I came just short.
[796 - 800] So when packing leftovers for my friends
[800 - 802] I threw a couple of potatoes in the bag.
[802 - 803] Maybe they can watch this video
[803 - 805] and try some of the recipes for themselves.
[805 - 809] Well, thanks for watching and a Pomme Voyage.