I've talked before about the tradition my cousin Nerea and I share of getting together to share the holy trinity: potatoes, bok choy and jelly/o or The PCJ. It's something we really en-choy and I'm sure you're all jelly-ous, something-something-[potato pun].
In the old days the potatoes were always scalloped but on recent PCJ dates we've been dabbling in various other potato-based fare. There were potato salads, hashbrowns, baked potatoes with all the fixin's and I don't doubt that in the future we'll delve deeper into potato experimentation, especially seeing as we each have a different cook book devoted solely to the delicious tubers. Still, I keep coming back to the creamy, melting comfort that can only be found in a big ol' bowl of scalloped potatoes. I decided that tonight was the night to revisit the old favourite.
Nerea always favours a sort of white sauce-based scallop coz it uses milk and is healthier but as we only eat them 2 or 3 times a year I don't mind using cream. Plus, a healthy serving of choy on the side completely balances those calories out, right? RIGHT?!
This is the method that I've come up with:
Layer thinly sliced potatoes in an oven dish. Over each layer sprinkle a mixture of salt, pepper, mozzarella and Parmesan. Usually, once the oven dish is full I just pour a 300ml pot of cream over the top, letting it seep down the layers and bake at 220oC for 1 1/2 hours (it takes a seriously long time to cook through if you're not parboiling first.)
Today, though, I did something a little different. Yesterday, spurned on by my mum both via her blog and in person, I decided to make a batch of provenzal (garlic and parsley). I went a bit overboard though, and made a HUGE batch so now the clock is ticking for me to use it all before it goes bad. After just one and a bit days I've used it in four meals.
So I took the cream for the potatoes and poured it into a measuring jug. I rinsed out the cream container with half as much milk and added that to the jug too. To that I added 4 tablespoons of the provenzal and a generous sprinkling of paprika. Mix together well and pour evenly over the layered potatoes. Bake the same as above until potatoes are tender.
You may need to cover the dish loosely with foil if the top browns too much as you go along.
I think this would have to be in my top 3 favourite scalloped potatoes of all time! They were so garlicky, I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven!
I also took care of the jelly. Nerea and I love our jelly to be really really firm, like those cubes of jelly you get at Pizza Hut all-you-can-eats. We used to make up our jelly with less water than stated on the packet instructions but then you get less for your buck. My new strategy is to add extra powdered gelatin to get the perfect al dente dessert. The rule is one tablespoon powdered gelatin to each 85gm pack of jelly crystals. And you know how jelly crystals never quite dissolve completely, there's always floaties on the bottom when you pour the mixture into moulds? Nerea recommends microwaving the jug for a few seconds to dissolve perfectly every time!
Nerea took care of the choy today (always with sesame oil and fish/oyster sauce) but for the first time we got to serve it in the choy-shaped serving dish she got me for Christmas. Eating a food off a dish shaped like that food? Awesome!
Couple that with a glass of icy cold cola and Ferris Bueller and you've got one enchanted evening.
Even our kitten Grover was trying to stick her face in our bowls to lick up the cheesy remnants. Are you dumber than a cat? I didn't think so. Get it down 'ya.
In the old days the potatoes were always scalloped but on recent PCJ dates we've been dabbling in various other potato-based fare. There were potato salads, hashbrowns, baked potatoes with all the fixin's and I don't doubt that in the future we'll delve deeper into potato experimentation, especially seeing as we each have a different cook book devoted solely to the delicious tubers. Still, I keep coming back to the creamy, melting comfort that can only be found in a big ol' bowl of scalloped potatoes. I decided that tonight was the night to revisit the old favourite.
Nerea always favours a sort of white sauce-based scallop coz it uses milk and is healthier but as we only eat them 2 or 3 times a year I don't mind using cream. Plus, a healthy serving of choy on the side completely balances those calories out, right? RIGHT?!
This is the method that I've come up with:
Layer thinly sliced potatoes in an oven dish. Over each layer sprinkle a mixture of salt, pepper, mozzarella and Parmesan. Usually, once the oven dish is full I just pour a 300ml pot of cream over the top, letting it seep down the layers and bake at 220oC for 1 1/2 hours (it takes a seriously long time to cook through if you're not parboiling first.)
Today, though, I did something a little different. Yesterday, spurned on by my mum both via her blog and in person, I decided to make a batch of provenzal (garlic and parsley). I went a bit overboard though, and made a HUGE batch so now the clock is ticking for me to use it all before it goes bad. After just one and a bit days I've used it in four meals.
So I took the cream for the potatoes and poured it into a measuring jug. I rinsed out the cream container with half as much milk and added that to the jug too. To that I added 4 tablespoons of the provenzal and a generous sprinkling of paprika. Mix together well and pour evenly over the layered potatoes. Bake the same as above until potatoes are tender.
You may need to cover the dish loosely with foil if the top browns too much as you go along.
I think this would have to be in my top 3 favourite scalloped potatoes of all time! They were so garlicky, I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven!
I also took care of the jelly. Nerea and I love our jelly to be really really firm, like those cubes of jelly you get at Pizza Hut all-you-can-eats. We used to make up our jelly with less water than stated on the packet instructions but then you get less for your buck. My new strategy is to add extra powdered gelatin to get the perfect al dente dessert. The rule is one tablespoon powdered gelatin to each 85gm pack of jelly crystals. And you know how jelly crystals never quite dissolve completely, there's always floaties on the bottom when you pour the mixture into moulds? Nerea recommends microwaving the jug for a few seconds to dissolve perfectly every time!
Nerea took care of the choy today (always with sesame oil and fish/oyster sauce) but for the first time we got to serve it in the choy-shaped serving dish she got me for Christmas. Eating a food off a dish shaped like that food? Awesome!
Couple that with a glass of icy cold cola and Ferris Bueller and you've got one enchanted evening.
Even our kitten Grover was trying to stick her face in our bowls to lick up the cheesy remnants. Are you dumber than a cat? I didn't think so. Get it down 'ya.
AWOO! Would you make this dish next time around and invite the rest of us?
ReplyDeletehttp://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/05/restaurant-style-smashed-potatoes/