Something is up. Every time I make some sort of potato dish I envisage myself sitting in front of an open fire with a few good friends and a good, gutsy bottle of red. I cannot tell you why this is but today it has happened again. The culprit is this belly buster of a potato dish that is just so incredibly good. And when I say belly buster I don’t mean in a healthy way either. This is very much comfort fare; food to be shared amongst friends, with wine (there, see – it happened again!) and good conversation.
I think I am now resigned to this strange re-occurrence of associations in my life and will just have accept it for what it is. Potatoes, red wine and open fires. It would seem a travesty to have this with say, a glass of water after all. At any rate, this dish would make the perfect side to something a little less rich or could also be a mighty good part of a tapas style meal and of course would shine served on its own. The cream sauce (which is the highlight in my opinion) is flavoured in the most gentle of ways with a goats cheese and chives. Don’t forget to serve it with some little dishes of cornichons, pickled onions and mustard as is the tradition in the French Alps. And I probably don’t need to say it but you should open a bottle of red – enough? Yes, I think so.
650 grams/1.4 pounds waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces (a little under an inch)
125 mls/ ½ cup clarified butter (see notes)
250 mls/ 1 cup pouring cream
90 grams/4 ounces soft goats cheese, coarsely crumbled ( I used an aged goats cheese – much like a Brie)
2 tablespoons of chives, finely chopped
250 grams/8.8 ounces Raclette, thinly sliced (can be substituted with Gruyere)
Preheat oven to 200c/400f. Pat potatoes dry with a tea towel. Heat clarified butter in a frying pan over medium heat, add potatoes, cook in 2 batches, stirring occasionally, until golden and tender (15-20 minutes). Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon, transfer to one large dish or divide between four 450ml oven proof serving dishes.
Meanwhile, bring cream to the simmer in a saucepan over medium heat and season to taste. Remove from heat and whisk in goat’s cheese and chives. Pour over potatoes, top with raclette and bake until golden (13-15 minutes). Serve hot with mustard, cornichons and pickled baby onions.
Notes: To make clarified butter, heat unsalted butter over a low heat till it starts to simmer and a foam appears on top. When it looks as though no more foam is rising then remove it with a spoon and discard. The remaining liquid is the clarified butter. You will lose around 20 -25% of the quantity during this process so ensure you add that onto the required amount. In this instance you would start out with 150mls of butter.
Source: Australian Gourmet Traveller, June 2010
© 2010, Michelle. All rights reserved.
