From the ArcaMax Publishing, Recipes Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/recipes/s-108223-877060
"One Potato, Two Potatoes, 23 Potatoes, more!"
My husband and I went on our honeymoon 21 years ago this month. We've
really been married 22 years but we are one of those couples, that
when we married, paid for our own wedding (we were a bit older). We
had also started a new company together so it took us another year to
save up enough money to go on a honeymoon. We wanted to travel
somewhere rather exotic so it was worth the wait.
We traveled to Norway.
What a beautiful country. I can go on and on about the fjords and the
mountainous scenery but without pictures what's the point? So I'll
tell you a couple of stories instead.
We traveled from the south to the border between Norway and Russia on
a very small cruise ship. This same ship was also the mail ship and
the Norwegian equivalent of the Greyhound Bus service. The ship
stopped up to 15 times a day. We'd pick up or drop off passengers.
We'd deliver the mail to each port and deliver some cargo. One thing
we delivered to every port was Coke; the universally accepted drink.
Diet and regular. Some ports we were only in for about 10 minutes.
Just enough time for us to get off the boat, cruise the dock and get
back on. Other times we had opportunities for on-shore tours; just
like you would on a regular cruise.
We did have a cruise director; a nice woman with perfect English
skills, but much of our cruise was very out of the ordinary. There
were guests from all over the world. The Germans and English had the
upper class suites. We booked in for a regular suite; which we didn't
know was actually outfitted in bunk beds. Yep, on our honeymoon we had
bunk beds. And yes, a tear or 12 was shed by me but I got over it
fast. We'd already been married a year anyway.
The food and food prep was a whole different story. The kitchen was
the size of a large shoebox. They let me take a tour! I could not
believe it. It was the size of an apartment galley kitchen at best.
From this small space they fed 125 passengers 3 times a day as well as
snacks for those that were traveling a short distance.
The meals were pretty decent. It took us awhile to get used to the
Scandinavian-style breakfasts that include lots of herring and cheese.
For the English they had soft-boiled eggs and for the Americans.Corn
Flakes. They thought that's what we ate everyday for breakfast so
that's what they served us -- everyday. I just could not bring myself
to eat herring at 8 AM.
There was something else we had everyday too; and sometimes twice a
day. Boiled potatoes. Boiled potatoes were the ubiquitous starch. We
were on this ship for 12 days. That's a LOT of potatoes. We counted 23
times they served us boiled potatoes. That was also why I became
curious and wanted to see the galley (kitchen).
I guess we could have complained about the food but it just didn't
seem to matter. We had candlelight in the evening; rubber table cloths
to keep everything in place if the seas were choppy and we had each
other. Other than the potatoes I can't remember a thing I ate for
lunch or dinner. And I'll never forget the Corn Flakes.
The recipe I'm going to share today is for one of my favorite potato
dishes. It's so simple I bet they could have served it on the cruise
ship but as I recall they had only one oven so maybe that's why we got
so many boiled potatoes. This is a take off of a very famous, old
recipe from France. They call it Pommes Anna. I've jazzed it up a bit
and "Zola-fied" it. So I'll just call it French Potato Casserole.
French Potato Casserole
Serves 8
4 pounds of Russet potatoes
one cup of melted butter (use real
butter)
one half cup of grated onion (white, yellow or
shallots)
salt and pepper
paprika
This is an amazingly simple dish and even without any kind of cheese
these potatoes taste incredibly rich. Must be all that butter!
Peel the potatoes. Put them in a deep bowl with water so they don't
brown while you prepare them.
You'll need a 9 X 13" oven proof casserole. (The size can vary a bit
but you'll find out soon that everyone wants some of the "crust" so
keep it larger).
Slice the potatoes paper thin. I use my mandolin for this project. On
level 2, I get potato slices that are a sixteenth of an inch. Uniform
--and you can cut them really fast. Use your guard so you don't slip
and cut yourself. If you don't have a mandolin use a very sharp knife
and be careful.
After the first potato is cut put a layer of slices in the bottom of
the casserole. Sprinkle on a Tbl of grated onion and salt and pepper.
Now put on the next layer. After this layer drizzle on some of the
butter. You're going to continue like this until all of the potatoes
are gone. Don't use salt and pepper on every layer. That might be a
bit much. Keep an eye on how much onion you put on between layers so
it can last until the last of the potatoes. Same with the butter. You
want one last drizzle on top. Then top it off with a light dusting of
paprika for color and even a crack of black pepper so you have those
specks on top too.
Cover the potato casserole with aluminum foil. Pop this in your 400
degree oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes take off the foil and let
it bake 30 minutes more. You should form a nice medium browned crust
on the top. The crust is going to be a major hit. Believe me. Zola
knows. Cut with a serving spoon or sharp knife and use a spatula to
take it out of the casserole. It will be steaming hot.
This makes great leftovers to go with breakfast or perfect for a
brunch table.
Enjoy!
Zola