Boulangère Potatoes literally translates to “potatoes from the baker”. You’re probably wondering why they’d refer to them as ‘bakers’ potatoes’ since bakers make bread and not potatoes. Interesting story… Centuries ago, in rural areas, people didn’t have their own ovens in their homes. Instead, they would prepare a roast and this potato casserole dish (or something like it) and then take them into the local baker to be baked while all went to church. They’d then pick up their cooked meals on their way home.
Boulangère Potatoes makes for a lovely casserole combining thinly sliced potatoes, rosemary, sautéed sliced onions, garlic, and butter. Covered in a flavorful stock and baked in the oven to achieve a soft buttery potato inside, with a bit of crunch on the outside, it bakes up like a gratin, but lighter since it uses stock instead of cream.
Ingredients
2 ½ lb potatoes, peeled if russet, optional to peel if Yukon Gold
6-8 Tbsp butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½-2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
½ cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
¼ cup grated Parmesan
1 ½ tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 ½ tsp fresh thyme, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh thyme sprigs for garnish
Optional: Parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a sauté pan, melt 3 Tbsp butter. Add onions and sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Add fresh minced herbs and cook one minute more. Remove from heat.
Peel, then slice potatoes thinly using a mandoline or sharp knife.
Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Arrange 1/3 potatoes in a single layer, then ½ the herbed onions and ½ the Gruyere. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Repeat this layering once more, followed by a final layer of potatoes arranged so they overlap slightly.
Add just enough stock to submerge everything except the top potato layer. Top with more sprinkles of salt and pepper. Cut the remaining 3 Tbsp butter into small cubes and dot the top. Drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle on Parmesan.
Cover with foil, bake 1 hour. Remove foil, raise oven temperature to 425°, bake ½ hour more. Garnish with fresh thyme sprigs before serving.
Potatoes can play a role in your rolls, or other bready goodies like biscuits.
This simple recipe takes you from start to finish, and it’s also a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. Flavor-wise, a blank slate for you to get creative with, or use ’em as a vehicle for other things. Swap out some of the potatoes for sweet potatoes if you’d like.
Ingredients
4 medium potatoes, peeled/quartered
¼ – ½ cup all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
¼ tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp buttermilk
1 Tbsp melted unsalted butter (veganized ok too!), plus more butter for cooking/serving
Pinches of salt
Olive oil, for cooking
Directions
Add potatoes to a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a hard simmer. Cook until tender, cooked through, about 20 minutes. Put potatoes in a colander to drain and cool.
Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, use a potato ricer or masher to get lump-free taters.
Put potatoes and other ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix using a spoon until everything comes together and it’s difficult to keep mixing. Continue mixing with your hands, adding a more flour if dough is too sticky to handle.
Remove dough from bowl and knead briefly on a floured surface until smooth. Add more flour if dough is still tacky. This dough is on the sticky side but should be ok to handle with floured hands.
Divide dough into four equal balls. One at a time, place a ball on a lightly floured surface and roll out with a lightly-floured rolling pin until about ¼ inch thick.
Cut rolled dough into quarters., or cook as a whole piece if you have a pan big enough.
To an iron skillet or non-stick pan over medium heat, add a little butter and olive oil and once melted, add a piece of dough to the pan. Fry on one side until golden and bread feels firm and set, then turn over. This can take several minutes. Once other side is golden and bread cooked through, remove from pan. Place cooked bread on a tray in the oven set at low heat, to keep warm. Cover with foil to keep from drying out. Repeat.
These potatoes are a fun variation on the standard, but not too zhuzhed up that the taters get lost in the other ingredients.
Ingredients
5 lb potatoes, peeled
1 head garlic
Zest of 1 lemon
1 – 1 ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/3 cup plus 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
Fresh-ground white or black pepper
Optional: Tahini for drizzling
Directions
Roast garlic: Preheat oven to 400°. Take off outermost papery layer of garlic skin. Cut about ¼ – ½ inch off the top, leaving all cloves slightly exposed. Drizzle/rub 1 Tbsp olive oil onto head and place on a piece of foil big enough to fully wrap it up. Toast in heated oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool, push garlic cloves from casings and set aside.
Place potatoes in a stock pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook about 15 minutes, or until tender.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk 1/3 cup olive oil, lemon zest, roasted garlic, 1 tsp salt until blended.
Drain potatoes, return to pan. Mash potatoes and then drizzle/gently fold in oil mixture. Add a few grinds pepper, adjust salt to taste.
Transfer to a serving dish and top with toasted pine nuts, remaining olive oil and tahini.
Get “boozy” with your cranberries and see what the fuss is all about! Pears make it extra special.
Ingredients
12 oz cranberries
2 ripe pears, peeled/cored/cubed small
½ cup honey
½ cup port wine
¼ cup Grand Marnier
¼ cup water
2 thin slices fresh ginger, 1 inch long
1 cinnamon stick
¼ tsp salt
Directions
Combine everything except Grand Marnier in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, still stirring occasionally until mixture thickens and all berries are split and sauce has thickened to your liking, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Grand Marnier.
Remove ginger pieces and cinnamon stick and allow sauce to cool. Sauce will thicken more as it cools. Store in fridge in airtight container.
Interested in shaking up your holiday bird stuffing routine? While most focus on regular bread cubes or cornbread, think about the other great bread-y creations you love.
Why not sub in pretzel rolls, or cubed bagels? Or, cook the stuffing in a different pan, like a bundt ring or muffin tin! That way there’ll be plenty of crusty edges for everyone to enjoy.
Ingredients
6 English muffins, cut into 1-inch cubes
6 Tbsp European-style unsalted butter
2 cups smoked meat or cooked sausage, diced
2 stalks celery, diced small
1 medium sweet onion, diced small
4 cloves garlic, minced/pressed
1 apple, peeled/diced small
½ Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
½ Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
½ Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 Tbsp Everything Bagel seasoning
2 eggs, beaten – divided
1 cup chicken or veg stock, plus a little more as needed
Salt/pepper to taste
Olive oil to grease baking dish and muffin tin
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°.
Melt butter in a sauté pan. Toss English muffin pieces with butter in a large bowl.
Pan fry English muffin cubes in batches over high heat until golden. Remove from pan.
Sauté onion for a few minutes until translucent. Add in garlic, sauté 1 minute more. Add in celery and cook until it’s still firm but no longer crunchy. Remove from pan.
Add English muffin cubes, cooked veggies, apple, meat, Everything Bagel seasoning and herbs to a large bowl and mix/fold everything together.
Whisk together 1 egg and 1 cup stock, adding to mixture in the bowl. Add a little more stock as needed – bread should be well-hydrated but not mushy.
Grease a baking dish with olive oil and add mixture, evening out the surface. Bake in preheated oven 35-45 minutes until top is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Cooking Muffins: Preheat oven to 450°. Grease muffin tin with olive oil. Scoop stuffing into a mixing bowl and mix in remaining egg. Scoop stuffing into muffin tin.
Reduce heat to 425°. Bake 15 minutes and serve warm. Can be refrigerated and reheated.
The flavors of French Onion Soup, but in a shroom-filled sammie!
Truffles are a type of fungi that grows underground. Not a mushroom per se, but the earthy-umami vibe is big and bold in these knobby, odiferous little critters. A little goes a long way, so truffle-infused oil, salt, hot sauce, and other condiments are usually where you can indulge relatively cheaply and easily. Truffle hot sauce with this sammie brings another layer of fun-gi to the party.
Ingredients
1 lb crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 lb sweet onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp Sherry vinegar
6 oz Gruyère cheese, grated
¼ cup grated Parmesan
1 tsp salt, divided
½ tsp pepper, divided
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
½ tsp sugar
½ cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
4 deli sandwich rolls (like Mexican bolillo bread), or wide baguette bread (1 1/3 baguette)
Optional: Truffle hot sauce, fresh chopped parsley – for serving
Directions
Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil, onions, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, sugar and bay leaf. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden brown and caramelized, 45-50 minutes. Turn heat down and/or deglaze pan with a little water as needed so onions don’t stick and burn. Remove from pan and set aside. Clean out pan.
In the large sauté pan, add 2 Tbsp olive oil. Once it’s warmed up, add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add mushrooms, dried thyme, Worcestershire sauce, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper. Toss to coat and stir occasionally. Once mushrooms are pretty well cooked, deglaze pan with white wine. Remove from pan.
Mix together mayonnaise, Dijon and sherry vinegar.
Split open rolls, or baguette bread portioned into sandwich size, Toast in oven under broiler until lightly golden.
Assemble sandwiches: Spread mayo mix on bread. Top with caramelized onions and then mushrooms. Top each sandwich with grated cheeses and return to broiler until cheese melts. Add optional truffle hot sauce and chopped parsley if using. Serve.
