Pommes de Terre à la Crème

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3-quart saucepan for boiling the potatoes
• •Small heavy saucepan for bringing the cream to a boil
• •10-inch (25 cm) sauté pan or straight-sided skillet
• •Thin skewer
• •Paring knife
• •Flexible spatula

Instructions

1. 1

   Reserve the cream

   Measure the cream before you begin. Keep ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) cold for the last moment and put the remaining 1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g) into a small saucepan. That final portion must remain uncooked until the reduction is complete; it is the fresh finish specified by the preparation, not extra sauce added for richness.

2. 2

   Boil the potatoes

   Put the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a saucepan with the cold water and cooking salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat enough to maintain a steady, gentle boil. Cook for 15 to 22 minutes, depending on size, until a thin skewer reaches the centre with only slight resistance. They will cook a little more in the cream, so don't take them to the point of splitting.

   Test the largest potato with a skewer rather than a broad knife. A knife can make a firm potato seem tender, while the skewer tells you exactly what remains at its centre.
3. 3

   Peel and slice

   Drain the potatoes immediately. As soon as they're safe to hold, cradle each one in a folded kitchen towel and slip off the skin with a paring knife. Cut them crosswise into roundels about ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick. Work while they're warm and don't rinse them after peeling; the faint surface starch helps the cream attach.

4. 4

   Add boiling cream

   Arrange the potato roundels in a 10-inch (25 cm) sauté pan, overlapping them only as much as necessary. Bring the 1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g) cream to a full boil in its saucepan, watching closely because cream climbs quickly. Pour the boiling cream over the potatoes so they are just covered, then season with the ½ teaspoon salt and white pepper. Return the pan promptly to a lively simmer.

5. 5

   Reduce to a gloss

   Simmer uncovered for 8 to 12 minutes, shaking the pan gently and nudging beneath the roundels with a flexible spatula rather than stirring. The bubbles will become slower and the cream will coat the potatoes in a glossy layer; when a spatula drawn across the pan leaves a track that closes gradually, stop. If the cream develops an oily edge, remove the pan from the heat for 30 seconds, then swirl in cold finishing cream one tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Ça se rattrape. If the potatoes begin to fracture, lift the intact rounds to a warm dish, finish reducing the cream alone, then return them to the pan.

6. 6

   Finish with raw cream

   Take the pan off the heat. Add the reserved cold cream a tablespoon at a time, swirling gently, until the reduced sauce loosens enough to flow slowly around the potatoes while still coating them. If some cream was used to rescue the reduction, add only what remains and stop as soon as the sauce moves properly. Don't boil it again. Here raw cream means cream not previously cooked in the dish, not unpasteurized dairy. Taste for salt, transfer carefully to a warmed shallow serving dish, and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Vitelotte gives violet-purple roundels with a faint chestnut character; new kidney potatoes give a pale, delicate result. Both hold their shape. If neither is available, use small firm red potatoes or fingerlings, never a floury russet that will collapse into the cream.
• •Use heavy cream with at least 36% fat. Half-and-half and low-fat cream contain too much water and too little fat for this reduction, so they thin the flavour and split more readily.
• •The pan determines how much cream is needed. A 10-inch (25 cm) sauté pan keeps this quantity shallow enough to reduce quickly but compact enough to cover the potatoes. In a very wide skillet the cream cannot reach them; in a narrow saucepan the roundels stack and break.
• •Serve these potatoes beside roast chicken, veal, or a holiday ham, where the reduced cream can mingle with the meat juices. They need no parsley, cheese, garlic, or nutmeg. The bare cream finish is the point.

Advance Preparation

• •The potatoes may be boiled and peeled up to 6 hours ahead. Cool them promptly, cover, and refrigerate; slice them shortly before finishing so the cut surfaces remain neat.
• •The cream reduction should be finished just before serving. If the dish must wait for 5 to 10 minutes, stop the reduction slightly loose, keep the pan off the heat, and add the cold finishing cream only when the table is ready.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and keep them for up to 2 days. Reheat over very gentle heat with a spoonful of fresh cream, shaking rather than stirring. Do not freeze them, as the cream separates and the potatoes lose their firm texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 220g)