Chef Juliette
Suet Dumpling
Boulettes au suif, poached beside salt beef, turn equal weights of flour and finely chopped suet into tender, rich dumplings. Keep the beef liquor at a bare tremble and the old garnish works beautifully at home.
Culinary Explorer
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Pommes de Terre au Lard
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2225, Pommes de Terre au Lard, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Salt pork, onions, butter, flour, and consommé teach the quiet grammar of a one-pot braise, coating tender potatoes in a savory, glossy gravy that asks only for gentle heat and patience.
Side Dishes
French
Comfort Food
One Pot
Budget Friendly
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield4 servings
Pommes de Terre au Lard (potatoes with salt pork) teaches how a little browned flour turns cooking fat and consommé into a proper braising sauce. Know the one true thing before touching the pan: the flour must lose its raw paleness in the butter before the consommé arrives. That brief roux gives the dish its nutty depth and lets the gravy cling to every quartered potato.
The formula assumed a saucier beside a stockpot of consommé that never went cold, a service timbale, and enough mouths for twice this batch. At home, use ready-to-use consommé, one wide covered casserole, and a warmed deep serving bowl. I have halved the book's quantities for four, measured the butter the formula left to the cook's judgment, and replaced perfect brigade turning with neatly trimmed potato quarters. The proportions, flavorings, and order of cooking remain intact. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Keeping consommé on the fire all day and shaping every potato into an identical ornament are brigade scaffolding. Frizzling the pork and onions, browning the roux, and cooking the potatoes under a lid are the dish itself. Watch the roux above all: light hazelnut, never scorched, before you moisten it.
Pommes de terre au lard belongs to French cuisine bourgeoise, the well-run household table rather than any single province. Professional kitchens carried the familiar union of stored potatoes and cured pork into the national classical repertoire by giving it a precise sequence: frizzle the garnish, brown flour in the fat, moisten with consommé, then cook everything gently under a lid. The words au lard mean that unsmoked salted pork forms the dish's foundation, not that smoked bacon is merely scattered over finished potatoes.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
unsmoked salt pork belly
Quantity
1/2 cup (120 ml / 115 g), prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273)
cut into 1/2-inch dice
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (20 ml / 18 g)
small white boiling onions
Quantity
6
peeled and left whole
all-purpose flour
Quantity
1 3/4 tablespoons (26 ml / 14 g)
ready-to-use beef consommé
Quantity
1 1/2 cups (355 ml / 355 g)
yellow-fleshed potatoes
Quantity
3 cups (710 ml / 450 g)
peeled, quartered, and neatly trimmed
bouquet garni of parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf
Quantity
1
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/8 teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.3 g)
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 4 g)
moderately chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| unsmoked salt pork bellycut into 1/2-inch dice | 1/2 cup (120 ml / 115 g), prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273) |
| unsalted butter | 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (20 ml / 18 g) |
| small white boiling onionspeeled and left whole | 6 |
| all-purpose flour | 1 3/4 tablespoons (26 ml / 14 g) |
| ready-to-use beef consommé | 1 1/2 cups (355 ml / 355 g) |
| yellow-fleshed potatoespeeled, quartered, and neatly trimmed | 3 cups (710 ml / 450 g) |
| bouquet garni of parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf | 1 |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/8 teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.3 g) |
| flat-leaf parsleymoderately chopped | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 4 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •3-quart (2.8-liter) wide heavy casserole with a close-fitting lid
- •Slotted spoon
- •Heatproof wooden spoon or flat-edged spatula
Instructions
- 1
Ready the ingredients
Have the diced salt pork prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273), then drain and dry it well. Trim only the thin corners from the potato quarters so they cook evenly; turning them into perfect matching shapes wastes good potato and belongs to brigade presentation, not the success of the dish. Tie the bouquet garni securely so it can be lifted out whole.
- 2
Frizzle pork and onions
Melt the butter in a wide, heavy casserole over medium heat. Add the salt pork and whole onions together, then cook for 8 to 10 minutes, turning often, until the pork is lightly bronzed at its edges and the onions have taken an even butter-gold color. Frizzle them without scorching the butter. If the butter darkens too quickly, lift the casserole from the heat for half a minute and lower the flame before continuing. Remove the pork and onions with a slotted spoon, leaving the butter and rendered fat behind.
- 3
Brown the roux
Sprinkle the flour into the hot fat and stir continuously over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. This is the roux, flour cooked in fat, and it should turn light hazelnut and smell faintly toasted. Pale flour leaves the gravy pasty; black flecks make it bitter. If it colors unevenly, pull the casserole from the heat and keep stirring until the pan calms, then return it over a lower flame.
- 4
Moisten with consommé
Pour in the consommé gradually, stirring firmly and scraping the browned film from the bottom after each addition. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, then add the pepper. If the roux gathers into lumps, stop pouring and whisk off the heat until smooth before adding the remaining consommé. Ça se rattrape. The finished sauce should be fluid enough to move around the potatoes, not thick like finished gravy.
- 5
Braise under cover
Add the potatoes, browned salt pork, onions, and bouquet garni. Turn everything gently so the sauce reaches every piece, then cover and cook at the barest simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Shake the casserole occasionally instead of stirring, which can break the softening potatoes. They are ready when a small knife enters without resistance but the quarters still hold their shape.
- 6
Finish the sauce
Discard the bouquet garni. If the potatoes are tender but the sauce remains thin, lift the potatoes, pork, and onions into a warmed deep serving bowl and reduce the sauce uncovered for a minute or two; if it has tightened too far, loosen it with a spoonful of hot water. Taste before adding anything, since both the salt pork and consommé carry salt. Spoon the glossy sauce over the potatoes, scatter moderately with parsley, and serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Use unsmoked salt pork belly, not smoked bacon. Smoke changes the whole register of the dish and covers the quiet flavor of the consommé.
- •If your consommé is sold condensed, dilute it according to its label before measuring 1 1/2 cups. Choose a lower-sodium preparation when possible, since the pork supplies plenty of seasoning.
- •A waxy or all-purpose yellow potato holds its quarters under the lid. A very floury baking potato can collapse into the sauce, pleasant enough for supper, but no longer the dish the formula describes.
Advance Preparation
- •The salt pork and onions can be readied earlier in the day. Keep the prepared pork covered in the refrigerator and bring it out while you peel the potatoes.
- •The finished dish may stand covered for up to 2 hours and be reheated over very gentle heat. Add a spoonful of water if the potatoes have absorbed too much sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 250g)
Calories
375 calories
Total Fat
27 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
16 g
Cholesterol
35 mg
Sodium
850 mg
Total Carbohydrates
27 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
6 g
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