I'm not sure if it's because I'm super organized or super insecure but, for whatever reason, I tend to plan out every minute of time when I'm having guests. Part of this detailed agenda includes each meal I'm going to fix, from the simplest snack on up to "elaborate" diners. When I see the time laid out on paper, I get a feeling of more control even though reality often turns out to be that each day has alterations and adaptations, including what meals we eat and where we eat them. For instance, with Iris and Sandie I planned two evening meals at home. The first night they arrived everything was set for lasagna and the fixings. I knew we'd go to Joe's BBQ one of their nights in town and I knew we'd have dinner in the form of appetizers at the Club for our Wine and Paint night, so that left the final night before they left as a time for the second evening meal I had planned. Too bad Iris left too early for eating dinner. With only Sandie around and with her request to visit Cracker Barrel, that's what we wound up doing between the two airport runs. No chicken dinner and no creamy potato stacks for either Iris or Sandie. Instead, Martin and I had them last night because I was now psyched to try the recipe out and see if it was as easy as advertised.
It was. Littlebroken.com has many beautiful pictures of the process and result for this recipe. Mine were neither as uniformly lovely or as seemingly not a bit greasy as hers but they still tasted great. Parmesan isn't my favorite cheese so I might try a modification next time, using some other kind of cheese. As soon as Emily tells me which substitute would work best!
The stacks lift out of their muffin tin beds easily and do look lovely plated. You could definitely serve this dish to guests, if they would just stick around long enough to eat them.
CREAMY POTATO STACKS WITH GARLIC, THYME, AND PARMESAN
Recipe Courtesy of Littlebroken.com
INGREDIENTS
1½ cups heavy cream
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 lbs. medium russet potatoes (about 4-5), peeled and sliced ⅛ to 1/16 inch thick
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
freshly grated parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray 12 cup standard muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a small sauce pan, whisk together cream, thyme, garlic, and nutmeg. Bring to a slow simmer and remove from the heat. You want the cream just heated through. Discard the thyme.
Toss the potato slices with salt and pepper and layer into stacks in the prepared muffin cups, filling each one to the top but not over the top.
Spoon cream over each potato stack, filling almost to the top. You will have couple or so slices exposed. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are knife tender and golden brown on top.
Remove the muffin pan from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen up the stacks and carefully remove to a serving platter.
Serve immediately.
Garlic + thyme is a pretty innocuous flavor combination, so I'd really suggest throwing your favorite cheese in in place of the parmesan. A fancy shredded cheddar would be a tasty crowd-pleaser. Crumbed goat cheese would be a mild addition (although might not be up Dad's alley). Gruyere if you like Swiss cheese would be an obvious companion to the thyme, but would be more overpowering.
ReplyDeleteOr if there's a combo of herb + cheese you like, swap out the thyme for a different herb and then use whatever cheese you want.