Rissole Potatoes
Potatoes, silky-sexy-creamy on the inside, crispy crunchy on the outside.
Equipment
- 1 pan, saute, 12 inch nonstick, with lid
- 1 pan, sauce, 3 quart, with lid
Ingredients
- 2 each potato, Russet Big ones.
- 4 ounces fat, duck
- 1 tbsp salt, kosher
- as required water
- to taste salt, kosher
- to taste pepper, black, fresh cracked
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and slice into roughly 3/4" to 1" thick.2 each potato, Russet
- Place potato slices into sauce pan and add enough water to cover the potatoes.as required water
- Add salt to the water and potatoes.1 tbsp salt, kosher
- Bring potatoes to a boil and reduce heat to keep it simmering. Cover and let go for around 10 minutes or so.
- When your potatoes are only about half done (there should be some resistance when you poke with a knife) remove from heat and drain. Leave uncovered for moisture to evaporate off. Dryness is important.
- When your spuds have cooled a bit, cover back up and give the pot a good couple of shakes to rough them up. This releases starch which is going to act as a coating for frying and become crunchy, brown and delicious.
- Fire up your saute pan over high heat. Lube it up with about half the duck fat. You may need more later so I over estimate how much.
- When your fat is hot, lay down your roughed up potato slices. Do not over crowd the pan. They should start to sizzle immediately.
- Here's the thing. Your potatoes will tell you when they are ready to be turned. If you jiggle the pan and they don't move, they are not ready. When they let go, they can and should be flipped. the whole process takes about 20 minutes.
- After turning for the first time, let the second side let go of the pan and turn again. Do not flip the final time until that first side is nice and brown.
- Season with salt and pepper immediately and serve.
Video
Notes
This dish and I go way back. The first time I encountered it was a brasserie in London. God that sounds pretentious, but it's the truth. They were so crusty on the outside, I could have sworn they were battered and fried.
The second time I encountered the dish was in cooking school. It stands out in my mind because I got paired up with this woman known to my class as "the Evil Midget". I don't think she was legally a little person but she was just angry all the time. Maybe about being called "the Evil Midget".
Anyway, instead of the usual egalitarian division of labor I'd had with my other partners, she demanded she do everything and I just let her. When it came time for grading, I told the Chef instructor to give me a zero for the day as I had done nothing. He told me I was being an asshole and we would be getting the same grade regardless which, as it turned out was a failure anyway, so no harm done.
Moving forward, the dish became one of my white whales. I always got close, but never got the results I wanted. After many, many failed attempts I figured out the keys to the dish. There are three:
- Russet potatoes. You need starchy potatoes and russets are ideal.
- Fat with a high smoke point.
- Let your potatoes tell you what they need.
Nutrition
Calories: 471kcal
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