Romancing the Potato Dinner Party

I had a dinner party on Saturday for some friends.

The theme was potatoes.

In the spirit of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier I held a dinner party with potatoes in every course - even dessert!

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I'm not posting all the recipes in this post, but to see the recipes and more pictures of each dish, click on the name of the course below.

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Bouillon d’oignon served with
Puff Potato Cutouts

Rosemary Focaccia
Leaning Tower Salad with
Zesty Vinaigrette
Smashed Purple Potato Crab Croquettes with Choron Sauce
Sweet Potato Gnocchi with
Sage Butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano
Roasted Garlic Bianca Pizza on a
Crisp Parmesan Crust
And
Mint Ice Cream served in a
Chocolate Bird’s Nest

Menu

A bit more about Parmentier.

In the 1700's the French believed that potatoes were poisonous.

Parmentier was a prisoner of war in Germany, were potatoes were eaten. In fact, the king of Germany threatened to cut off the noses of peasants if they didn't plant potatoes.

When Parmentier returned to France he tried to encourage potato eating. He used publicity stunts such as hosting dinner parties where potatoes featured prominently. He also planted potatoes and then posted guards around the garden to protect the "valuable jewels" aka potatoes. Then he instructed the guards to accept all bribes and leave the garden unattended at night, so the populace could steal the potatoes.

I made place mats to protect my silk tablecloth.

I was saving this tablecloth for a very special occasion and the place mats really did their job!

There wasn't a spot on the tablecloth after dinner.

To make them I used thick card stock, each piece was 12inX12in.

I used a paper punch to add a decorative border.

My Dad helped me pull the table legs out.

Then he fell asleep underneath the table!




Me waiting for the charon sauce to cook down.
It took forever.



The start of my flower arrangement.



Almost done.

Completed flower arrangement.

Can you see all the butterflies?

I used flame less candles underneath tulle.

Completed set table.

I put a card with facts about potatoes at each place with the menu.

Facts like: The average American eats 137.9 potatoes every year.

This is my awesome friend Esmeralda.

She helped me serve - I could NOT have done it without her!

Thank you soooo much Esme!

My friends on one side of the table.

And my friends on the other side of the table.

(Including my Mom and Dad!)

The table all together.

(Sorry Dad, you got stuck in the middle!)

Me being silly with the salad.

Chocolate bird's nests with mint ice cream.

Leaning tower salad.

Soup and potato cut outs.

Rosemary foccacia.

Sweet potato gnocchi.

Crab cakes.

Charon sauce.

Bianca pizza.

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Confessions and notes:
The only thing I forgot to serve were the limes wedges I cut up to serve with the crab cakes. The weather did NOT cooperate with me. We had unseasonably high temps (30F), slush, rain, snow and ice. I was happy almost everyone was able to come to the party. I shouldn't have put so much chocolate on the bird's nests - they were a *little* hard.

I could not have done it without the help of my Mom (who kept calling herself John - see here to understand the joke). Thank you so much for letting me use your house for the party!

And for putting up with me!

Also, Thank You to Esmeralda for your super, super help! You were great!

I had a ton of fun and would love to do it again.

It was stressful (tiny bit) and time consuming, but if my friends had a nice time then, it was totally one-hundred percent worth it!

Bouillon d’oignon with Potato Cutouts

Bouillon d'oignon or onion broth. This was so delicious!

There really isn't a recipe for this.

I think it will turn out differently every time I make it, but here is how I made it this time.

First I took onions (from my garden).

Sliced the tops off of them and sliced them into flowers.
I didn't cut all the way through the root ends.
Then I placed the onions on a well greased cookie sheet and broiled the onions until they were charred on top.




Then I roasted the onions at 450F degrees, until the onions were soft and caramelized.



Then I popped the whole shebang into the food processor and whizzed the onions up.
Then I put the onions, 3 1/2 quarts water, 1 large whole carrot, 1 stick of celery, 2 bay leaves, some smoke flavor, some vegetarian "beef" bullion, a pkg of Knorr's veg. soup mix, thyme and some garlic puree.
I boiled it all gently for an hour.
Then I used a cheese cloth to strain all of the onion, ect. out of the broth.






The broth was dark and rich.

To make the potato cutouts: Take raw potato and slice it 1/2 inch thick.

With a small cookie cutter cut out shapes.

Toss with olive oil, salt, paprika and pepper.

Bake at 450F degrees for 10 mins until puffy.

Place on top of hot soup and serve.

Leaning Tower Salad

Of all the things on my menu, this item raised the most questions.

They are very simple to make, but a bit time intensive.

I think it took me an hour to make all of the salads.

Thank goodness for food processors!

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I first put 2 tsp. of zesty vinaigrette in the bottom of each glass.

Zesty vinaigrette is made by a friend of mine - Wishbone.

Then I added layers of finely chopped vegetables.

From the bottom up:

Tomato, celery, potato salad, hard boiled eggs, broccoli, carrots, red cabbage, feta cheese, red and orange peppers.

I served the salads with the crabcakes and charon sauce.

Rosemary Focaccia

Rosemary Foccacia

Dough: 1 1/3 cups lightly packed cooked potato

1 1/2 tsp rapid rise yeast

31/2 cups flour

1 cup warm water

2 Tbs olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

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Toppings: 2 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp coarse sea salt or kosher salt

(make sure you use coarse salt - reg. salt will melt into your dough-I speak from experience - trust me, it's weird tasting - use coarse salt)

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It doesn't look like much, but this is the best foccacia bread ever. Actually, this is the only foccacia bread I've ever made. If you have the best recipe, why try another?

I've been making this for years, probably since I was 12. It's very popular at parties.

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In a large bowl mix together yeast, 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Set aside until bubbly, about 20 mins. Add remaining dough ingredients, including potato. Mix until dough is smooth and elastic-about 5 mins.

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Transfer dough to lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise until doubled in size - about 1 hour.

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With wet hands (to prevent sticking) press dough into well oiled jelly roll pan. I like the crispy edge pieces best, so I make 2 10x6 rectangles in the pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hour, until puffy.

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Preheat oven to 423F degrees. With wet fingers gently press dimples into dough. The dimples hold the delicious toppings.

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Drizzle with olive oil - more is better. Sprinkle with salt and rosemary.

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Bake for 23-25 mins. Until crispy and golden brown.

Smashed Purple Potato Crab Croquettes with Choron Sauce

Smashed Purple Potato Crab Croquettes
1/2 lb. purple/all blue potatoes - cooked and riced
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cups cream
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs garlic puree
1/4 cup chopped red peppers
1/4 cup chopped yellow peppers
1/4 cup fresh chopped green onion
1 lb canned crab meat (about 2 cans)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt
2 Tbs mustard
2 Tbs lemon juice
For breading:
bread crumbs
(I used Panko extra crispy)
flour
more Lawry's seasoning salt
egg - whisked

Mix all croquette ingredients together. In 3 small bowls prepare breading. One with the egg, one with the bread crumbs, one with the flour and Lawry's combined.
Take 1 Tbs sized balls of croquette mixture. Gently form a ball and roll the ball first in the flour/seasoning mix, then the egg and then the bread crumbs.
Place ball on a well grease baking sheet. Gently press ball down to form a 1/2 inch thick disc.
Continue with the rest of the croquette mixture.
Bake croquettes at 450F degrees for 10 mins or until browned.
Serve with Charon sauce - recipe below.

Charon Sauce

First step:

1 cup chopped, seeded,peeled tomatoes (I used 1/2 a can)

3 Tbs dried tarragon

2 Tbs. minced shallots or onion

1/3 cup vinegar

2 cups wine

2 Tbs parsley

Second step:

4 egg yolks

(I used the whites to dip the croquettes in)

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 Tbs water

1 Tbs mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 sticks butter, melted and warm

Combine all the first step ingredients and simmer over med-high heat for 20 mins. Remove from heat and strain liquid. Discard tomato/onion/tarragon/ect and return strained liquid to the stove.

Continue cooking over med-high heat until mixture is reduced.

This is going to take a while.

Reduce liquid to a thick dark syrup - 3-4 Tbs.

Remove from heat and continue with second step.

Second step: Making Hollindaise Sauce. Reserve butter, but combine all other ingredients in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk continuously until mixture is thick and pale yellow.

Remove from heat and continue whisking vigorously. Add butter in 4 batches. Continue to whisk. Add tomato mixture and continue whisking until combined.

Place sauce over a pot of warm water, off of the heat, and cover to keep warm. Stir occasionally until needed.

This is me. Waiting and waiting for the tomato mixture to reduce.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage Butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage Butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano

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Gnocchi

1 large white baking potato

1 large sweet potato

1 large egg

1/2 tsp nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving

1 1/2 cups to 2 cups flour

Bake potatoes in the oven until tender - 450F for 45 mins to 1 hour.

Cool potatoes until you can handle them (don't let them get cold or they won't go through the ricer, if that happens just pop them into the microwave for a few seconds).

Remove the skins and force the potatoes through a ricer.

Be careful to remove all the strings in the sweet potato.

Cool potatoes completely.

Beat together egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Add egg mixture to potato mixture and mix well.

Add cheese and 1 1/2 cups flour.

Mix well and add more flour until mixture forms a smooth, but slightly sticky dough.

Don't add too much flour!

Test a piece of dough to see if it holds together, before adding more flour.

In a pot, boil salted water, add test gnocchi. Cook for 2 mins. If gnocchi holds together - don't add more flour. If gnocchi falls apart - add a little flour and then retest dough.

To roll out dough: Cut dough into 6 pieces. Form pieces in to 1/2 inch thick ropes on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll dough. Use a very light touch.

Cut dough into 1/2 inch pieces.

To cook: Add to boiling salted water and cook for 2-3 mins. Remove and drain. Add to a baking dish with Sage Butter and bake at 450F degrees for 5 mins. or until bubbly.

To freeze: Lay cut gnocchi pieces on a baking sheet and freeze. Remove frozen gnocchi and store in a freezer bag. Return to freezer. Do not allow to thaw, before cooking!

Sage Butter

2 tsp. rubbed sage

1 stick of butter

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbs brown sugar

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Melt butter in a baking dish. Add sage, nutmeg and sugar. Stir. Keep warm until gnocchi are ready.

Add cooked gnocchi and bake at 450F degrees for 5 mins. or until bubbly.

Dough



Rolling out and cutting gnocchi.

Frozen gnocchi.

Cooked gnocchi.

This was all the gnocchi I had left after my party.

And I didn't get to taste them!

Roasted Garlic Bianca Pizza on a Crisp Parmesan Crust

Roasted Garlic Bianca Pizza on a Crisp Parmesan Crust

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Roasted Garlic

2 heads of garlic

olive oil

salt

Cut top off of garlic heads, so bulbs are exposed. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast covered in a 375 F degree oven, 30-40 mins, until cloves are soft and easy to remove from the head of garlic. Remove cloves and finely chop.

White Sauce

1 cup whole milk or half and half

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs flour

salt

cayenne pepper

roasted garlic (see directions above)

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In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour and 1 to 2 mins. Pour in milk and whisk to combine. Continue whisking and add salt and cayenne pepper. Increase heat to med. , whisking continuously, until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and add 2 Tbs roasted garlic. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

Parmesan Crust

1 cup warm water

2 tsp. yeast

1 tsp. honey or sugar

2 Tbs olive oil

2 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

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In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, honey and 1 Tbs of olive oil, stirring to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 -10 mins. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and Parmesan cheese. Mix until the batter is smooth. Continue adding flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is smooth, but slightly sticky. Turn the dough out and knead for 3-5 mins.

Place remaining olive oil in a large bowl. Place dough in the bowl, turning to coat with the olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place, until doubled in size - about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough. Separate dough into 4-6 lumps. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out dough very thinly.

Potato layer

Thinly slice 2 large baking potatoes.

In a large pot boil potatoes until they are soft enough to pierce, but still hold their shape.

Drain potatoes.

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Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. If you have a baking stone cook pizzas on that, otherwise place a flat cookie sheet in the oven to cook the pizzas on.

On each pizza crust spread 1 Tbs white sauce. Don't use too much or your crust won't crisp. Add a layer potatoes and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Cook for 10-12 mins.

Remove and slice.

With basil.

Baking in the oven on the baking stone.
Use a baking stone for best results.

With rosemary.