For 2.2 lb (1 kg) of duchess potatoes:
1 In a large pot, place your potatoes cut into thick slices. Pour mineral or spring water to cover, salt with coarse salt, add the bay leaves and cook, monitoring the cooking (the knife should slide in easily).
2 Preheat your oven to 375°F (190 °C) (gas mark 6+).
3 Drain your potatoes, remove the bay leaves and place them on a baking sheet, then put them in the oven slightly ajar (with a cork) until the skin forms a light crust (about 10 minutes).
4 Pass through a ricer (fine grid), then transfer back to your pot. Add white pepper from the mill, a little nutmeg and fine salt. Then add your butter cut into squares and dry over the heat with a wooden spatula as if you were making choux pastry. Then transfer to a large bowl and add the egg yolks slowly, incorporating them little by little until your « mixture » is compact.
There you go, your « mixture » is ready!
5 Using a piping bag with a fluted nozzle, pipe your duchess potatoes, then brush with egg wash and place in the oven preheated to 375°F (190 °C) (gas mark 6+). Cook for 15 minutes. If they need more color, place them under the grill for a few seconds.
Here are a few suggestions:
If you pipe them around a dish, they will serve as decoration, but also as a garnish on nice plates. But, more interestingly, if you pipe these « duchess » potatoes from a piping bag and cut them every 3 or 4 cm with a knife, letting them drop into oil at 180 °C for a few moments, you just need to place them on absorbent paper to make delicious « croquette » potatoes.
Then come the variations (shellfish, mushrooms, ham, parmesan, etc.).
One that is truly sublime and that nobody makes anymore: « Berny » potatoes. And yet:
In your mixture for 1 kg, add at the end 60 g of fresh raw truffle, just roughly chopped. Shape your croquettes by hand, giving them a round form, then roll them in sliced almonds and fry them. Taste with your eyes closed… And with this same truffled mixture, placed in a small dish with a small cavity in the center, a cracked egg and bake for 5 minutes*.
* The very best method is to cook your potatoes whole in the oven, then cut them in half. Next, pass the scooped out flesh through a fine ricer (this way you avoid the step of drying your potatoes in the oven).
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