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Saturday, March 6, 2010

baked potato millefeuille

i'm the kind of person who finds comfort in certain routines. our nights are set in stone: dinner, play/read, bath. one final cartoon. then zhara goes to bed, at eight. and then i have a few hours just for myself, even if sometimes that just means cleaning the house or other chores. i try hard to have dinner with zhara at 5:30 and to not eat late, but i rarely succed. today what did me in was these insane baked potatoes. i remember seeing them done on some show - tyler florence? emeril?  - a while back, but i managed to get it out of my mind, until today i saw them on alina's blog.


i have a terrible weakness for baked potatoes of any kind, little wonder i couldn't resist these! while zhara watched her cartoon i got them ready for the oven, and then no other chore for momma but to chow these down while watching a movie. as usual, i couldn't resist tinkering with the concept, so my version involves a sage garlic cream glaze and a topper of parmesan and chopped sage. i used prosciutto, both crudo and cotto to stuff these, and the only cheese i had - munchee, but i recommend something sharp(er). i believe firmly in using what i have on hand, so it's not a big deal. i wanted to try bacon as well, but by the time my excitement for the prosciutto-sage combo wavered down i was out of potatoes.

preheat oven to 400F. line a tray with foil. peel the potatoes and slice them thinly three quarters down so they're still attached at the bottom. fill the gaps between the slices, alternating, with pieces of cheese and meat. season with salt and pepper. place two thin butter pats on each potato and wrap thightly in foil.



bake 45 minutes. in the meantime, finely chop fresh sage - 1 leaf per potato. finely grate parmesan cheese - 1 tb per potato. measure 1 tb cream per potato and steep it with more sage and a crushed garlic clove. when the potatoes are ready, open the foil packets and paint cream all over the top. use a pastry brush to ensure you get every slice. sprinkle parmesan and chopped sage and bake again until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown. serve hot with a dollop of sour cream.



by 20 minutes in the oven, your house will be filled with the most tempting aroma. by 40, you'll be patrolling the kitchen, patience nearly gone, exhausted with the anticipation of the first bite. or at least i did. i did not have enough restraint to wait for them to brown, so i put them under the broiler. i burned my tongue. it was worth it.
p.s. in case you're less ocd than me: you don't have to alternate the meat/cheese, you can put both in each slice, or just cheese (i'm going to have to try that) and if you're going to try prosciutto cotto use oregano on top, i find that sage works much better with the prosciutto crudo. either way, but try it!

10 comments:

  1. beautiful pictures Dana!.. i'll try this with chicken..

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  2. oh Dana...they look sooo delicious! Your last photo actually made me think that they might be nice with salmon tucked into the slices..

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  3. thanks uma! with chicken i'm afraid it would dry out if it's sliced thinly all over, i think i'd play it safe and pound a breast and roll it up. when you slice it you have the same effect, and it stays moist inside. let me know!

    celia, that's a great idea! do you mean lox? or fresh salmon? we don't eat enough fish, this would be a sure way to get my husband onboard! i can totally see it with lox and maybe caramelized onions instead of cheese...

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  4. These look so fancy - they'd be great for a dinner party. Very pretty :)

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  5. Dana, I think the combination of potato and salmon is a particularly good one, with something like a homemade aioli? I don't know how smoked salmon would work with that much time in the oven. Not sure fresh salmon wouldn't overcook either...hmmm...

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  6. hi celia, i think i would treat it like a twice-baked potato, first bake it with aioli - that's a great addition! - then add the salmon at the end and bake a few minutes more. but then you'd need strips of foil in between the slices to keep them from sticking, so i think i'd be much easier to do a gratin using almost-cooked potatoes.

    karen, thank you!

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  7. ce yumy :) si ce bien arata aaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

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  8. Cheesy potatoes are looking awesome!

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  9. anca, mersi mult, au fost deliciosi!

    cool lassi(e), thanks a lot!

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  10. Um, potatoes, cheese, and prosciutto? I'm in.

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