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Fondant potatoes are soft and creamy on the inside with a crispy crust on the outside. They are made with potatoes, broth, butter, garlic, and thyme and can be prepared by boiling and frying, roasting, or simmering and frying. The potatoes are often cut into a cylinder shape for a smoother presentation.
Fondant potatoes are a way to prepare the tubers so they are very soft and creamy on the inside, with a crispy crust on the outside. The ingredients of almost all the recipes are very simple, consisting of potatoes, broth, butter, garlic and thyme. The actual cooking method, however, can take a few different forms. Some recipes call for the potatoes to be boiled in broth and then fried, while others make the outside crispy by roasting the potatoes semi-submerged in the oven. Whatever cooking method is used for fondant potatoes, the result is a moist potato that has a caramelized stock glaze coating a crispy outer surface with a very rich flavor.
The first step, which isn’t always necessary when making fondant potatoes, is to cut the tubers into a compact shape. This is traditionally a cylinder with a flat top and bottom, usually made with a knife and circular pastry cutter. The sharp edges that form where the flat tops and bottoms meet the rounded sides are often shaved or rounded, because they are very thin and tend to burn. This step isn’t necessary, but it makes for a smoother presentation and creates flat to brown surfaces.
In a version popular in England and France, the butter is melted in a pan. The cut potatoes are placed in the butter flat side down until the side is fully browned and crispy. The potato is then turned so that the opposite flat side is facing down and is left to brown. At the end of this process, the pan is filled with broth until the potatoes are half to three-quarters immersed in the liquid and then placed in the oven to finish cooking. The final step is to place the pan back on the stovetop and reduce the remaining stock until it’s a thick glaze.
Another way to prepare fondant potatoes is to first place the cut potatoes in a pot of simmering stock and cook them until soft. The potatoes are then taken out of the stock, patted dry, and fried in a separate pan filled with butter, browning flat top and bottom. Meanwhile, the broth boils down to a glaze that is drizzled over the potatoes as they are served.
Fondant potatoes can also be made in a roasting pan. The cut potatoes are placed in a roasting pan which is filled with stock until it is halfway up each potato. The flat tops of the potatoes each get a pat of butter. The entire dish is placed in an oven and cooked until the tops are golden brown, after which each potato is flipped, more butter is placed on the tops, and the pan is returned to the oven to finish cooking.
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