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Lyonnaise Potatoes
3 boiled potatoes 1/2 small onion 1/2 teaspoon salt Dash of pepper 1/2 tablespoon minced parsley 1 tablespoon butter Slice the onion and brown it slightly in the butter; add the potatoes; mix well and stir until all are browned, seasoning thoroughly. Just before serving add the parsley.
A short, complete recipe that assumes you already have cold boiled potatoes on hand. The only real skill is in the browning.
- Start with cold potatoesPotatoes boiled the day before and thoroughly chilled slice cleanly and hold their shape in the pan. Warm, freshly boiled potatoes crumble into hash the moment you stir them.
- Cut thicknessThe recipe says only "the potatoes." Slice them about 1/4 inch thick; thinner rounds break up, thicker ones take longer to brown through.
- More fat than you expectOne tablespoon of butter for three potatoes in a modern pan is scant, and butter alone browns fast. Add a little oil or clarified butter, or use a well-seasoned cast-iron or nonstick pan over medium-high heat.
- Stir less, not more"Stir until all are browned" invites over-handling. Let the slices sit undisturbed two or three minutes at a time so a crust forms, then turn them; total cooking is roughly 10-12 minutes.
- The onionHalf a small onion means roughly a quarter cup sliced. The onion itself is what makes the dish lyonnaise; "brown it slightly" means pale gold only, since a fully caramelized onion risks scorching during the potato stage.
- Parsley at the endAdding it just before serving is deliberate. Parsley left in hot fat darkens and can taste scorched.
- YieldThree potatoes serves two generously, three at a stretch. Scale up by the potato, but cook in a single layer or fry in batches -- a crowded pan steams rather than browns.
Lyonnaise means "in the manner of Lyon," the French city whose cooking is closely associated with onions; a dish labeled lyonnaise on a nineteenth- or twentieth-century menu could generally be assumed to contain them. Dishes of this kind entered American cookbooks largely through French-influenced restaurant and hotel cooking, and fried leftover potatoes were an established domestic use for yesterday's boiled potatoes.