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Potato Mold
Wash and peel potatoes, slice very thin. Butter a round mold, put a layer of potatoes in the bottom, a small amount of minced onion may be added, then pour over a little melted butter; put in another layer of potatoes, add seasoning and butter, and continue until mold is nearly full.
Bake in a hot oven one hour. Turn mold upside down on platter, let drain a few minutes, then remove the mold. Sprinkle lightly with grated cheese and a touch of paprika; serve very hot, garnished with watercress or parsley.
This is a home version of pommes Anna: thin potato slices, butter and seasoning packed into a mold and baked until the outside is crisp and the inside sets into a sliceable cake. The instructions assume a cook who already knows the dish, so a few numbers are missing.
- The hinge: slice thin and pack tightThe layers have to fuse into one mass or the mold will collapse when you invert it. Slices about 1/16 inch, cut on a mandoline, laid overlapping and pressed down firmly as you build. Do not rinse the sliced potatoes; the surface starch is the glue.
- "A hot oven"In period terms that is roughly 400 to 450F. The recipe gives one hour; the top should be deep gold and a knife should meet no resistance.
- The moldA round charlotte mold or a straight-sided cake tin works, but a heavy cast-iron pan gives a far better crust. Butter it heavily and consider a disc of parchment in the base as insurance for the turn-out.
- PotatoesA firm waxy or all-purpose potato keeps the slices distinct and is the easier choice for unmolding; very floury baking potatoes are more likely to break down.
- Butter quantityThe original never says. Figure 4 to 6 tablespoons of melted butter for 2 lb of potatoes, brushed or spooned over each layer, plus more for the mold.
- SeasoningSalt each layer as you go, not just the top; a mass of unsalted potato cannot be corrected later. The minced onion is optional and best kept sparse, as raw onion in quantity releases water and softens the crust.
- The drainInverting onto the platter and letting it stand a few minutes lets excess butter run off and the cake settle before the mold is lifted. Do not skip it or the sides slump.
- YieldAbout 2 lb of potatoes fills a 2-quart mold and serves six as a side dish. Cut it in wedges at the table, like a cake.
The dish is a domesticated pommes Anna, the pressed potato cake generally traced to the restaurant kitchens of Second Empire Paris and traditionally named for one of the celebrated demi-mondaines of the 1860s, though which one is never settled. Classic versions use nothing but potato, butter and salt, cooked in a lidded copper pan made expressly for the purpose; the onion, grated cheese and paprika here suggest what may well be an American household adaptation, where a plain charlotte mold stands in for the special pan and a garnish of watercress or parsley signals a dish meant to be brought whole to the table.