French onion fondant potatoes
These potatoes are a real treat. They’re luxuriously soft, savory and flavored like a french onion soup. The run down is this — they get seared in hot oil, basted in butter, cooked in beef stock and grilled with cheese.
Serve alongside lamb shoulder, such as my slow roasted lamb shoulder with whipped feta and pistachio.
Ingredients:
Caramelized onions:
650g brown onions, sliced thin
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
Fondant potatoes:
you’ll need a frying pan that can go in the oven
1kg white potato, yukon gold or dutch cream
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
few thyme sprigs
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
500 ml beef stock
1 handful of Gruyere, grated, approximately 75g
Method:
To caramelize the onions: add olive oil to a frying pan over low heat and add onions when it’s hot. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and stir every now and then over the course of 30-45 minutes, or until the onions are a deep golden color and are soft, caramelized and luscious. Add a splash of water every now and then to prevent them from catching to the bottom of the pan and burning. Scrape off the fond from the pan while cooking. Once caramelized, remove from heat and set aside.
To make the fondant potatoes: Preheat oven to 200C fan-forced. Grab a potato and hold it like you would hold it upright. Imagine the top and bottom of a potato. Now, turn it sideways so that the “top and bottom” are on the left and right of the potato. You’re going to slice off the top and bottom of the potato as it is now, not the original top and bottom. This is going to create a hockey puck shape and will prevent waste as you only need to cut a little bit off the top and bottom to create a flat surface. Using a peeler, peel the skin off the remaining sides of the potato. Do this with all of the potatoes, you should have 8-10 hockey pucks!
Add oil to a frying pan and get it to high heat. Once hot, add potatoes in one single layer, making sure they all fit into the same pan at once. Sear on each side for 8-10 minutes, or until a deep golden brown sear is on each side. Once both sides have seared, add butter, garlic and thyme. Baste the potatoes, spooning the butter over the top of the potatoes as it foams and sizzles. Do this for 2-3 minutes, then add stock and bay leaves and bring to a boil.
Place the frying pan into the oven and roast for 1 hour or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
To assemble the french onion potatoes: Transfer the potatoes to a baking dish, spoon over caramelized onions and spread them around the top of the potatoes. Grate gruyere over top and place back in the oven. Turn the oven to the broil setting at 200C. Broil for around 4 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Enjoy straight away!
