Potato Boulangére

Boulangére, you may know, is the French word for baker, and this potato recipe is so-called because it once used to be cooked in the baker’s oven after bread making had finished for the day

People used to quite literally take their dishes down to the bakery and have them cooked in the residual heat of the ovens. There are a number of variations on how to prepare and cook this simple peasant dish. This one is mine.

For four people you need:

50g butter
700g potatoes
1 onion
1tsp dried mixed herbs
200ml chicken stock

Preheat an oven to 170°C, 325°F

Peel and slice the potatoes very thinly and do the same with the onion. Butter a suitable dish, such as a pie dish, and arrange the potato and onion slices in overlapping layers, sprinkling a little salt and black pepper over each layer.

At the half way point, sprinkle over the dried herbs, then finish layering, making sure that the top layer consists entirely of potato.

If there is any butter left, dot that over the potato and add the stock, pushing down any pieces that try to float to the surface.

Bake this in the oven for about two hours, when the potato should be cooked through and the top browned. You can serve this by cutting it into rings using a 5cm cookie cutter and lifting the portions out with a spatula or palette knife.

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