Potato Pavé

I think I’ve learned more about cooking from Thomas Keller than I have from anyone else. His cookbooks, coupled with his MasterClass, are amazing.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, he is a chef and restauranteur with restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, and Miami. However, his most famous are in Yountville, California (Napa Valley), including the renowned French Laundry, arguably one of the top restaurants in the United States with three Michelin stars.

We’ve never been fortunate enough to get into the French Laundry. You can make reservations two weeks in advance and the only time we were in Napa we missed out. Reservations go quick, as you can imagine.

We were fortunate, however, to have brunch at one of his other restaurants in Yountville, Ad Hoc. It is this restaurant on which Chef Keller based his cookbook of family-style recipes, ad hoc at home. This is one of my favorite cookbooks and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning some great techniques and looking for some amazing recipes.

Potato Pavé is what Chef Keller refers to as “a more refined version of scalloped potatoes.” It’s a two day process, and requires patience, some skill, and for me, some luck.

As with the Bibimbap recipe, a mandoline is a must. You slice the potatoes into very thin slices. Once sliced and soaked in heavy cream you stack the potatoes in a deep pan. I used a loaf pan. Once assembled bake it. While it is baking make a lid out of carboard and foil. The lid will allow you to stack cans on it to compress and weight it down. Do this as soon as it comes out of the oven and leave the cans on until it cools to room temperature. wrap it up and refrigerate overnight.

Day two is much easier. Just cut the pavé into equal pieces and fry. Top with some butter and chives and enjoy!