Potatoes Savoyarde

A Day Older

Yesterday I turned 53. I never thought I would live this long. In fact, as a child I expected a nuclear war to kill me before I became an adult. That's what comes of living within 10 miles of Oak Ridge National Laboratory during the "duck and cover" era. Even at eight or nine I knew hiding under a desk was a crock.

A friend asked me what I was going to do on my birthday, and I said, "Cook." That's what I did. I'm going out to celebrate tomorrow, but yesterday I spent another of many birthdays and holidays by myself. I know there are people who are appalled at the idea, but I enjoy such days as much as, and sometimes more than, being with others to celebrate. I'm quite happy planning and then preparing and eating a fancy meal just for myself.

In this case I had steak. I don't eat steak very often. Good steak is expensive and bad steak doesn't interest me. I had some Omaha Steaks ribeyes in the freezer. Prime, dry-aged beef. Not the absolute best meat, but very good, nevertheless. I pan fried the steak and then made a simple pan sauce using shallots, rosemary, a wine reduction, and Point Reyes blue cheese.

I also sautéed some mushrooms with fresh thyme and minced shallots, then add a splash of wine at the end and cooked it off so that only the flavor was left in the mushrooms.

By the way, I've found that the best way to sauté button mushrooms is to toss them into a dry non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, sprinkle them with a bit of salt, and brown them, stirring frequently to prevent burning. When the mushrooms are about halfway done, I add butter, thyme, and shallots to the pan and cook another couple or three minutes. By starting with a dry skillet, the butter is needed only for flavor and savor and much less is required than if the mushrooms are cooked in butter to begin with.

I also fixed Potatoes Savoyarde. And for dessert I made my Apple/Ricotta Coffee Cake. I washed the meal down with Rosenblum's Zinfindel, Vintners Cuvee. This is an extraordinarily good $10 wine and matched the food delightfully.

Potatoes Savoyarde
(based on a recipe in Potatoes by Williams-Sonoma) Serves 2.

4 ea medium Yukon gold potatoes -- skin on and sliced 1/4" thick
1 c shredded Gruyere
1/2 c chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, lg -- minced
2 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375F.

Arrange a layer of potatoes in the bottom of a small casserole or soufflé dish (6" - 7" in diameter). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, 1/3 of the garlic, 1/3 of the rosemary, and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat for two more layers. Add chicken stock, slowly pouring in along the edge to avoid disturbing the layers.

Cover snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue cooking for 20 minutes.

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