Chef JoAnna Minneci’s All Day Potatoes, AKA Those Awesome Potatoes

Chef JoAnna Minneci is a personal chef to the stars. That’s movie stars in Tinsel Town, California. I just finished one of the most informative interviews I’ve done on Novice2Pro and it is a must read for anyone thinking of going to culinary school to become a personal chef, caterer or professional chef. See interview with Chef JoAnna
Chef JoAnna is a graduate of The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles but didn’t waste any time setting up her own business, Chef JoAnna, to service the celebrities of Los Angeles. When I asked her for one of her favorite recipes, she described what she calls her “All Day Potatoes”. Here is what she said,
“There are no measurements because trust me, if I tell you to make 4 potatoes for 4 people, you’ll still end up eating half of them before they get to the table…even before they’re cool enough to eat. Potatoes are cheap, so go ahead and make a couple extra. There are no timings because there are too many variables: They’re done when they’re done.”

How to Make Chef JoAnna’s Roasted Potatoes

Peel some medium-sized russet potatoes and cut into quarters.

Refine edges by “turning” them (in other words, cut into tournée shape) *see below

Rinse off the starch, then put potatoes in a pot of cold water to cover. Bring pot of water to a boil.

When the potatoes have boiled for about a minute, pull them out gently and place them on a sheet pan and let them air-dry.

Put the oven on to 400ºF

In a roasting pan (Pyrex is nice because it cleans easier) melt some butter, enough to coat all the potatoes. If you’re using unsalted butter, put in a pinch or three of salt. Toss in a few sprigs of fresh thyme, but if you only have dried thyme, that works okay. As the potatoes cook the leaves will come off the stems.

Now add the potatoes, and roast until they’re blistery and a little bit browned.

They’re delicious as-is, but you can also serve them with aioli or some fresh butter.

© Chef JoAnna, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission.

What is “turning” the potatoes or cutting into a tournée shape?

A tournée cut is a fancy seven sided oblong shaped cut that is often used in fancy high-end restaurants on vegetables like carrots and potatoes. It gives the food a rich look and consistent appearance when served as a side dish to an expensive entry.

The vegetable is usually about 2 inches in length and the preparer “turns” the vegetable while making seven equally wide sides and then cuts off the ends so they are flat. There is a special knife used for this cut called a Bird’s Beak knife, also known as a Tourner knife that has a curved blade but you can also use a paring knife just as effectively with a little practice.

This type of cut will really impress your friends but it is time consuming for those of us who don’t do this professionally. You have to remember, high-end restaurants have very low paid staff that spend all day prepping ingredients for the evening dinner service. By all means, try your hand at this cutting technique just for the experience. Your kids will love the look and shape of it.

This recipe comes from Chef Leslie Bilderback’s cookbook The Complete Idiots Guide to Comfort Food. I wrote about it in my blog, Comfort Foods.

Most of you probably know the recipe as Potatoes Anna but it comes from France and in French, it’s called Pommes Anna. Chef Bilderback explains in her cookbook that the French word pommes means apples but pommes du terre (potatoes) are “apples of the ground”.

At the end of Chef Bilderback’s recipe she has some suggestions for alternative versions. My wife tried one of her suggestions and added her own by topping the dish with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It turned out to be a welcome addition.

Pommes Anna

Ingredients

6 tablespoons melted butter
3 large russet potatoes
Salt & black pepper, to taste

How to Make Potatoes Anna

Preheat your oven to 375º F. Coat the bottom of a shallow baking pan or casserole pan with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Arrange one layer of the potato slices on the bottom of the pan in an overlapping spiral, covering the entire bottom of the pan. Brush with some of the melted butter, season with a little salt & pepper.

Repeat layering the potato slices until there are no more. Be sure to brush each layer with some of the melted butter and a little salt & pepper.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the potatoes are tender and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes more.

Let the pan potatoes cool down for 5 minutes before serving. To serve, cut into wedges.

Alternatives

Anna and Onions: Alternate layers of potatoes with layers of thinly sliced yellow onions.

Pumpkin Anna: Replace the potatoes with thinly sliced pumpkin or butternut squash. These vegetables can also be layered alternately with potatoes. Add a sprinkle of nutmeg with the salt and pepper between the layers.

Anna Meets Meg’s Potatoes: My wife made this dish with butternut squash. She used 1 squash that she peeled, seeded and sliced thin with the help of our food processor. She alternated layers of potatoes and squash as described above and topped it off with Parmesan cheese. She wasn’t sure if she sprinkled a little nutmeg between layers but don’t me, “It couldn’t hurt.”

A Quesadillas Recipe from Chef Enedina Andrews

This recipe was sent to me from Chef Enedina Andrews of The Clandestine Chef Experience out of Denver, Colorado. I interviewed Chef Andrews as part of my Novice2Pro Chef Interviews. This is one of her favorite recipes.

Blue Cheese & Pear Quesadillas with Mango Salsa

For quesadillas:                                                
6 oz of soft blue cheese Maytag blue    
12 Flour tortillas                                  
1 ripe pear, cut in thin slices                  
12 whole dried apricots, diced              
1/2 cup red onion, diced                       
Canola oil                                           
3 tablespoons honey
 
Mango Salsa
1 ripe mango peeled, cut in small dice
1 small jalapeno, cut in small dice
1/4 cup red onion, cut in small dice
Half of one lime zested & juiced
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Salt & pepper

Directions:
1.Take one tortilla spread the softened blue cheese taking care not to spread to the edges place pears, diced apricots, and red onion on top of cheese, top with an other tortilla.

2. Over medium heat, in a nonstick skillet add a little canola oil to cover the bottom of pan. Place the quesadilla in the pan cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until golden, flip over cook other side.

3. Remove from pan drizzle with honey top with mango salsa and serve.
 
For Mango Salsa
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl season with salt and pepper to taste.