Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Pomme Souffle



I have been work at Sergi Arola Gastro in Madrid, Spain a 2 Michlin Star resturant for alomost two months now. As the stand-in Chef de Partie on the meat station, one of my pick-ups in a Pomme Souffle dish. It has been a true test of following instruction, intuition, and patients (which i have very little of). But here is what I have found to be the trick.... Good Luck.




Ingredients
Potatoes, fairly new HIGH Starch
Evoo
Grapeseed/Sunflower oil
Salt
Tools
Two rondeau
Spider
2 Hotel Pans, one for drying and one for finished product
Paper Towels
1 Medium Bowl, for potatoes that don’t puff
Thermometer
Tons of Patients (not optional)
Pour 50/50 of the oils into rondeau, about 2 inches worth. Begin heating.
Key to success
-Very Sharp Knife
-Shape Potatoes in One straight motion, once shaped, slice on Madeline to about 3 mm or 1/4 inch.
-Dry potatoes on sheets of paper towels, spread out flat
-Dry in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes
-One oil at 120°C to start, add the potatoes one by one quickly so they don’t stick to each other. As soon as the slices are in begin moving, and keep the oil at 120°C. Once the potatoes being to bubble, some may even souffle, wait a bit longer. Total process may take between 8-10  minutes. It all depends on the potato, so be patient. Once they are all mostly bubbling try a couple in the hotter oil. If they puff, add to oil and quickly remove to crisp later. 
In about 160°C slowly crisp and color the souffle and season. Most of them will re-puff, but a few will not.