Pommes Dauphine

It's been a great week here in Paris. Ali's friend Alex was in town so we had an excuse to be a little crazier than normal. Plus we only had 4 classes.

Tuesday we were planning on going to Normandy for the Omnivore food festival and to eat oysters. But when we got to the train station we realized the latest train back was at 8pm and felt like it was a little absurd to go for only 3 hours when the train ride is 2 hours there and 2 back. So, we changed our plans and I'm so glad we did. The sun was out so we figured the only appropriate thing to do was day drink. And day drink we did.. All day. We started out at a little bar in a hipster area in Paris by a pretty little canal. Dani and Lee joined us with their Parisian friend and we had a great time.

The sun started to go away and everyone was getting cold and wanting to go nap. Besides me, Ali, and Alex... surprise. So, we ventured over to Les Halles and had dinner at Au Pied de Cochon. This restaurant is famous for their Pig but they also have very traditional french foods. We all shared a plate of bone marrow, yum & Alex had french onion soup. We also continued the day drinking with a bottle of wine, of course.

After dinner we decided we wanted to continue our adventures and somehow ended up over by the Louvre at a random Brasserie drinking yet again, more wine. This time Adam and his French friend from work, Sacha, joined us. We drank & talked for a couple hours and then decided to head home on the metro. We went to take the stop that leaves from inside the Louvre and it was closed but somehow ended up walking through the Louvre... which was really cool. The place was deserted seeing as how it was around midnight and we explored, running into the inverted part of the pyramids. It's a rough life living in Paris and drunkenly stumbling upon famous monuments. Finally we found an open metro station and all made it home safely... more or less.

This is what we saw.. only we had the place all to ourselves. 

Wednesday was a great day at school. We finally learned how to create mine and Ali's obsession... Pommes Dauphine. The best way I can describe them for you is deep fried mashed potato balls. Wanna know how to make them? Great!

Pommes Dauphine, serves: enough

2 large potatoes
Choux Pastry:
250ml water
30g butter
130g flour
3 eggs
salt/pepper
nutmeg
oil for frying

Peel the potatoes and largely dice. Put them in a pot with cold water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling add a good pinch of salt. (Always salt water after it boils, the salt slows down the boiling process). Once the potatoes are tender, drain well. Mash. In school we put them through a potato ricer but if you do not have this you can mash them by hand or with an electric mixer. The end goal is to have absolutely no lumps. Set the potatoes aside and keep warm under foil.

Make the Choux Pastry: 
Put the 250ml of water in a small pot with the butter and bring to a boil. While this is coming to a boil, break the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a fork. Remove the boiling butter water from the heat and add a pinch of salt. Then slowly add the 130g of flour to the water, incorporating it with a plastic or wooden spoon until it forms a smooth mixture. Once smooth put this mixture back on medium heat and continue stirring with a spoon, drying the dough out. Do this for no more than 3 minutes and be careful not to burn the bottom of the pan or dough. It should start to form a small ball. Take off the heat and transfer the dough to a cold or room temperature bowl. Add the eggs to the dough little by little incorporating with a spoon. Once this mixture is formed and smooth add the potatoes. Mix the dough and potatoes together.

At this point in school we put the potatoes into a pastry bag and pipe onto a baking sheet with parchment paper to form little balls. Then we cut the parchment and add each ball to the hot oil.

But, if you're at home and don't mind getting a little messy you can just form the balls yourself with your hands or an ice cream scoop. They should be about the size of a doughnut hole.

I also doubt many of you have a deep fryer in your homes and if you do.. I'm envious. For those of you who don't, just make one yourselves. Take a deep pot and fill it at least 2.5 inches deep with a neutral oil. Bring that oil to 180C or 356F. And fry away!

These little potato balls take about 5 minutes to fry up. Don't crowd your fryer, do about 5 at at time. Once you remove them, sprinkle with a little salt. (I got in trouble for doing this at school but they need that salt, I promise). And voilá! They are so delicious and if you take the time to make them you will not be disappointed!

Yesterday we had the day off of school and finally made it to Normandy but that's an entire post in itself so you'll just have to wait!

Food is our common ground, a universal experience. - James Beard

xoxo, alex