[blog entry.1] Cooking Pomme Anna

So today I wanted to cook Potatoes Anna, or as French called it, Pomme Anna. The recipe is here, and as you can see,  not on my blog. BUT, it will be, once I adjust it. And we reached the point where I explain why I felt the need to write a blog entry in my "cooking book."

Sometimes when I follow recipes they don't turn out as I expected. I usually blame it on my stove, not using the same sized pans/pots/so on. But, what if the recipe hasn't been written exactly the first time it has been recorded?

For instance, the recipe for Potatoes Anna above says to use 1/2 cup of melted butter. Another recipe said I can use melted margarine. And this is what I did use, as I didn't have butter on hand, nor time to run to the store to buy it, even if it's literally around the corner.

BUT, you should head over to Wikipedia to read about the dish/recipe, and you'll find out this is a 19th century dish that uses "a very large amount of melted butter." The last time I checked 1/2 cup is nowhere near "a large amount," let alone "a very large amount."

If you want to try this dish, you must do some heavy research on what it's supposed to look like. HINT: it has to look like a round cake. To get this look, you have to turn the pot you cooked it in, upside-down, on a large enough plate.  "A very large amount of melted butter" allows this process to be performed easily. During the cooking in the oven, the water in the butter/margarine evaporates, and your 'potato cake' will stick to the pot and burn, which is what happened to me. Thankfully, it was only the bottom that got burned, and the rest was edible. Needless to say, that if the potatoes stick to the pot you'll have a hard time removing the "cake."

So these are my thoughts on cooking Potatoes Anna. I will definitely try this recipe again, and that is when I will post the (I hope) 'right' recipe for you guys. With pictures too.

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