Hash Brown Heaven and Other Important Stuff

I am most of the way through Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires, about her years as an undercover restaurant critic for the New York Times.  The stories are wonderful, and as a bonus, the book is studded with recipes. Since 1999, she has been editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine.  In addition, Ms. Reichl has been chef and co-owner of a restaurant, and has written several books.  She also wrote the introduction to Measure of Her Powers:  An M.F.K. Fisher Reader.  This is a collection of writings by another wonderful food writer of a previous generation (Fisher's  How to Cook a Wolf is about how to make do with little, during the rationing years of World War II.)

Obviously, the restaurants discussed in her book are all in New York, and since Shawn Lea and I are going there for a few days in December, I am paying particular attention.

Ms. Reichl dedicates a chapter, called "Meat and Potatoes" to searching for the wonderful aged steaks of her childhood (she cut her teeth gnawing the bones of the thick porterhouse steaks her father would prepare).  She visited many of New York's legendary steak houses, including Gallaghers, Pen and Pencil (Red and I ate there once), Ben Benson's (I've eaten there--walked in off the street by myself and they found me a small table, where I had a great martini, perfect steak and creamed spinach...a nice memory), as well as some chains like Ruth's Chris, Morton's and Smith and Wollensky.

She finally found the steak of her dreams at Peter Luger Steak House.  According to Ms. Reichl, "The scent of steak was like the sound of a trumpet cutting through the air, so high and clear that it triumphed over every other sense.  Then the soft richness was filling my mouth and it was a taste as old as I was, and for a moment, I merged with the flavor so that I had disappeared completely.  This was a great steak.  I had found what I was looking for.  I had another piece, and then I was chewing on the bones and picking out the marrow and chasing all the tender little bits that hide between the fat and bone."  Definitely the words of a foodie.  (Note to Shawn, we must go there.)

She also claims that the perfect potato accompaniment to a good steak is great hash browns, and that the best are from The Palm.

Here's the recipe from the book:

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Hash Browns

Making these remain in a cake is very difficult and requires a fair amount of practice.  But they're delicious even when they fall apart, so keep trying.

A few hits:  I use a spanish tortilla plate, which is made precisely for the turning maneuver (it has a knob on the bottom), which makes things easier.  And if you have a short-sided skillet, it is much easier to slide the cake out; the high sides of an ordinary cast-iron skillet means that you have to turn quickly in one smooth fast motion.  And that requires strength.

8 small waxy potatoes (new potatoes), 2 1/4 pounds
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 small onion, very finely diced
Salt and Pepper
Coarse salt for sprinkling on top

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, add the potatoes, and boil about 10 minutes, or until they are cooked about halfway through.  Drani, and allow them to cool to warm;  then peel and chop into about 1-inch squares.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a well-seasoned 8-to 10-inch cast-iron skillet.  Remove about a quarter of the butter and set aside.  Add the potatoes to the skillet, forming them into a flat cake and pressing down on it with a spatula.  Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for about 6 minutes, until a good crust has formed on the bottom.  Keep pressing with the spatula, and run it around the edges a bit so the potatoes don't stick.

Scatter the diced onions over the top, along with a good shake of salt and a good grinding of pepper.  Remove the skillet from the heat and cover with a large plate; leave for 2 minutes, allowing the potatoes to steam.  Using oven mitts, hold the plate and skillet together, and invert together, so the potatoes drop onto the plate.

Put the skillet back over medium heat and add the remaining melted butter.  Carefully slide the entire potato cake into the skillet, trying not to break it.  Add more salt and pepper, turn the heat up to medium high, and brown the potatoes for another 5 minutes, until a crust forms.

Slide the potato cake onto a hot platter, sprinkle with the coarse sea salt, and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Note:  You can use bacon fat or duck fat, or, if you are very lucky, goose fat for these potatoes as well.  You can also gussy them up by adding diced parsley or diced garlic at the very end, as they do it at L'Ami Louis, in Paris.

[Image from Cooking with Amy]

[Second image of Ms. Reichl, incognito, from The Connection]