Plain old bites or something more divine? Check out this Duchess potatoes recipe that’s dressed up to conquer all the sides!
Duchess potato is the holy grail of potato making.
Some nations on Earth satisfy themselves by swapping a ladle to an ice cream scoop to tastefully present their mashed potato onto their plates. Others can get a bit more elaborate by breading then deep frying their stuff mixed with pureed potatoes.
Of course, we all have the seed of grandeur planted deep inside of our soul waiting for droplets of encouragement to grow it into a tree, reaching to heights visible from afar. The French though, like taking things to a level, like it’s the case with Mount Blanc dessert, that only exist for its own sake.
While many French dishes have solid, sensible technological foundations that provide better, texture, flavor or shelf life, there are always some that brings no other benefit to the table only visual enjoyment and the fun of doing it.
Potatoes aren’t considered among the most noble of vegetables. Thanks to its high starch content, it’s been excluded from the elite group of vegetables that nutritional professionals consider as a healthy choice.
Although, we could chomp on them raw but that’s neither provide a pleasant experience nor totally safe, since potatoes being the part of the highly toxic Solanaceae, aka nightshade family.
Various heat treatments are available to make potato table ready. The most popular is, of course, soaking its available starch content in saturated fat but French fries are the very reason potatoes having a really bad reputation nowadays.
Potatoes serve a much better alternative as a side dish than other popular options like rice, pasta, or bread.
Not to mention that potatoes offer the possibilities to improve their nutritional value by allowing various other ingredients to be easily added to it.
Sure, poured in butter or cooking oils won’t catapult pureed potato into super food stardom but a couple of egg yolks will beef its protein content up to a more agreeable level.
Roasting the potatoes once cooked will give it a much-needed edge over any other sides, even though it takes a couple of uncomfortable moments to get them lining up perfectly.
It’s worth to highlight the importance of making the puree lump free. Although we can get away with certain, smaller sized blobs, it’s always a pain to unblock a pastry bag which is even more troublesome when we try to make some haste.
If we haven’t overindulged our mashed potatoes with fat then it’s highly recommended not to let it cool too much. Cold potatoes are a nuisance to stuff through a piping bag, so we are better carry on with curling them onto the baking sheet as soon as the bag is bearable to the touch, or sometimes even before.
Enjoying Duchess potatoes will be a lot more fun than making them, not to mention cleaning the kitchen up after prepping them. If we have a big enough family that likes fun, visually pleasing projects then let them curl up in the kitchen to celebrate the greatness that lies even in the humblest of ingredients.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs / 1000g Potatoes
- 2 teaspoons / 10g Salt
- 7 tablespoons / 100g Butter
- 4 cloves/ 12g Garlic (finely cut)
- 2 teaspoons / 10g Salt
- 4 medium / 80g Egg yolk
- Parmesan cheese and parsley for decoration
How to make Duchess potatoes
- Peel, rinse and cut potatoes to equal pieces.
- Submerge potatoes in water in a pot. Add salt, place the lid on then bring it to boil.
- Reduce heat to simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft inside, about 20 – 30 minutes.
- Finely cut or mince the garlic.
- Heat some butter or oil in a skillet. Sauté (stir-fry) garlic until golden brown, about 1 – 3 minutes. Take it off the heat.
- Drain water from potatoes. Let it cool for a couple of minutes so it will be easier to handle and less watery too. Add remaining butter, garlic butter from skillet, salt and egg yolks into the potatoes.
- Mash it until no chunks are perceivable. Chunky bits will lodge the pastry bag.
- Fill the mashed potatoes into a pastry bag then squeeze it out onto a parchment paper laid baking sheet. Some like to brush it with some melted butter or oil.
- Put the Duchess potatoes into the middle rack of a 425°F/220°C preheated oven until golden brown spots starts to appear on the cones, about 15 – 30 minutes.
- Serve with grated cheese and finely cut parsley sprinkled on top.
Enjoy!
Duchess Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Potatoes
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 7 tablespoons Butter
- 4 cloves Garlic finely cut
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 4 medium Egg yolk
- Parmesan cheese and parsley for decoration
Instructions
- Peel, rinse and cut potatoes to equal pieces.
- Submerge potatoes in water in a pot. Add salt, place the lid on then bring it to boil.
- Reduce heat to simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft inside, about 20 – 30 minutes.
- Finely cut or mince the garlic.
- Heat some butter or oil in a skillet. Sauté (stir-fry) garlic until golden brown, about 1 – 3 minutes. Take it off the heat.
- Drain water from potatoes. Let it cool for a couple of minutes so it will be easier to handle and less watery too. Add remaining butter, garlic butter from skillet, salt and egg yolks into the potatoes.
- Mash it until no chunks are perceivable. Chunky bits will lodge the pastry bag.
- Fill the mashed potatoes into a pastry bag then squeeze it out onto a parchment paper laid baking sheet. Some like to brush it with some melted butter or oil.
- Put the Duchess potatoes into the middle rack of a 425°F/220°C preheated oven until golden brown spots starts to appear on the cones, about 15 – 30 minutes.
- Serve with grated cheese and finely cut parsley sprinkled on top.
Notes
F.A.Q.
Why are they called Duchess potatoes?
There is no recorded history about the origin of Duchess potatoes or their name. They look like a skirt of Contemporary woman so that could easily be one explanation.
What is the distinctive ingredient used to make Duchess potatoes?
Egg yolk is the extra ingredient that is used in Duchess potatoes but rarely gets into simple mash. It gives extra fat and holds the potato starch together when baked.
What kind of potato is most often used for duchess potatoes?
Yukon gold is the most frequently used potato for Duchess potato but any potato can be used. Starchy potatoes may need some extra butter to slide out the piping bag easier but otherwise it doesn’t really matter.
Where does Duchess potatoes originate?
Duchess potatoes like any overly complicated, yet delicious food comes from France.
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