Pomme Puree Reheating

Looking to make the pomme puree this weekend. Two questions.

1) Can it be made alright without the sieves? Could I just use a blender?

2) I have one immersion circulator; what would be the best way to make this and reheat to serve? Is there a way to do it without the circulator once it's already been cooked?

Was going to make crispy chicken thighs sous vide with the puree.

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Johan_Edstrom_5586

1) The sieving is the "trick" - a blender would be optimal for making glue.

You can carefully whip with say a hand held whisk or a kitchen aid whisk

at a very low setting, you won't get the same exact result though.

trev_teich

The way to heat it up is to put the puree in a cold pot and gently heat it up, whisking so the bottom doesn't burn. Once hot, check for texture. In the refrigerator it will lose moisture , so will will most likely have to whisk in a bit of cream to get it back to the way you want. Check for salt.

The other way to do it. Is to cook the potatoes before hand. Heat them up and add the butter and cream before you serve it. The add the butter and cream a little at a time until you get the right texture.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

If you have a ricer you can get surprisingly similar results to using the sieve. I usually rice then sieve, but the last time I made the puree I was pressed for time and just riced potatoes into butter. The results were surprisingly silky. Stay away from blenders! I'd go ahead and cook the potatoes, butter and milk... you could probably do that a day ahead. Before dinner. set the bath to chicken cooking temperature and retherm the potatoes and dairy. Then rice or sieve. If you need to hold it at temp for service, you can do as Trevor suggests and transfer the puree to a cold pot and warm it up slowly on the stovetop. Adjust texture with milk as needed.

tshewman

Hi @lou, you can do all steps without the circulator (it just makes it easier). Follow the CS recipe here (http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pomme-puree) for recipe and temperature guidance etc if you want to actually cook them in the cream/milk and simply use a pot and digital thermometer. You can use a ricer (assuming you have one) for the initial step (instead of using a sieve) and they will turn out nice. That said, if you have the sieves, they will be luxurious (IMHO). I typically put mine through a ricer, then a sieve. Other things you might consider is cooking the potatoes with the potato peels (simply add them to the cream-or water if using) as this will boost the potato flavor. Alternatively (and my preference) is to infuse the milk/cream with the potato skins (or whatever flavor you wish). If you use the potato skins to infuse in the water, I find they still have some flavor left and will often apply a brushing of oil and bake until crisp (I don't do this if cooking the potatoes in cream). To prepare ahead, the process is essentially what @Trevor outlined. You can make them a day ahead up to the point where you add the cream (if cooked in water) or more cream. Gentle heat is important for the reheating step (at least for me, I made the mistake of being in a hurry.......and spent a bit of time during clean up). Do not use a blender unless you have a pending wallpaper project. ;-) Potatoes have become a much larger exploration for me than I ever imagined. Different potatoes, temperatures (e.g. blanch first), ratio of butter, etc etc. Such a simple vegetable with so many possibilities.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

I didn't want to admit that I've tried the blender...

A 20 second spin took almost 30 minutes to get clean.

Matt_67991

@Lou As Johan mentioned, a blender wouldn't work very well, because it would burst a bunch of starch granules and turn the whole thing into glue.

As for cooking, maybe have the thighs cooked beforehand, reserved in the refrigerator and then crisp up the skin in a pan right before serving, while you are mashing the potatoes. You also don't really need a circulator for the potato recipe, you can just have a pot of water at about the right temperature.

In the comments, Ben Johnson suggested "You can use a traditional potato ricer or food mill in place of the larger sieve and chinoise in place of the smaller." The sieving is important for the texture you see in the video, but lots of people are fine with potatoes that have just been riced though. Potato ricers are nice to have if you like mashed potatoes anyway, and they're not very expensive.

The recipe is also super rich, and might be overwhelming. 50% weight of butter compared to potato might be too much for some people, so if you think that could be the case, try for around 25%. They'll be different but nice. As another comment suggests, make sure to not lose potatoes to the strainer or ricer or whatever, because that will make the end result thinner and richer.

Brandon_34695

You can use the food processor if you're prepared to add a massive quantity of soft cheese.

Pommes aligot is a magical substance.

Matt_67991

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZce1GKjovg

@Brandon I will never miss an opportunity to post this video. Isn't tomme a bit like the cheese curds?

Jess_Voelker_90708

Love this tip.