Crispy Potato Bake
I call this my ‘best of both worlds’ potato bake because you get a creamy baked bottom but flaky crispy top. The key to this bake is finely slicing your potatoes with a mandolin and then stacking them upright in rows on a baking tray, compressing them so there aren’t any gaps. They should be tight and look like stacked Pringles as they will shrink and soften during the cooking process and you don’t want them to flop and fall over. Then for the cream mixture, I only pour enough to cover half of the tray so that the bottom half bakes and the top half crisps. A delicious side for any menu and one for the potato lovers out there, which I’m sure are many.
Ingredients
- 1kg worth of baby chat potatoes
- ½ cup of cream
- 1 tablespoon of flaky salt
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly smashed
- 2-3 bay leaves, optional
- 1 small bunch of thyme
- A few gluts of olive oil
Watch the process
Method
- Prepare your potatoes by finely slicing them with a mandolin (I use a $3 one from Daiso). You want paper thin slices. Fill a large bowl with water and a generous pinch of salt and place the potato slices into the bowl to prevent them from oxidising/going brown. This is a great trick especially if you want to mandolin the potatoes ahead of time or the day before. I normally store the bowl in the fridge overnight and then when I’m ready to assemble and bake I drain the potatoes.
- Place your cream into a small saucepan and place your choice of aromatics into it. I’ve gone with bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme, grated nutmeg, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook on low to heat the cream and infuse the aromatics.
- Preheat your oven to 220 degrees celsius.
- Drizzle some olive oil into a large tray (mine is 30x20cm rectangular tray) and tilt to coat the bottom tray in oil.
- Begin placing your potato slices upright in rows vertical down your tray. The idea is to have the potato slices upright as possible so feel free to pack as many into each row as they will slightly shrink as they cook. You should have 5 rows or so worth of potato from 1 kg of potatoes.
- Strain your cream mixture to remove the aromatics and drizzle to cover all of your potatoes.
- Place a few optional sprigs of thyme and scatter over some flaky salt.
- Cook in the oven for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are golden, crispy on the top and soft on the bottom. You might need to turn your pan around in the oven 15 minutes in to get an even golden colour.
- Place a stack on each plate and enjoy on its own or as a side to a dinner spread.