Bite Into This Iconic “Potato Cake!”

I love potatoes, and this is my all-time favorite dish – a “gateau de pommes de terre” – a “potato cake!”

It’s a dish I first had in Paris with my wife Alex at the legendary bistro Chez L’Ami Louis, home of the $125 chicken:

Along with this incredible chicken dish – yes it’s $125 but feeds two easily! Along with the chicken, they serve a potato cake that is topped with raw garlic and fresh parsley…that is what I set out to replicate – let’s see how I did:

Making The Chez L’Ami Louis Potato Cake!

Here is my step-by-step process for making this iconic “gateau de pommes de terre”…

I began with five Russet potatoes, which I peeled and then sliced thinly – you can do it on a mandolin, but I did it by hand, each slice approximately 1/4” or so thick…next, you sauté all of them together in a large NON-STICK frying pan – I used clarified butter as well:

The Pan Is Everything!

Make sure the frying pan is large enough for all of the potatoes, and has some depth to it, because this is the pan you will putting into the oven to finish the dish – and make sure it’s non-stick!

You will sauté the potatoes over medium heat for 20-25 minutes, and now is the time to pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees as well…

I added some chopped garlic in with the potatoes as well, along with a healthy amount of salt and pepper – the amount of clarified butter you use is a matter of taste, but at least several tablespoons…and I add a bit of olive oil as well – more oil will help ensure that the potato cake will caramelize int he oven and also come out of the pan easily…

After sautéing for 20-25 minutes on medium heat, the pan will look like this – and that is when you take it off the heat, and press the potatoes down evenly, so they look like a disc of goodness – and this is what you put into the oven!

Now, grab an oven mitt, because the pan will be hot! Here is what your cooked potato cake looks like when it comes out of the oven 25 minutes later:

What’s next is the most important part of the process – take a rubber spatula and gently glide it under your cake, all the way around the pan…this will loosen it up for the “flip” that is to come – that’s right, now you have to flip the cake, because the carmelized top is at the bottom right now!

Here is how I did it!

Again, this is your potato cake once you have flipped it over onto your serving plate…as you saw me do in the video, you add your raw chopped garlic and fresh parsley next:

Voila!

I’m very happy with how this potato cake turned out, and yes, it took a few attempts to get it right – I’ve had people help me with the “flip” and it’s just too awkward, so the key is a non-stick pan and good caramelization…and you will have this to enjoy!

You can serve this with a roast chicken, steaks, chops, or even as part of a vegetarian or vegan meal…it’s delicious and reheats well…thanks to Patricia Wells, who first told us about this dish, and of course, the incredible Chez L’Ami Louis….by the way, their “gateau de pommes de terre” looks like this:

Theirs has better structure and caramelization, but I’m happy with how close I got…you can see our entire meal at Chez L’Ami Louis here – I show you how they serve the $125 chicken in multiples stages:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/04/20/chez-lami-louis-love-this-125-paris-chicken-garlic-potato-cake-rocks-too/

We love this bistro, as much as we love Paris – and the potatoes of Paris:

Yes, these are some cheesy potatoes, part of our last visit to Paris – here is how we tackled the “potatoes of Paris:”

https://johnrieber.com/2018/01/27/a-guide-to-the-potatoes-of-paris-baked-mashed-fried-roasted-cheesy-a-cake-as-well/

Let me know how your potato cake turns out!

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